Everyone appears to agree that wind power is the way of the future - opportunities for the development of clean power in Canada's western provinces and on the New Brunswick coast are especially ripe. But there are some issues with wind: noise, the impact on bats and birds, intermittency and despoiling of the natural lanscape are oft sited complaints. What if you could have wind technology that posed no threat to wildlife, included battery capability to manage itermittency issues - and had visual appeal? Turns out, you can.
Check out the Windstalk, a concept developed by New York design firm Atelier DNA for a planned city outside Abu Dhabi that found inspiration in naturally occuring sources of kinetic energy:
news.discovery.com/tech/wind-power-without-the-blades.html
Windstalk ain't bad looking either - the design won second place in the Land Art Generator competition run to identify the best work of art that generates renewable energy. “Windstalk is completely silent, and the image associated with them is something we're already used to seeing in a field of wheat or reeds in a marsh. Our hope is that people living close to them will like to walk through the field -- especially at night -- under their own, private sky of swarming stars,” said Atelier DNA founding partner Darío Núñez-Ameni.
What's next for the group? Did anyone hear oceans?
