The French startup company,
New Wind, has developed a
wind turbine that looks like a tree. Wind turbines, also known as windmills/wind pumps have been used since 200BC. They convert kinetic energy from the wind into electrical power.
These beautiful bundles of energy are quiet, powerful, and use half the wind of traditional turbines. Each tree costs about $37,000 and will reportedly pay for themselves within 2 years. The company hopes to mass produce them by early 2016.
French entrepreneur Jérôme Michaud-Larivière came up with the design one day while noticing the way the wind rustled the leaves on trees, lifting and spinning them, and he wondered if a wind energy device based on that could generate energy.
His design so far has a power output of 3.1 kW, which isn't a huge capacity for energy generating, but a street lined with these wind trees could power city street lights or help to offset the power consumption of nearby buildings.
Special thanks to Freya Malin.
Photos by NewWind, the company which created the wind trees.