Introducing: Windstalks

Many will agree that wind turbine power is within the scope of the new wave of alternative energy sources currently on the market. However, there are a few cons to wind turbines. They have been known to kill bats and birds that fly too close to the blades. Then the blades can sometimes be noisy as they make their revolutions.
They are also notoriously hard to install. With a new year, it only makes sense that a redesigned wind turbine should exist. Enter New York design firm: Atelier DNA’s concept of wind stalks (as opposed to turbines). Just the way cat tails sway in the breeze, these will too. Though, unlike cat tails, when these wave, they generate energy.
Appropriately named “windstalks”, this idea came in second at the Land Art Generator competition. This is a competition seeking the best energy generating work of art. Submissions came from all over the world. The windstalks will be featured in Masdar.
Masdar is an automobile free city that measures 2.3 square miles, being planned just outside of the island capital of the Untied Arab Emirates: Abu Dhabi.
Initially, the design calls for 1,203 stalks. Each will be reinforced at the bottom with cement planks anywhere as wide as 33 to 66 feet.
Additionally, each stalk will stand 180 feet tall. At the base, they’ll be about a foot wide. However, at the top, they’ll only measure a few inches wide.
They’ll be composed of carbon fiber, reinforced to withstand the elements with resin. To read more, go here.



