Tree Windmill (1901)

December 6, 2010 by kris de decker Filed Under: Random, Trees, Wind Power, Windmills

windmill treeLast year, William Kamkwamba made headlines around the world with his crude windmills built out of tree trunks and scavenged materials.

He could have saved himself some work if he had seen the illustration on the right, which I copied from a 1901 Dutch newspaper. The accompanying text says:

“Windmills are ugly contraptions and many attempts have been made to make them look better. This illustration shows how nature and mechanics can coexist.”

“It is a windmill constructed in combination with two trees. The trees only serve as a support for the upper part and for the ladder to reach the top. The mill was built in Illinois (US) and worked so well that several have been constructed.”

I could not find any more information about it.

Small wind turbines put to the test (2)

September 15, 2010 by kris de decker Filed Under: Wind Power, Wind turbines

The Oil Drum runs an extended and rewritten version of our 2009 article on small wind turbines – including additional tests results from the UK.

“Two real-world tests performed in the Netherlands and in the UK confirm our earlier analysis that small wind turbines are a fundamentally flawed technology. Their financial payback time is much longer than their life expectancy, and in urban areas, some poorly placed wind turbines will not even deliver as much energy as needed to operate them (let alone energy needed to produce them). Given their long payback period relative to their life expectancy, most small wind turbines are net energy consumers rather than net energy producers.”

Wind Powered Trikes

July 19, 2010 by kris de decker Filed Under: Bicycles, Bikes, Human power, Pedal power, Random, Recumbent tricycles, Travel, Tricycles, Trikes, Wind Power, Wind powered vehicles

wind powered trike 1

Pterosail Trike Systems is sailing and cycling over 3,000 miles from coast to coast across the USA this summer. The Pterosail is a street-legal recumbent tricycle with sails. It can reach up to 40 mph in good winds. No wind? Pedal. See also, below: the Whike, a Dutch made sail assisted trike.

wind powered trike 2

Related: Guido Vigevano’s wind car / Sailing rockets / Kiteboating / Velomobiles.

Sailing Directly into the Wind

January 12, 2010 by kris de decker Filed Under: Boats, Sailing ships, Travel, Wind Power, Windmills

Sailing into the wind 5

“In the late 90s/early 2000s my interest was in developing boats that can sail directly into the wind. To some, this seems impossible, and they find it hard to accept that it is possible to overcome the wind using the force of the wind itself. This technology has further implications also, it can allow a boat, or a buoy, to remain stationary in the water, unsecured, no matter how hard the wind blows without using any fuel. Having revived the project recently (2008) I am doing further research.”

I cannot help but admire the simplicity of the design. Find all information here.

Windmills and Wind Motors – How to Build and Run Them (1910)

December 15, 2009 by kris de decker Filed Under: DIY, Random, Wind Power, Wind turbines, Windmills

windmills DIY

“I have endeavoured in the following pages not only to interest the practical amateur in a branch of mechanics unfortunately much neglected, but also to present a series of practical original designs that should prove useful to every reader from the youngest to the most advanced.”

Chapter 1 : windmill evolution
Chapter 2 : a small working model windmill
Chapter 3 : a small American type windmill
Chapter 4 : a small working windmill
Chapter 5 : a practical working windmill
Chapter 6 : production of electricity by wind power

Windmills and wind motors – how to build and run them (1910).

Related:

Floating Citadels, Powered by Wind and Water Mills

November 7, 2009 by kris de decker Filed Under: Balloons, Boats, Ferries, History, Inventions that never made it, Military technology, Random, Shipping, War technology, Warfare, Water wheels, Weapons, Wind Power, Windmills

floating citadels

This engraving, published in 1798, shows the gigantic St. Malo raft, designed in 1791 during the French Revolution. The engraving informs us that this extraordinary structure was 600 feet long by 300 broad, mounts 500 pieces of cannon, 36 and 48-pounders, and is to convey 15,000 troops for the invasion of England. In the midst is a bomb-proof, metal-sheathed citadel.

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