Tag Archives: wind power

Shine Turbine is one compact and portable wind energy generator

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Wind turbines are slowly becoming a more important part of the energy industry. They are being designed and deployed in more countries in different ways. Some will say the more significant in size, the better, but it’s not always the case.

The Shine Turbine may be small, but it is good enough to power your mobile devices. It is the best way to juice up your small gadgets like smartphones, tablets, cameras, or lights. You can bring it anywhere, especially when you plan on having outdoor adventures.

Designers: Cat Adalay and Rachel Carr

Shine Turbine

Aurea is a company based in Canada headed by two ladies: mechanical engineer Cat Adalay and designer Rachel Carr. They designed this portable wind turbine that can self-charge its internal battery, which is enough for small gadgets. However, what makes the Shine Turbine a possible bestseller is the fact that it can be fast in storing and generating electricity. Even in extreme weather conditions, it can generate energy. However, it’s small that it can collapse into an average size of a 1ML water battle.

Shine Turbine

Shine+Turbine+Home+Hero

Area’s founder Adalay said it’s a “wind power that fits in your backpack”. She noted that wind is the second biggest clean energy producer, but it’s not that accessible. The Shine Turbine is designed to address several problems faced especially by outdoor enthusiasts. Adalay’s team developed a wind power product that allows everyone to produce clean energy for their own personal use.

Shine Turbine

It’s a wind turbine, so it obviously needs the wind. This means it’s ideal to use, especially during windy days, whether night or day or even when raining. It is set on a tripod and features its own 5V 12,000mAh battery. The device itself is 40-watts and weighs three pounds only.

Shine Turbine

The Shine Turbine can charge most mobile devices via USB. However, we imagine it can be used more for smartphones. It can be helpful as it only needs 20 minutes to juice up a phone. The crowdfunded project has been a success, with more than $400,000 in pledges.

Shine Turbine

This lightweight and compact wind turbine can fit your backpack. It mainly uses wind to charge gadgets on the go. The mount and blades are collapsible and can collapse into a smaller housing. You can say it looks like a blimp —a small one that kids may think it’s a toy. But it’s not a toy, so make sure kids don’t go near one because of the blades.

Shine Turbine

Shine Turbine Compact

Shine Turbine Tech

Shine Turbine

The post Shine Turbine is one compact and portable wind energy generator first appeared on Yanko Design.

This fleet of autonomous ‘saildrones’ use solar and wind power to collect data during a hurricane!

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Saildrone, a maritime research company and “world leader in oceangoing autonomous surface vehicles,” has launched a fleet of saildrones to collect first-of-its-kind hurricane data via advanced sensors and AI technology.

It’s been said we know more about outer space than we know about the ocean. In the grand scheme of Earth, we might not know too much about the deep blue that surrounds us, but that doesn’t mean it can’t tell us about the rest of our world. Today, a fleet of five autonomous saildrones has been launched from Florida and the Virgin Islands by Saildrone, a maritime research company, to collect data on hurricanes, spending three months at sea where the fleet will compile the first hurricane research of its kind completed by ‘uncrewed’ surface vehicles (USVs).

With news regarding climate change and tropical storms flooding our timelines, our eyes and ears are more tuned in than ever in anticipation of new data. For decades, the ocean has provided scientists with the data necessary to understand climate change, hurricanes, carbon cycling, and maritime security.

The fleet of saildrones is comprised of solar and wind-powered USVs that acquire data on climate change and weather conditions through AI technology and over 20 advanced sensors, leaving a minimal carbon footprint while exploring international ocean waters. Amounting to around 1,500 pounds, each saildrone comes equipped with a photovoltaic sail that’s designed to keep each saildrone powered up as it sails right into the eye of a hurricane.

All in an effort to understand hurricanes and global weather events, for years Saildrone has been developing the technology necessary to map the ocean floor while measuring water temperature, salinity, chemical composition. Once programmed for navigation, the saildrones can sail autonomously from waypoint to waypoint.

During their voyage, the USVs remain within a user-defined safety corridor and are monitored by a Saildrone Mission Control operator. Spanning from Arctic waters to the Atlantic Ocean, saildrones have collected data on weather and climate science from waters all over the globe.

Designer: Saildrone

This wind-powered bicycle light is set to transform the way we utilize sustainable, reusable energy!

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Designed to be the world’s first wind-powered bicycle light, Vento was created to reinvent the ways we use and produce energy.

In recent years, we’ve had our sights set on renewable energy sources. From tidal turbines that can generate electricity for thousands of homes to small-scale green roofs that host solar panels to power up bus stops, renewable energy is the future and designers are taking note. Aimed to be the world’s first bicycle light to use wind energy for power, Vento from student designer Andy Bestenheider is currently in its prototyping phase, gearing up for a working model by the end of summer 2021.

Inspired by his desire “to reinvent the ways we use and produce energy,” on small-scale levels, Vento is not merely a bicycle light, as Bestenheider describes, but “a power plant, a way to question energy consumption, and an object to connect like-minded individuals. Vento is a mindset.” Composed of four main components, Vento is like a miniature wind turbine. Constructed from recycled plexiglass and aluminum, Vento’s microturbine harvests wind energy while the bicycle is in motion. Then, the energy is converted into electricity through electromagnetic induction that takes place in the turbine’s generator. The bicycle light’s battery then stores this energy and the LED bulb generates light. While moving in your bike, the wind is always whipping past you, so the light will always work when needed. Positioned conveniently right between the handlebars, Vento also features on/off and blinking switches for day use.

Following some sketching and multiple ideations, Bestenheider then moved onto 3D-print modeling before working towards a final working prototype.

In close collaboration with a fellow engineering student, Bestenheider conducted interviews with cyclists and friends to understand the feasibility of Vento. After finalizing a 3D-printed model, Bestenheider and his engineer friend worked together to strike a balance between efficiency, cost, and durability, reaching a final product that equips the light with a working circuit with a twice as large turbine. Built to be entirely self-sufficient, Vento was designed to start the conversation around renewable energy sourcing.

Designer: Andy Bestenheider

Michelin debuts inflatable sail system to decarbonize the global maritime industry, providing freight ships with clean wind energy!

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Michelin Group, the multinational French tire manufacturing company, has its tread pointed towards becoming a leader in sustainable mobility. Veering away from tire manufacturing, Michelin is making strides on the ocean. Revealing a sustainability project aimed at the high seas, the global tire manufacturing group presented WISAMO, a wind-powered Wing Sail Mobility project, during this month’s Movin’ On global sustainability summit.

In a collaboration between Michelin R&D and a couple of Swiss inventors, WISAMO was designed in part as a contribution to their long-term goal of cutting global maritime transport emissions by more than half by 2050, Michelin’s WISAMO project provides inflatable sails to increase efficiency across all kinds of freight and cargo ships. The Wing Sail Mobility project was conceived to decarbonize the maritime industry at large, prompting Michelin to construct a wind sail system that fits most commercial cargo ships by enacting a plug-and-socket installment system.

Designed as a supplementary power source for freight and cargo ships, the inflatable sails would work in addition to the ships’ engines, propelling the ships forward with help from harnessed wind energy. WISAMO is an automated, retractable, and inflatable wind sail system that folds over the ship’s deck when not in use. The sails’ foldable design allows cargo and freight to pass under bridges or sail through storms without the worry of damage to the actual sails. Relying on a telescopic folding system, WISAMO’s sails unfurl via an automated system that uses an air compressor for inflation.

Offering his own technical and experiential knowledge, world-renowned french sailor Michel Desjoyeaux collaborated with the team at Michelin to help develop WISAMO. During its debut at the 2021 ‘Movin’ On’ global sustainability summit, Desjoyeaux cited the project’s environmental charge, “the advantage of wind propulsion is that wind energy is clean, free, universal, and totally non-controversial. It offers a very promising avenue to improving the environmental impact of merchant ships.”

Designer: Michelin Group

Relying on a retractable and inflatable sail system, WISAMO can be installed on most commercial cargo ships.

WISAMO was designed to hybridize freight ships, propelling their engine-driven speed further with wind power.

The inflatable sail systems can fit on most merchant and leisure ships.

With the insight gained from experienced French sailor Michel Desjoyeaux, Michelin built WISAMO to garner optimal wind energy.

WISAMO retracts over the ship’s deck when not in use.

The telescopic folding design allows ships to still sail beneath bridges and through storms.

The automated folding system works with an air compression unit that’s activated with the push of a button.

This wind-powered street light is peak sustainable technology for urban architecture!

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We are going through a climate crisis and a large part of it is due to energy consumption. As the population increases, more and more energy is consumed which leads to the planet getting warm faster. To help combat the problem, Berlin-based designer and student, Tobias Trübenbacher, created Papilio – a street light that is powered by wind and conserves energy thereby reducing CO2 emissions on a large scale if implemented.

Papilio was designed to combat light pollution and growing energy consumption that has a big impact on our planet. It is an insect-friendly street light that generates energy from wind. The climate-neutral energy generation becomes an aesthetic play at all times. It has an integrated Savonius wind rotor for which the wind direction is irrelevant so it can be installed anywhere. The street light has been designed with an insect-friendly light spectrum and gets automatically activated only when needed. Cities become more windy as we build them up higher and Papilio is a sustainable solution that will let us light up streets while reducing the impact on the environment!

“Would be nice if the excess energy can be given back to the grid. Imagine every light pole having this. It would create a ton of almost free energy.”

Designer: Tobias Trübenbacher

The UK likely got more power from renewables than fossil fuels last quarter

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The UK generated more power from renewable sources than from fossil fuels in the third quarter of 2019. This is the first time that's happened since the UK opened its first public electricity-generating station in 1882. The findings, revealed in an a...

Honda will offset 60 percent of its US electricity use with wind and solar

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Honda plans to cover 60 percent of the electricity used at its North American manufacturing plants with renewable energy. Beginning next fall, Honda will purchase 530,000 MWh per year from the Boiling Spring Wind Farm in Oklahoma. In fall 2021, it wi...