Fiona Govan
A pioneering turbine design by Spanish inventors promises to reinvent how we harness wind power without the need for giant windmills and blades that harm wildlife.
The bladeless curve-topped cylinder can generate energy from vibrations alone and is the brainchild of Madrid based start-up Vortex Bladeless.
“We have developed a new wind energy technology specially designed for on-site generation in residential areas, being able to work on-grid, off- grid, or along with regular solar panels or other generators,” explained David Yañez, the inventor behind the project.
Described as an ‘environmentally friendly aerogenerator without blades designed for on-site wind energy generation’ it won the moniker Skybrator on Reddit because of its phallic appearance.
The device could be effective from as small as 3 meters high which could be used on an off grid home to power a fridge, some lights and charge mobile phones harnessing wind power on a small scale in the same way as a home solar panel.
“Power grows exponentially with the size of the device,” explained Jorge Piñero, another member of the Vortex team.
The design has won the approval of Norway’s state energy company, Equinor, which named Vortex on a list of the 10 most exciting startups in the energy sector.
The new designs could provide an alternative way of harnessing green energy form the traditional windfarms with their giant blades turning slowly on hills and plains across the Spanish landscape that are known to decimate bird and bat species.
Spain is the fifth country in the world on wind power installed after China, the United States, Germany and India.
With a total of 23,484 MW of installed power, wind energy was the second-largest source of electricity generation in 2018.
Wind energy covers more than 19% of the energy consumed in the country on average annually, with 1,123 wind farms installed where 22,578 people work in 2018.
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