How tall can a wind turbine go? Professor Eric Loth hopes to build a 1,650 foot high turbine out at sea and is exploring 3D printing blades.

Wind energy is a powerful resource but experts are always looking for ways to improve the technology’s efficiency. Could the answer be to go bigger?

Currently, wind power represents two-thirds of all the renewable energy in America installed in the last ten years. But the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates more could be done. It reckons that building turbines which are 140 meters — as opposed to the regular 80 — could almost double the land area across the country where wind power is cost-effective.

And Eric Loth is an engineering professor at the University of Virginia who wants to go even further. His goal is to build a wind turbine which is more than five times taller than the Statue of Liberty.

By creating towers of 500 meters, Loth believes it’s possible to generate up to 50 megawatts (MW). That’s around six times more power than produced by current turbines.

Loth explains his lofty ambitions:

“The larger a turbine, the more powerful and efficient it becomes, and that reduces the cost of energy… Ultimately, cost is going to drive decisions about energy much more than anyone’s opinion on climate change.”

Such a gigantic turbine, of course, requires huge rotor blades. Loth visualizes creating blades — potentially with 3D printing — which can bend in turbulent weather.

 

Bio-Inspired Wind Turbine Can Respond to Weather

There are two major changes that Loth is proposing to standard wind turbine design. Firstly, to create blades which are located down wind. And second, to ensure they change in response to the weather. By doing this, the blades flex away from the tower during high winds.

“We’re bio-inspired,” he says. “Oaks trees and palm trees are both tall trees, but if you’re in a hurricane-prone area near the ocean, a palm tree will survive where an oak won’t.”

To create the palm tree inspired turbines, Loth is considering using high-tech materials, such as carbon fiber, which will allow for sturdy, large structures. However, to utilize the materials, Loth explains: “We’re also looking at ways to 3D print the blades, allowing much more novel shapes and geometries.”

Unfortunately, it could be at least a decade before we see these massive wind turbines dotting the horizon. “I wouldn’t expect to see our turbines out there in the marketplace for maybe 10 years,” he says.

But we will see some other developments sooner than that. Thanks to a $3.7 million grant from the US Department of Energy, Loth is creating a prototype next summer. It will be a lot smaller than the final size.

If this prototype performs as expected, Loth will be fundraising for a larger demonstration model. He believes his 50MW turbine could cut the cost of wind power in half, but commercialisation may take some time.

Source: NBC News