Black Belt in Wind Energy

November 18, 2008

If it works, this idea may be a real humdinger.  Humdinger Wind Energy LLC of Honolulu has a new take on harvesting energy from wind, and it doesn't involve turbines. Like something as small as a guitar string humming in the wind, or as large as the infamous Tacoma Narrows bridge shaking itself to pieces, Humdinger's belt tech leverages a common phenomenon known as a flutter oscillation to efficiently extract energy from wind.

The company claims that the price per KWh will be less than half that of conventional turbines, but remember that these guys are still in the R&D phase and sometimes the real world forces cost revisions when it comes to the strictures of mass production. Either way though, in the current tough economy with falling oil prices, and with many solar and wind projects on hold, it would be great to see a new renewable tech approach blossom as a result of belt tightening.

AP Photo

Comments

[Chris]

If flutter oscillation has technical merit, there will be no end of places to stuff the technology: urban buildings, houses, cars, railways, airplanes, and on. I've often imagined such a micro approach to extracting energy from the wind and the idea that you could skim energy with something that is low cost, low profile (aesthetically unobtrusive), and able to work with low or erratic wind speeds.

Hurry.