Comments on: Power Generating Wind Dam by Chetwood Associates

By: otuttle

otuttle — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 17:48:12 +0000

I don’t think this design is practical. I’m a sailor, and use kevlar sails when I race. While only racing about twice a week, the sails need to be replaced nearly every season. Kevlar is strong but brittle. That wind dam wouldn’t last a year. Also, the spinnaker shape is optimized for pressure/pull, not for diverting wind. I would suggest more of a cone shape.

By: enviroman

enviroman — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 23:49:29 +0000

This is a test, to see if it will work, you don\’t test with the environment!
We know that when a water dam is built, it destroys environment upstream from the dam, as the water backs up.
With this, what will be the effect to the environment down stream from the dam, there are systems that need a steady wind to grow properly.
Second, the size, and the cost. Can\’t this all be assessed with a model in a wind tunnel, or is it just the fact they have 2.5 million to throw away.
My fear is that once it is constructed, it will not ever come down.
We have seen this type of project before.
To say it bluntly, it will be a blight on the landscape

By: Nature Guy

Nature Guy — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 05:10:02 +0000

hey i really dont think we should joke around with the nature like this… Im an industrial design major but this is just wrong… last place to put men made stuffs should be inside of beautiful preserved nature. Are we going to keep building new stuffs? or are we going to try to fix stuffs that we have so we don’t have to keep making stuffs?
Just because you make something that is going to look beautiful with nature, is that going to be a good design? I really don’t know if I should ever agree to this kind of design. It’s blocking sun light to certain areas and definitly scientific look. I think the big issue to me is the size and the placement.

By: Jillian

Jillian — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 08:16:15 +0000

and me, with the brain i have, went “wait, didnt they just put up HUGE wind diverting sculptures in calgary to SLOW the wind down?”….between the really high buildings in a city where its more often than not very windy. what with the chinook winds and all
they could do that in just about any city if the turbine didnt need to be rooted to the ground and being rooted to a building instead worked.
just pitch a sail and hang a trubine from it between two buildings and then voila, wind energy

By: gabriel

gabriel — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 16:56:25 +0000

so what if the wind blows, or even severely gusts, in the other direction?

By: Northern Russia Wind Dam | SCREAM to be GREEN .::. join the ecolution

Northern Russia Wind Dam | SCREAM to be GREEN .::. join the ecolution — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 03:11:32 +0000

[...] This is a proposed project for a lake in northern Russia. The sail would be 25 meters x 75 meters and cost somewhere in the neighborhood of £2.5. Read more at Inhabitat. [...]

By: Tech News » Blog Archive » Kite-like Sail Proposed as Wind Power Agent in Eastern Europe

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 00:02:21 +0000

[...] Thanks to [Inhabitat] [...]

By: The Wind Dam « Ireneo’s Memory

The Wind Dam « Ireneo’s Memory — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 18:13:30 +0000

[...] The Wind Dam November 25, 2007 at 6:13 pm | In CG, FutureTech, Technology | An ambitious proposal to harness the power of the wind directly. [...]

By: MILITANTPLATYPUS » Blog Archive » Chetwood Associates - Wind Dam

MILITANTPLATYPUS » Blog Archive » Chetwood Associates - Wind Dam — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 15:55:56 +0000

[...] Just like it sounds, the wind dam blocks a funnels the wind into a turbine, therefore creating a sustainable source of power. The jury is still out on its overall environmental impact, as well as its efficiency, but over all the project has some very exciting implications. inhabitat.com [...]

By: J.

J. — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 20:02:52 +0000

It may come to projects like this in future, if we continue to mess up the environment at thecurrent rate. For now, though, surely there better alternatives …

… because this is simply an ugly blight on a beautiful landscape.

By: Erik van Lennep

Erik van Lennep — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 19:28:59 +0000

I agree with TinTex on the bird issue. But I would like to see how the power generated compares with a hydro electric dam in a similar location. If the wind dam turbines could be stacked or set in relays, could they obviate big power dams and all of their monstrous social upheaval and ecological destruction? Many power dams are also situated in gorges where the wind dam would presumably work. Of course the wind dam would not necessarily need the water would it?

By: TinTex

TinTex — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 17:02:08 +0000

Hopefully it will include some means to prevent funnelling birds and other wildlife, as well as wind, through the turbine.

By: Daan Murray

Daan Murray — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 06:35:50 +0000

definitely a giant banana hammock. but a sustainable one at that

By: Nick Simpson

Nick Simpson — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 03:17:16 +0000

That’s stunning (although I can see the bikini reference… Not that it’s a bad thing either…). Will it work if the wind blows in the opposite direction though? Either way, I think this is a genuinely beautiful and seemingly efficient energy solution…

By: Colin

Colin — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 16:30:35 +0000

“bird dipping its beak into the water” or GIANT BIKINI BOTTOM?