There should be a science & technology quiz to qualify for commenting on this kind of article.
Joseph Gregory - good thinking. If only there was some way of storing the electricity generated on windy days and deploying it on windless days. I've got some initial ideas for something I'm calling a "battery".
Anonymous Cowrd: "you ever notice how all the electric cars NEVER seem to have your basic mini wind turbines designed in"; yes, and for good reason - that's a bloody stupid idea. Put simply, it won't work. The increased resistance to your motion will more than counteract the energy generated by the turbine. To do otherwise would be to create a perpetual motion machine that generates more energy than you put in. Using them whilst stationary to harness any passing wind would technically work, but the amount you could reasonably get with a turbine of a suitable size for putting on a car wouldn't be worth the effort, frankly.
Register
There should be a science & technology quiz to qualify for commenting on this kind of article.
Joseph Gregory - good thinking. If only there was some way of storing the electricity generated on windy days and deploying it on windless days. I've got some initial ideas for something I'm calling a "battery".
Anonymous Cowrd: "you ever notice how all the electric cars NEVER seem to have your basic mini wind turbines designed in"; yes, and for good reason - that's a bloody stupid idea. Put simply, it won't work. The increased resistance to your motion will more than counteract the energy generated by the turbine. To do otherwise would be to create a perpetual motion machine that generates more energy than you put in. Using them whilst stationary to harness any passing wind would technically work, but the amount you could reasonably get with a turbine of a suitable size for putting on a car wouldn't be worth the effort, frankly.