Skyscraper windmills? by valles

Wind is indeed a valuable source of renewable energy in various locations and conditions, and it's been used at different scales around the world: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferhicks/2012/05/17/small-wind-energy-goes-urban-in-italy-korea-brazil-and-texas-yes-texas/ http://www.urbanpowerusa.com/ http://www.windpods.com/ Whether such systems can and should be installed in urban areas, needs to be examined and considered, taking into account not only aesthetics but also economic viability, safety, accessibility for maintenance and repair, and overall efficiency. Here's a resource for additional info: http://www.mass.gov/eea/energy-utilities-clean-tech/renewable-energy/wind/wind-energy-facts.html Cheers !..

Hi Valles, Building-integrated wind can indeed hold significant potential if done right, and I would encourage you to focus on two aspects that would help strengthen your proposal: - Quantifying the overall potential for building integrated wind in the proposed location - Techniques to deal with turbulent and varying wind flows With regards to #1, existing wind studies can form a good starting point. In the mainland US, there are approximately 4.6 million commercial buildings, with approximately 60% located in areas with Class 2 or better wind resources, thus offering significant energy generation potential. You can also refer to this UK based study that was released in 2005, that concluded that building-integrated wind can meet between 1.5 and 4.5% of the domestic sector electric demand (http://ukerc.rl.ac.uk/pdf/BUWT_final_v004_full.pdf) For #2, you need to get into details about the wind turbine technology and what would be appropriate for use in an urban context. For example, vertical axis type turbines might function better in the wind flows seen in urban areas. The location of the turbine would also make a lot of difference-- a rooftop turbine would see different wind flows than a turbine attached to the side of a building. I look forward to your continued contributions to this proposal! Regards, AJ

I would like to add an additional comment to those listed above. Urban wind corridors can be very useful, but they are also plagued by inconsistent flow of air. Also, when the wind does blow in these conditions, it is turbulent. Maybe urban wind solutions focus more on alternative uses such as replenishment of urban electricity storage to augment rooftop storage on highly overcast days?. Looking forward to seeing the rest of your proposal when it's uploaded. Good Luck!

Wind farms in CA have high WM unit counts. Many cities in America have fairly low highrise counts. Exceptions NYC and LA. See Distributed Wind vs. Wind Farms URL below. Also, there is the issue of interfacing with/replacing existing grid infrastructure. http://www.endurancewindpower.com/distributed_wind_vs_wind_farms.html

Hi Valles, The contest deadline is near! Please don’t forget to complete your proposal so that it is easier for potential supporters to elaborate upon your ideas. Best Sara