Pinwheels on car Idea
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Ed Borden
May 7, 2012, 6:02:53 PM5/7/12
to sensemak...@googlegroups.com, Dan Selden, Leif Percifield
This is crazy awesome.
The thing that I wonder, though, is if this is considered an efficient
way of generating power, considering the fact that you have to burn
fuel to move the car to then move the wind turbines.
Leif was floating ideas about turning waterwheels via the shower head,
but that raises the same issue for me. If we are utilizing water
pressure that is somewhere along the way generated by using some other
source of energy (also cutting water pressure in the house, no?), then
is that really scalable?
Regardless, this is the kind of stuff we need to be looking at for
sure. Really cool.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Dan Selden <seld...@newschool.edu>
Date: Mon, May 7, 2012 at 5:43 PM
Subject: Idea
To: Ed Borden <Ed.B...@logmein.com>
I had a new idea... Imagine a series of contained pinwheels housed in
a sleek aerodynamic "fin" which you mount on the top of your car. It
would essentially look like a Baller brandable roof rack. Just
throwing it out there.. Charge your batteries on the go/share with
others when you arrive... I attached a quick mockup of it.
--
Dan Selden
The thing that I wonder, though, is if this is considered an efficient
way of generating power, considering the fact that you have to burn
fuel to move the car to then move the wind turbines.
Leif was floating ideas about turning waterwheels via the shower head,
but that raises the same issue for me. If we are utilizing water
pressure that is somewhere along the way generated by using some other
source of energy (also cutting water pressure in the house, no?), then
is that really scalable?
Regardless, this is the kind of stuff we need to be looking at for
sure. Really cool.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Dan Selden <seld...@newschool.edu>
Date: Mon, May 7, 2012 at 5:43 PM
Subject: Idea
To: Ed Borden <Ed.B...@logmein.com>
I had a new idea... Imagine a series of contained pinwheels housed in
a sleek aerodynamic "fin" which you mount on the top of your car. It
would essentially look like a Baller brandable roof rack. Just
throwing it out there.. Charge your batteries on the go/share with
others when you arrive... I attached a quick mockup of it.
--
Dan Selden
Casper Koomen
May 18, 2012, 9:25:42 AM5/18/12
to sensemak...@googlegroups.com, Dan Selden, Leif Percifield
I think this idea works well for the shower. Somehow there has to be
pressure on the system anyway. With a solution like this you are
reducing the speed with which the water flows away which seems like a
win, especially if part of that is used to generate some electricity.
On a side note: what we hand-pumped water out of the the shower head? (yes, you may laugh)
In the case of the car, the challenge I think is if you can develop a system that yields more energy out of the wind flowing by the car than you loose buring fossil fuel. But what if we turn it around...cars produce draft. Can't we build a similar system close to the road that benefits from that? Like the rising in air pressure when a car approaches, or the drop of it when it passes by. Or perhaps the air pressure that I'm sure exists underneath a car as it moves.
Or another one: a wing on the back of the car that produces energy by resisting the force coming from the air. Or would that give the same problems as the ducts?
-C
On a side note: what we hand-pumped water out of the the shower head? (yes, you may laugh)
In the case of the car, the challenge I think is if you can develop a system that yields more energy out of the wind flowing by the car than you loose buring fossil fuel. But what if we turn it around...cars produce draft. Can't we build a similar system close to the road that benefits from that? Like the rising in air pressure when a car approaches, or the drop of it when it passes by. Or perhaps the air pressure that I'm sure exists underneath a car as it moves.
Or another one: a wing on the back of the car that produces energy by resisting the force coming from the air. Or would that give the same problems as the ducts?
-C
Dan Selden
May 18, 2012, 10:13:37 AM5/18/12
to Casper Koomen, sensemak...@googlegroups.com, Leif Percifield
The car system is not necessarily more efficient… drag will be created but if designed right the addition would be tiny… aerodynamically or perhaps vents in the grill. I actually just stumbled across some awesome software from Autodesk Labs that lets you model wind flows. Im excited to play around with it.
In terms of the car pushing energy through a median, there are actually already a number of precedents and a large number of discussions online… one median somewhere in Japan (maybe) powers a tram that runs between two sides of the highway. Here is one company doing something similar:
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