Bumble Bee Turbines: The Latest Buzz in Sustainable Energy
By now, many of us have seen wind turbines in use, whether in a field, on a mountain or—most recently—off shore. They loom overhead like modernized windmill-type structures, all with the same edged form. Now, what if someone changed that form; what if they took a structure built to help nature and transformed it into something inspired by nature. That’s exactly what those at Green Wavelength have done.
Image source: greenwavelength.com
This green, California-based company has been creating new wind turbine prototypes, modeled after the wing movements of bumble bees, dragonflies and hummingbirds. Their first attempt at this would be the XBEE Alpha, which has a 19 ft (5.8 m) wingspan and utilizes 2 blades to move in patterns similar to the wings of a bee or small creatures of flight. Unfortunately, as with all alpha-phase prototypes, the XBEE still has some bugs of its own to remove before proceeding to the next phase. During its unveiling, the controller overheated and stopped working properly.
Luckily, Green Wavelength has a good backup plan. They are in the process of creating smaller, more efficient turbines for small business and home usage, with a focus on the 1-10kW market. It would also seem as if Nature may play a role in future projects of theirs, as well. There is a mysterious mentioning of “Oysters and the Solar Thermal World” on their website. One may wonder what interesting device they will create from such an inspiration. Whatever it is, I’m sure it will be a pearl from the depths of the climate change sea we are all drowning in.
By Heidi Marshall
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Tags: Green Wavelength, renewable energy, wind turbines, XBEE Alpha
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