Biomimicry
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Hummingbird Inspired Wind Turbines

Hummingbird Inspired Wind Turbines | Biomimicry | Scoop.it

"A North African company has developed what it contends is a paradigm-shifting wind turbine technology based on the flapping of hummingbird wings. Any potential paradigm shifts are down the road a bit, but based on some remarkable images and new demo videos, the clean energy machine may be the prettiest wind turbine ever invented. Developed by Tyer Wind, a startup based in Tunisia, the turbine uses biomimicry principles to replicate the mechanical action of hummingbird wings. The design is fundamentally different from standard rotor-based wind turbines because instead of converting linear motion - wind blowing across the land - into a circular motion, it converts it into a figure-eight pattern. Not only is that shape the same as the one hummingbird wings make while the birds hover, but it also generates energy on both the upstroke and the downstroke.

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Biomimicry Helps Reduce Wind Turbine Noise

Biomimicry Helps Reduce Wind Turbine Noise | Biomimicry | Scoop.it

"Many species of owl are able to hunt in effective silence by suppressing their noise at sound frequencies above 1.6 kilohertz (kHz) - over the range that can be heard by humans.
A team of researchers studying the acoustics of owl flight—including Justin W. Jaworski, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and mechanics at Lehigh University—is working to pinpoint the mechanisms that accomplish this virtual silence in order to improve the aerodynamic design of wind turbines, aircraft, naval ships and even automobiles. Now, the team has succeeded—through physical experiments and theoretical modeling—in using the downy canopy of owl feathers as a model to inspire the design of a 3D-printed, wing attachment that reduces wind turbine noise by 10 decibels without impacting aerodynamics."

Marcelo Errera's curator insight, November 26, 2016 7:58 AM
Very interesting feature. Indeed Nature has undergone a long process of design evolution. 
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Wind Turbines With Owl Wings Could Silently Make Extra Energy

Wind Turbines With Owl Wings Could Silently Make Extra Energy | Biomimicry | Scoop.it

"Moving silently through the air is not just for the birds. Wind farms inspired by the stealthy flight of owls could generate more energy without annoying those who live nearby, say researchers."

Altin Pevqeli's curator insight, September 14, 2015 10:26 PM

If they did make turbines inspired by the flight of owls which is silent, it would be a tremendous job. It would solve one of the biggest problems of turbine which is noise. If there isn't much noise people wouldn't mind them, making it so people could build more in areas.

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Revamped Wind Turbine Takes Design Inspiration From Dragonflies

Revamped Wind Turbine Takes Design Inspiration From Dragonflies | Biomimicry | Scoop.it

"When compared to traditional turbines, the Dragonfly Invisible Wind Turbine can withstand stronger winds, and is capable of functioning in low-intensity winds. The technique lies in the slim-line design of the turbines, which is developed to mimic the form of a dragonfly in flight and how it can glide through gale-force winds."

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Energy and the Environment-A Coastal Perspective

Energy and the Environment-A Coastal Perspective | Biomimicry | Scoop.it

"The great artist Leonardo Da Vinci once said, “Those who are inspired by a model other than Nature, a mistress above all masters, are laboring in vain.” The developing field of biomimicry seeks to learn from “the world’s greatest teacher” by modeling technology after organism’s unique features.  This form of engineering is now being applied to the world of renewable energy sources as shown in two of the devices discussed below: BioSTREAM, a tidal energy device, and turbine blade tubercles, a wind harnessing device." 

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Wind Turbines Inspired by Insect Wings are 35% More Efficient

Wind Turbines Inspired by Insect Wings are 35% More Efficient | Biomimicry | Scoop.it

"Wind turbines produce 4% of the planet’s energy, but they only work well when the wind is blowing just right. Now, by drawing inspiration from the flexible wings of insects, scientists have found a way to make wind turbine blades 35% more efficient at producing energy. If commercialized, the advance could make this green technology a more viable alternative to fossil fuels in the coming years."

Marcelo Errera's curator insight, February 20, 2017 7:21 PM
Another interesting example of design evolution. Those blades provide a good compromise between drag and net torque. It is a finite-size system which design is evolving to facilitate the flow of energy from the wind to a rotating axis.
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WhalePower’s Tubercle Technology Licensed to TEG

WhalePower’s Tubercle Technology Licensed to TEG | Biomimicry | Scoop.it
The Canadian company WhalePower has granted an exclusive, worldwide, manufacturing license to TEG, a German company specialized in efficient, green forms of energy generation, to use WhalePower’s Tubercle Technology to create retrofit blade kits for wind turbines. Tubercle Technology is inspired by the flippers of Humpback Whales and can be used to improve the efficiency of turbines, compressors, pumps and fans.

 
Jenny84's curator insight, May 13, 2016 2:18 PM
Check this! It's quite interesting. What do you think?
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Tree-shaped Wind-turbines Shows Biomimicry at its Best

Tree-shaped Wind-turbines Shows Biomimicry at its Best | Biomimicry | Scoop.it

"... a French company called NewWind has been developing aesthetically pleasing, tree-shaped turbines meant to run silently within cities, at ground level. The innovation is simple named “L’Arbre à Vent” or in English “The Wind Tree”. The tree features 72 artificial leaves where each leave is a small turbine that rotates around a vertically directed axis. The leaves are very light-weight, which means that they can generate power from very small amounts of wind. Actually it takes nothing more than 4.4 mph (2 meters/second) of wind for them to function, and this is amount of wind is equal to a gentle breeze."


Photo: Michaud LARIVIERE, http://www.cite-telecoms.com/decouvr/arbre-a-vent/

Michael Holder's curator insight, January 13, 2015 6:43 PM

Perhaps the beginning of the end and the extinction of mammoth Industrial Wind Turbines and their globally corrupt Corporate boon-doggle. One can only hope - good riddance!  

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Are "School of Fish" Turbine Arrays a Red Herring?

Are "School of Fish" Turbine Arrays a Red Herring? | Biomimicry | Scoop.it

"Gizmag takes a deeper look at John Dabiri's school of fish wind turbine array concept, and wonders whether the idea of packing turbines into as tight a space as possible might overlook some wind energy fundamentals."

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Filter Feeding Basking Shark Inspires More Efficient Hydroelectric Turbine

Filter Feeding Basking Shark Inspires More Efficient Hydroelectric Turbine | Biomimicry | Scoop.it

Industrial design student Anthony Reale has borrowed from the basking shark to create ‘strait power,’ a water-powered turbine generator that tests have shown is 40 percent more efficient than current designs.

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