Harnessing the extraordinary power of the wind is nothing new, but the design of most of these wind turbines are certainly a sight for sore eyes. It goes beyond the look of turbines as they are often noisy and obtrusive giants in the sky, designed mainly for industrial use. Well, a French firm by the name of New Wind has revolutionized the look of wind energy by taking the concept of these wind turbines to combine modern technology and design to create the “Wind Tree.”
Wind Trees created by French company New Wind. Image courtesy of New Wind.
Each tree stands 26 feet tall and is fitted with 63 individual aeroleaves. These leaves act as individually condensed wind turbines – with a tiny blade generating the electricity – and operate at wind speeds as low as 7 km an hour, regardless of the wind’s direction. That is essentially taking a gentle breeze and generating power from that!
One of the many complaints with the conventional wind turbine is the noise pollution, which the wind tree has eliminated. The trees are completely silent, theoretically meaning they could be introduced to community centres, along streets and sidewalks or potentially in your very own backyard. This changes the original intent of wind turbines from industrial use to an urban and residential use.
The trees retail starting at around $30,000 depending on the model. The power output of each tree is 3.1 kilowatts with the potential to generate 3,500 kWh to 13,500 kWh depending on wind speed and the location of the trees themselves. Now, if you are having a hard time fully comprehending how significant that is, take a look below. This could provide power to supply 15 street lamps, 83% of a typical family household’s electrical consumption, or 1 electric car for 1,360 km over the course of the year. What is even more amazing is that each tree will end up paying for themselves in about 2 years! A wise investment, indeed.
Image obtained from newwind.fr
CEO and Founder,Jérôme Michaud-Larivière hopes to take his design one step further ‘to develop a perfect tree that has leaves with natural fibres, roots that could generate geothermal energy, and bark covered with photosensitive cells’.
It’s fascinating to watch the world around us evolve with the latest advances in technology. I certainly hope we start to see these trees making their way to Canada very soon.
If you are interested in seeing these ‘Trees’ in action, take a look below.
