Tag Archives: wheel

The wind turbine could get a snazzy green facelift, thanks to Dutch architects

by FreemanHpu Posted on February 24, 2015

Reinventing the wheel

The wind turbine could get a snazzy green facelift, thanks to Dutch architects

By on 24 Feb 2015commentsShare

The Netherlands just keeps one-upping the rest of the world. Recently, a Dutch construction firm installed a solar panel bike lane and then engineers went ahead and made another bike path glow-in-the-dark. Not that we’re keeping score or anything.

Now, the Dutch Windwheel Corporation has plans to build a 570-foot structure in Rotterdam that would be equal parts architectural marvel and green-tech wünderkind. Basically, the project would turn the wind turbine* into a high-tech real-estate development.

Here’s Smithsonian with the science:

The Wind Wheel’s design, made of two massive rings and an underwater foundation, plans to incorporate other green technologies, including solar panels, rainwater capture and biogas creation. The biogas will be created from the collected waste of residents of the 72 apartments and 160 hotel rooms that are planned for the inner ring.

The outer ring is set to house 40 cabins that move along a rail like a roller coaster, giving tourists a view of the city and the surrounding countryside, much like the London Eye or Las Vegas’ High Roller, which became the world’s tallest observation wheel when it opened in 2014. The cabins have glass “smart walls” that project information — the current weather, for example, and the heights and architects of buildings — onto the panorama. A restaurant and shops are also planned within the proposed structure.

Another plus: The wind wheel would also be a hub for new green technology businesses and an opportunity to create more jobs in the country.

Sounds sweet, right?

Well, here’s the catch: The technology needed to complete the project is still in the works. More from Smithsonian:

While aspects of the Wind Wheel’s design seem futuristic, the technology will have several years to advance before final construction gets underway. Duzan Boepel, the project’s principal architect, says that the Wind Wheel is still in its beginning phases. … He says if they prove that the wheel’s bladeless turbine tech can be scaled up for use in the Wind Wheel, the building may be finished by 2025.

Yeah, we will all be dreaming about this for the next decade. And yes, the Netherlands could win another batch of green points.

*We originally referred to a Wind Wheel as a windmill, not a wind turbine. Like grist to the mill, windmills are for grinding. Grist regrets the error and has sentenced the author to grinding the grain for an entire stroopwafel by hand.

Source:
This Dutch Wind Wheel Is Part Green Tech Showcase, Part Architectural Attraction

, Smithsonian.

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The wind turbine could get a snazzy green facelift, thanks to Dutch architects

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Wall Street Wants to Lend You Money to Fight Climate Change

by berrywood1 Posted on April 22, 2014

Mother Jones

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This story originally appeared in The Atlantic and is republished here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

The latest series of reports from the United Nation Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned in stark terms the catastrophic consequences of the world’s governments’ decades-long foot-dragging on limiting greenhouse gas emissions.

But what can you do? For one thing, fix up your damn house. That furnace, from the Reagan era, the inefficient water heater, the drafty windows? They’re directly contributing to climate change. Homes consume 22 percent of the US’s energy and, along with commercial buildings, account for 10 percent of the United States’ greenhouse gas emissions.

The chances of the US government enacting a carbon tax, emissions trading scheme or taking other sweeping action to tackle climate change may be next to nil. But thanks to an innovative new initiative from financial conglomerate Citi, the Pennsylvania state treasury and non-profits, homeowners across the country soon will be able to tap a $100 million fund to instantly secure low-cost loans to do everything from installing solar panels on their roof to replacing that roof. Contractors will authorized to offer the loans, meaning no need to deal with state or local bureaucrats who will administer the program.

It’s just another example of how financial innovation has become key to getting the green tech innovations dreamed up in Silicon Valley into the hands of homeowners as well as prompting them to undertake low-tech efforts like insulating their attics.

“There’s no question that energy efficiency technology has outpaced the financial technology,” Cisco DeVries, chief executive of Renewable Funding, an Oakland, California, company that designs green energy-financing programs, told The Atlantic.

Renewable Funding later this year will begin to securitize the loans–called Warehouse for Energy Efficiency Loans, or WHEEL–and sell the securities to pension funds and other investors. That will generate a cash flow to fund further energy efficiency improvements.

“What we’ve set up is an indefinitely scalable program,” says DeVries. “We can purchase loans and securitize them and the more we do it, the cheaper the funds become. This has no limit to its capacity.”

It will certainly need to scale. According to a 2009 McKinsey study it’ll take $229 billion to cut home energy use by about a third.

Still, until WHEEL most homeowners faced with spending five figures on just replacing their windows either had to tap home equity lines or their high-interest credit cards to pay for such improvements. And people tend to make energy efficiency fixes piece-meal, replacing the hot water heater when it breaks, for instance.

The availability of a five, seven or 10-year loan would encourage people to obtain energy audits and comprehensive upgrades to their homes. The payoff is lower energy bills that would help pay back the loans.

Three years in the works, WHEEL is based on a successful Pennsylvania program and initially is available in that state and Kentucky. DeVries expects California and other states to be added by the end of 2014 with nationwide coverage in 2015.

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Wall Street Wants to Lend You Money to Fight Climate Change

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