turbines

All the world's greatest wind power resources are offshore – often a long way offshore, where the water's so deep that it's impractical to build typical fan-on-a-stick wind turbines with bases sunk deep into the sea floor. Floating wind, at this stage, is so vastly expensive to build, deploy and maintain that it ends up costing two to three times as much per kilowatt-hour of energy as fixed-bottom offshore installations. There's a huge opportunity here for technological advancement, and companies like Norway's World Wide…

We interviewed the core team at Norway's World Wide Wind (WWW) to learn more about its floating, tilting, contra-rotating, double turbine design, which it says can unlock unprecedented scale, power and density to radically lower the cost of offshore wind. To briefly recap our article from August 30, WWW has designed a floating offshore wind turbine unlike any other. Indeed, it's two vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs) in one, tuned to rotate in opposite directions. With one turbine attached to the generator's rotor, and…

Norway's World Wide Wind has a radically different take on offshore wind power. These floating, vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs) feature two sets of blades, tuned to contra-rotate – and they promise more than double the output of today's biggest turbines.Taking wind farms way offshore can certainly help make them less obtrusive, and open up a lot more opportunities – but as the ocean gets deeper, conventional horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWTs) begin making less and less sense. HAWTs need to hold a lot of heavy…

The blades of a wind turbine are typically designed to be replaced about every 20 years. This means that, as wind energy becomes more popular, more and more of these hulking fiberglass structures will be discarded, and many of them could end up buried in the ground. To encourage recycling the blades instead, one research team has developed a binding resin—the ingredient that holds their fibrous material together—that can be transformed into more valuable substances. “We’ve specifically designed a system with the end of…

The wind is great for producing electricity without generating greenhouse gas emissions. But there’s a dirty secret — what happens to turbines at the end of their life?  This week, a study by the University of South Australia’s Future Industries Institute revealed the huge waste legacy of discarded wind turbines. And the problem is only getting worse.  Hi there, EV nerd!Subscribe now for a weekly recap of our favorite mobility storiesAnd as more countries transition from gas to wind energy,…

Renewable energy potential is not distributed evenly. Japan, for example, has sub-par solar potential and nowhere near the wind potential of Western Europe or the United States. It's also currently ranked fifth in the world for electricity consumption, and adding nuclear power will be politically difficult in the wake of Fukushima, meaning that its race to zero emissions will require more innovation than most if it wishes to maintain energy independence. One thing Japan does have is lots of coastline and control over the…

Deep beneath the waves there's a source of power quite unlike any other. To tap into it, Japanese engineers have constructed a true leviathan, a beast capable of withstanding the strongest of ocean currents to transform its flow into a virtually limitless supply of electricity.  Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries – now known simply as IHI Corporation – has been tinkering with the technology for over a decade now, partnering with New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) in 2017 to put their…

KPMG LLP agreed to pay a fine after the Financial Reporting Council found shortfalls in its audit of Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC, the British jet engine manufacturer that settled bribery allegations in 2017. The U.K. audit regulator on Tuesday said it imposed sanctions of £3.4 million—equivalent to $4.2 million—against the professional-services firm and £112,500 against audit partner Anthony Sykes. The investigation, which the FRC announced in 2017, focused on…

Alongside their natural beauty, coral reefs have an important role to play in the natural world. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, around one quarter of the ocean's fish rely on healthy coral reefs.Reinhard Dirscherl | Ullstein Bild | Getty ImagesDanish energy firm Orsted plans to try growing corals on the foundations of offshore wind turbines to find out if the method can be carried out on a larger scale.In hand with Taiwanese partners, the concept will be trialed in "the tropical waters…