A prototype of the Vortex. Vortex Bladeless

By Liz Stinson

A Spanish company called Vortex Bladeless is proposing a radical new way to generate wind energy that will once again upend what you see outside your car window.

Their idea is the Vortex, a bladeless wind turbine that looks like a giant rolled joint shooting into the sky. The Vortex has the same goals as conventional wind turbines: To turn breezes into kinetic energy that can be used as electricity. But it goes about it in an entirely different way.

Instead of capturing energy via the circular motion of a propeller, the Vortex takes advantage of what’s known as vorticity, an aerodynamic effect that produces a pattern of spinning vortices. Vorticity has long been considered the enemy of architects and engineers, who actively try to design their way around these whirlpools of wind. And for good reason: With enough wind, vorticity can lead to an oscillating motion in structures, which, in some cases, like the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, can cause their eventual collapse.

Where designers see danger, Vortex Bladeless’s founders—David Suriol, David Yáñez, and Raul Martín—sees opportunity. “We said, ‘Why don’t we try to use this energy, not avoid it,’” Suriol says. The team started Vortex Bladeless in 2010 as a way to turn this vibrating energy into something productive.

Wired

Look Mom, No Blades.

Try not to giggle when you watch these bladeless turbines oscillating to capture and produce energy.  It is an amazing design which will also save the lives of many bird species.

I also found a YouTube video that explains this amazing design:

Categories: Business, Climate science, Conservation, Economics, Energy policy, Environment, Environmental policy, Science, Spain, Technology, Wind and solar power

Tags: bladeless wind turbines