Low-tech Magazine

Wind powered factories: history (and future) of industrial windmills

In the 1930s and 1940s, decades after steam engines had made wind power obsolete, Dutch researchers obstinately kept improving the – already very sophisticated – traditional windmill.

The results were spectacular, and there is no doubt that today an army of ecogeeks could improve them even further. Would it make sense to revive the industrial windmill and again convert kinetic energy directly into mechanical energy?

Small windmills put to the test

A real-world test performed by the Dutch province of Zeeland (a very windy place) confirms our earlier analysis that small windmills are a fundamentally flawed technology (test results here, pdf in Dutch). Twelve of these much hyped machines were placed in a row on an open plain (picture above). Their energy yield was measured over a period of one year (April 1, 2008 - March 31, 2009), the average wind velocity during these 12 months was 3.8 meters per second (note: update on the wind speed ). Three windmills broke. Find the disappointing results of the others below.

Sailing at the touch of a button

Lloyd Alter at Treehugger talks about our article on cargo ships and wonders if it is time for a new age of sail. One reader comments that sailing boats require a much larger crew than today's cargo vessels, which would make a comeback of wind power unrealistic. Maybe, but these days, sailing boats can also be controlled by computers instead of sailors.

Cargo ships, then and now

On an early afternoon last month, the Eugen Maersk (the world's longest ocean freighter at 1,300 feet) has left Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on the tail end of a journey from Shanghai. But the giant freighter is cruising at 10 knots, well shy of her 26-knot top speed. At about half speed, fuel consumption drops to 100-150 tons of fuel a day from 350 tons, saving as much as $5,000 an hour.

The German Preussen (picture above), the largest sailing ship ever built, was launched in 1902 and travelled mainly between Hamburg (Germany) and Iquique (Chile). It was rammed by a large steam vessel in 1910. A one way trip between Germany and Chile took the cargo vessel between 58 and 79 days. The best average speed over a one way trip was 13.7 knots. The lowest average speed was 10 knots.

One giant container ship can emit almost the same amount of cancer and asthma-causing chemicals as 50 million cars, study finds. Time for a new age of sail.

Picture credit.

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Urban windmills harm the environment

A small windmill on your roof or in the garden is an attractive idea. Unfortunately, micro wind turbines deliver hardly enough energy to power a light bulb. Their financial payback time is much longer than their life expectancy and in urban areas they will not even deliver as much energy as was needed to produce them. Sad, but true.

Floating windmills: energy from the clouds

At great heights the wind blows much more powerfully and steadily than it does at lower altitudes. Some companies are convinced that there lies an opportunity to generate cheap, durable energy.

The most important disadvantage of wind power is that there is not always (enough) wind. Wind turbines only spin one tenth of the time at their maximum output, which makes wind not a very reliable energy source. At higher altitudes, wind conditions are much better. Floating windmills, which send the generated electricity to the earth by means of a cable, could harvest much more energy.

Build your own windmill

Traditional micro-wind turbines are plagued by problems. The "Windbelt", which you can easily build yourself, does not have them.

The revival of the sailing ship

Considering the wind as an extra source of power, the fuel use of cargo ships can be reduced substantially.

Steam power and diesel engines relegated cargo sailing ships to the history books, since motorized ships are a lot faster, cheaper and more reliable. But now that the fuel use of ships and the ecological damage involved passes all bounds, there is a renewed interest in wind power as an extra source of energy; thanks to an extreme water sport.