Maglev wind turbine at Joe Leno's Garage

[bananas]

http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2009/1/14/04210/5990
Magnetically levitated wind turbines
Some surprisingly cool green tech, brought to you by ... Jay Leno?
<snip>

[NNadir]

1. Well if you get the same info over and over and over and over and over and over...

...how many years has it been, exactly, that we've been hearing from clueless car CULT brats about the maglev wind tower?

I'm sure we've been hearing about it for at <em>least</em> six to eight years here, and still, the entire nation of Denmark can't produce the energy equivalent of the Salem Creek Nuclear powerplant.

[jpak]

3. LOL!!!11

:rofl:

[kristopher]

2. Nah, it's a very recent Chinese innovation

China Makes Huge Breakthrough in Wind Power Technology
by Zijun Li on July 4, 2006
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Chinese developers unveiled the world’s first full-permanent magnetic levitation (Maglev) wind power generator at the Wind Power Asia Exhibition 2006 held June 28 in Beijing, according to Xinhua News. Regarded as a key breakthrough in the evolution of global wind power technology—and a notable advance in independent intellectual property rights in China—the generator was jointly developed by Guangzhou Energy Research Institute under China’s Academy of Sciences and by Guangzhou Zhongke Hengyuan Energy Science & Technology Co., Ltd.

The Maglev generator is expected to boost wind energy generating capacity by as much as 20 percent over traditional wind turbines. This would effectively cut the operational expenses of wind farms by up to half, keeping the overall cost of wind power under 0.4 yuan ($US 5 cents), according to Guokun Li, the chief scientific developer of the new technology. Further, the Maglev is able to utilize winds with starting speeds as low as 1.5 meters per second (m/s), and cut-in speeds of 3 m/s, the chief of Zhongke Energy was quoted as saying at the exhibition. When compared with the operational hours of existing wind turbines, the new technology will add an additional 1,000 hours of operation annually to wind power plants in areas with an average wind speed of 3 m/s.

Xinhua News reports that more than 70 million households in China lack access to electricity, with most of them living in areas unconnected to power grids. The widely scattered nature of rural localities makes it difficult to supply grid-based power to these areas. The use of the full-permanent Maglav generator could potentially fill the power void in these locations by harnessing low-speed wind resources that were previously untappable. ...

http://www.worldwatch.org/node/4217

[OKIsItJustMe]

4. Check their web site

http://enviro-energies.com/

and their video library:
http://enviro-energies.com/cart/index.php?main_page=page&id=9