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Biomimicry takes wing: New wind turbines inspired by bees

Source: VentureBeat

Nov 03, 2009

Summary

Green Wavelength, a young firm developing renewable energy prototypes, has unveiled its first product, the xBEE Alpha, touting blades that flap like insect wings.

With a 19-foot wingspan, the two-blade model is designed to shatter assumptions that windmill-style turbines are the best for energy generation. Current turbine architectures usually convert about 30 percent of the wind caught into usable energy. Green Wavelength believes more innovative ideas, taken out of nature’s playbook, could be much more efficient — and better suited for a variety of applications. Here’s a video of the xBee at work:

No one wants an industrial or utility-scale wind turbine in their back yard. But wind could be a viable method for residential and urban power generation, especially in the developing world. Solar panels are too expensive for most consumers interested in creating and using their own clean energy. Some smaller, quieter, residential turbines have appeared on the scene, but their efficiency is usually even lower. San Francisco just presented plans to integrate more tu

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