Turbines without the twist

Even if the first wind turbine is older than you think (the first electrical turbine was created in 1888 by a Scottish academic named James Blyth), there is always space for innovation and new ideas on the market. 

I'm talking about a new Bladeless Turbine that, instead of transforming rotational movement in energy, uses vibrations and electromagnetic induction to create electricity. It basically uses friction as a more effective way of producing energy.

What is interesting about these new turbines, is that, for the same amount of produced energy, when compared with the old ones, they cost 40% less  to set up and maintain and they obviously us a lot less space. Sadly, they capture 30% less energy than normal turbines (for now), but they are completely silent. So why am I wondering if this is a good idea or not?

Well, first of all, they honestly look awful compared to the old wind turbines. Maybe its just me, but I'm picturing a field of these odd looking, vibrating structures where they are all very close together due to the fact that they use much less space than a normal turbine and its not very pretty...

Remember driving down a field of massively tall wind turbines that turn slowly and look very majestic? Now, replace all of those turbines with this new one and bring them all a lot closer together; they look futuristic, but they also just look like a social grouping of industrial chimneys.

And then there is the question of wind energy vs solar energy. Which one should we invest in? Well, from what the market looks like today, and from what is expected in the next 25 years, we can easily see that solar energy is going to generate more than our turbines. This is primarily due to the numerous innovations and the demands in the fields of energy storage and solar panels.

Electrical energy is set to grow fast due to new, high-performance and cheap batteries that will be accessible to everyone. For wind electricity, innovation seems slow, and all we can do for now is plant more and more turbines.

But don't get me wrong, I can't imagine the future without wind turbines and I think that a good electrical economy needs both Wind and Solar Energy to get the most out of what we can harvest. It simply seems to me that Solar Energy has a brighter future ahead.

For a bit more drops of future, visit: 

- http://techdrive.co/Bladeless-Turbine
- http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/16/8615089/vortex-bladeless-wind-turbines-shake-to-generate-     electricity 
- http://www.vortexbladeless.com/home.php