MIT's new "invisible" wind turbines float offshore

Thanks to MIT's Paul D. Sclavounos, we might get a reprieve from the eyesore problem of windmills, while still sticking with their clean-and-cheap energy benefits. Unfortunately, hapless birds aren't going to get much of a respite. The plan is to plant these things offshore, far enough out into the water for the skinny white turbines to disappear on the horizon, but we're sure a few seagulls will be able to find those "invisible" blades all the same. The turbines can be anchored in water up to 650 deep, and can withstand even hurricane-generated waves. Another benefit of the system is the strong and steady wind out at sea, so the 90-meter turbines should be able to generate twice as much electricity in comparison to their near-shore counterparts. Count us in, we never liked seagulls too much anyways.

[Dario @ Sep 19th 2006 6:34PM]

Down with the seagulls! theyre the reason why i do stuff...

[Tim @ Sep 19th 2006 6:38PM]

Bird strikes on wind turbines are FAR less frequent than bird strikes on other man-made structures (ever look up when you're downtown in an established city? see all that glass on them new-fangled skyscrapers? wonder why they always have to clean it?). Also, it's all fine and dandy to put these things far offshore, but there still hasn't been an adequate solution to the problem of getting the power back to shore without incurring major transmission losses.

[Surfman @ Sep 19th 2006 6:39PM]

I've heard somewhere (can't remember exactly) that birds are barely affected at all by wind turbines. I would have to agree, I think they're smart enough to aviod an absolutly massive spinning blade of doom

[Luke @ Sep 19th 2006 6:43PM]

MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE...

[Brian C @ Sep 19th 2006 6:58PM]

Can't they come up with some ultra radio noise that frighten all the birds away.

I like their design anyway.

[J1000 @ Sep 19th 2006 7:01PM]

I don't think wind turbines are an eyesore. In fact it makes me glad to see them. They are a symbol of our ability to use technology for good purposes.

[S @ Dec 12th 2007 4:33PM]

I couldn't agree more. It confuses me when so called environmentalists vote AGAINST wind power because of the bird killing, noise, or because they think it will be an eye sore. WTF


http://sustainergysystems.com/News/news-novato-1-18-07.htm

[Chris @ Sep 19th 2006 7:03PM]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power and get some data from both sides of the story. given that data, what birds will be affected that far off shore? how many species nest and migrate that far out?

it doens't take all that much to be out of site, i mean, you can't see the other side of lake erie and it's only about 60 miles. I don't think transmition losses would be any more a problem than the current long-run high voltage lines today.

[E-Rock @ Sep 19th 2006 7:06PM]

Wow, they should combine these designs with the wave power generating devices. Then all that bobbing in the water would be generating power as well as the wind blowing thru them. That could also balance out the variable nature of the wind power generation.

[Jan Holm @ Sep 19th 2006 7:18PM]

Eyesore - I for one think that windmills are beautiful creations. Nice and clean aero design - almost reminds me of apple. Add to that the beauty of making clean natural gadget power.

I feel good whenever I see one of these things.

[happyguy290 @ Sep 19th 2006 7:21PM]

i agree with jan
windmills are cool

[Kaijin @ Sep 19th 2006 7:22PM]

As if tsunami's weren't dangerous enough already, now we're giving them weapons?!

[jbhitter24 @ Sep 19th 2006 7:23PM]

death to all seagulls, ever since they attacked back in disneyland for those $7 french fries (rip-off!)

well, i belive the were going to put some turbines out on the south shore of long island, but there was lots of opposition since they were eyesores. maybe now this will change.

[Shaun @ Sep 19th 2006 7:24PM]

What's new here?

Offshore windfarms are already quite common. The electricity used by the computer I'm typing this on is from an offshore windfarm.

See http://www.npower.com/At_home/Juice-clean_and_green/About_Juice.html

[wung @ Sep 19th 2006 7:26PM]

a new chapter in don quixote's adventure ...

[kyler @ Sep 19th 2006 7:27PM]

driving across southern alberta last summer i thought that the fields full of wind turbines were some of the most beautiful scenery that i have ever seen.

putting the turbines in the sea is a good idea though. the birds will be washed away or sink so that people will stop complaining about them. seriously. if the dead birds didn't drop onto the ground right below the turbines, nobody would care

[Eric @ Sep 20th 2006 11:54PM]

A few hundred more years, and the remaining bird population will learn to fly around the turbines instead of through them.

[kinger @ Sep 19th 2006 7:32PM]

a while back popular scince magazine showed a few different energy ideas. There were also floating turbines, and floats that used currents to get electricity. Also, the wikipedia page is very helpfull. All the possibilities are intruiging, and i find them to be interesting.

[jbstingray @ Sep 19th 2006 7:37PM]

This seems like a great idea... I never thought the current windmills were and eyesore, I always thought of them as sort of cool, seeing an entire field of them.

[xchech @ Sep 19th 2006 7:47PM]

i'm confused on how turbines are an eyesore. driving down the highway i think i would much rather see turbine than a big nasty billboard promoting Mc D's nastiness. at least we know the turbines are promoting health. i wouldnt care if they were floating in the great blue yonder, at least they'd be there. better than not at all.

[Jason @ Sep 19th 2006 8:00PM]

Cats kill thousands more birds than turbines.

[Andrew @ Sep 19th 2006 8:05PM]

It's not just seagulls that would be affected, it's all migratory birds (and there are thousands of varieties).

[Stu @ Sep 19th 2006 8:14PM]

windmills make noise, birds hear that.
windmills spin, birds see that.
windmills use wind, they do not create a pulling force like a "fan"
birds avoid them for these reasons.

[SLP @ Sep 19th 2006 8:19PM]

I would rather have these things in my backyard than those cancer causing smoke towers.

[rex @ Sep 19th 2006 8:23PM]

They should come up with a Hydro-Wind concept with a windmill/turbine combo.

[SteveZ @ Sep 19th 2006 8:28PM]

I agree with all these comments
Windmills have that nice futuristic look - and they are the future

But just wondering, since they are so far off shore and no one can see them, wouldnt it be a little difficult to protect?
From hijacked planes and boats?
As in Bush is trying to scare us all that terrorists will attack anything, anytime?

Seriously, they would make a pretty easy target and loss of power like that could be devastating

[steve @ Sep 19th 2006 9:03PM]

who cares about rats with wings anyway
although i do enjoy buying some Mcdonalds fries and going to the beach
then throwing a few and watching the seagulls mob them

[kinger @ Sep 19th 2006 9:10PM]

testing..testing..12

[Phour ZwanZig @ Sep 19th 2006 9:29PM]

I agree with pretty much everyone here.. Windmills are sweet.. Its a sign of my heritage (being that I'm Dutch).. And my hometown if finally putting up a 'Working Grainmill' as a symbol of the towns heritage..

Windmills have been around for a long time.. I just wish the ppl who try to stop them quit using the birds as an excuse.. Birds are still alive 2day, aren't they..

[@ Sep 19th 2006 9:43PM]

Is wind energy a realistic alternative? I guess it only helps though, even if we can't actually replace dirtier sources of energy completely.

[damian @ Sep 19th 2006 9:48PM]

I don't know what's the big deal with the birds... We are all cooking in this planet because we don't use renewable energy and some idiots complain for the problem that a clean source could cause to a few birds!!!! If you want problems to birds ask to the penguins that were swimming close to the Exxon Valdez

[William @ May 23rd 2008 1:54PM]

Last I heard penguins only lived in the southern hemisphere...

but good point anyway

[Bret @ Sep 19th 2006 9:53PM]

i like the idea.. lets do it!

[Ed @ Sep 19th 2006 9:56PM]

If you start planting too many of these, won't the planet's weather be altered?

[Alden @ Sep 19th 2006 9:57PM]

Yeah, why don't they just put radios blasting a frequency humans can't hear but birds can? Or do we have better hearing than them?

[Shaun @ Sep 19th 2006 10:04PM]

Really, it's not new. We've had them since 2003 in the UK.

http://www.natwindpower.co.uk/northhoyle/index.asp

[r @ Sep 19th 2006 10:19PM]

To all of you who say that windmills aren't an eyesore... i'm sure people made the same statement when they say nuclear reactor cooling towers back when they were new and cool. My point is that they may not be an eyesore now, but we have to think about the future too. Soon windmills will lose their coolness factor and will be just an annoyance (like cooling towers, cell phone towers, power lines, or any other manmade thing in nature). This is not to say that we should stop investing alternate energy sources, just make them as invisible as possible.

[Jan Holm @ Sep 20th 2006 5:00AM]

I live in Denmark - world largest producer of windmills. We've had this new wave of mills since the 80's. 20% percent of our electricity come from these - they are all over the place, and I still find them cool. I even like the woodden mills from the 1800's.

[r @ Sep 19th 2006 10:20PM]

I meant "saw nuclear reactor cooling towers" not "say" (because that would not make sense).

[Sam @ Sep 19th 2006 10:20PM]

Too bad wind power is still a gross misuse of space. Wave generated power is where we should be focusing our energy, if water is going to start being treated like real estate that is.

[Dolomite @ Sep 19th 2006 10:24PM]

I can't think of a worse place to put these eyesores. Putting these there is sure to kill many coastal migratory birds.

[jon @ Sep 19th 2006 10:25PM]

Dead seagulls are good for the enviroment. Such as, food for more seagulls.

[James @ Sep 19th 2006 10:39PM]

MIT has done a lot of cool stuff in the alternative energy sources realm. Their little algae project is pretty interesting too. :)

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2004/algae.html

[Murc @ Sep 19th 2006 11:33PM]

I could care less about the seagales.

I'm sure some will die...but they will be quickly eaten by fish.

Just so people know...the smaller 1.5 MW land ones...the tips of the blades move around 200mph...yes, they look slow from afar...but trust me....those bitches are movin'!

[EatingPie @ Sep 19th 2006 11:40PM]

I find turbines quite beautiful.

[Tom @ Sep 20th 2006 12:18AM]

Windmills are even prettier than nuclear cooling towers...

[Chris H @ Sep 20th 2006 1:07AM]

Wind turbines are like beautiful monuments to gadgets. Everytime I see one I know that it is slaving away to cleanly produce power for my Treo, laptop, PCs, HDTV, DAP, etc.

Keep on turning proud wind turbine!

[Superdotman @ Sep 20th 2006 1:45AM]

Eyesore problem? I happen to like the look of windmills. They're like big fields of naturally grown Apple products. Or something.

[Andrew @ Sep 20th 2006 2:50AM]

As I said before, we're not just talking about "a few seagulls". We're talking about massive numbers of migratory birds. For wind power to be useful, it must be placed in areas of high wind - that same wind that carries these birds around the world on their migration paths.

As to whether these towers are visible to birds or not, who knows? Birds travel pretty fucking fast over the ocean, and don't necessarily look where they're going.

[Gordy @ Sep 20th 2006 8:54AM]

Just goes to prove...people are idiots. First we jump on the 'dependance on foreign oil' bandwagon, then we bitch about seeing windmills on the horizon.

Who cares if it looks good? That damned electrical sub station at the corner looks like crap, and I don't see any tree huggers protesting that! If it works, and it uses less of our natural resources, then government needs to get off it's ass and mandate that they be used.