This loopy looking item is a striking wind turbine design with some interesting features. A Japanese company is offering this small-scale wind turbine that touts an amazingly low 1.6m/sec (3.5 mph) minimum generation speed (compared with 8-11 mph for many turbines.)

The company claims a number of benefits for the Loopwing turbine attributed to the unusual configuration of the blades. Because there are no blade tips, the Loopwing doesn't have tip vortex effects, and is therefore much quieter. This also reduces vibration, which helps with both noise and extending the life of the turbine and generator. The blade configuration is also responsible for its low start speed.

Check out this awesome broken-english press material:

People witnessing a test model in operation gave high evaluation saying that there is no noise at all. The unique-shaped blade has self-stalling capability and it can avoid over-speeding. Loopwing’s rotation has globular trajectory and it can deflect smoothly even in gust, for example in a place on the roof of a building where the strong wind blows.

There you have it...it's all about the globular trajectory avoiding over-speeding.

The Loopwing turbine appears to making the rounds of Japanese trade shows, and they have secured a US patent. So it's possible that it will be coming, but as yet there doesn't seem to be a North American distributor. Via: Metaefficient

It's a sad day when a significant amount of a nation's weather is produced by using fossil fuels to push blocks of metal through the air. But, as long as that artificial weather is there, you might as well harness it.

Wind speeds along highways are significantly higher than the national average of 10 mph so, it turns out, they are a great place to put wind turbines. As long as you can keep them close, but not too close, vertical axis wind turbines (like the ones in the graphic above) can generate a significant amount of power from the wind created by cars and trucks. A recent proposal published at Archinet from "Joe" at the university of Arizona, has Quiet Revolution wind turbines looming over traffic lanes doing just that.

While we'll never recover much of the energy wasted pushing air out of the way of a Hummer, even a fraction could be a significant source of power. Effectively increasing the mileage of every car on the road just a tiny bit per turbine.

Of course, the more logical thing to spend government subsidies on would be more aerodynamic vehicles and less interstate travel. But, as long as we're wasting all that energy anyway, we might as well recover a bit of it.

Via Inhabitat