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Scientist eyes energy burst from 'typhoon turbine'

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Furthermore, the threat of typhoons can turn these turbines into matchsticks, unlike Shimizu’s more durable creation.

Please stop with the over exaggerations here! We have quite a few of these 3 bladed types down here and we have literally the strongest typhoons to hit Japan and there has NEVER been typhoon, even ones with recorded winds of over 90m/s , to turn the turbine into "matchsticks".

If this guys invention works then by all means build them and put them all over the place, the compact size could also open up, potentially, a private, consumer driven market, beyond the commercial one, like solar panels on houses, these turbines would be great too! I for one would love to have one, particularly during a typhoon, when power often goes out.

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“If we can invent a wind turbine that suits Japan’s environment, we’ll be able to build them in many other places around the world that have a similar climate,” Shimizu said.

“That’s our dream.”

Bravo. In a renewable based energy Japan, this is what you want, entrepreneurial thinking.

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Great idea, there must be a better more energy efficient way to make electricity from wind, water etc. The windfarms we have now are proven to be inefficient.

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Healthy pessimism and healthy optimism are in order.

We are not in any WORSE situation now in terms of renewable energy than we were last year and the year before, but I am stunned by the number of people who have little understanding of the problem, yet who are willing to bust on utilities at leisure, or complain that "if we only had better technology," or who think that some battery company is going to save the planet.

So we should start with the pessimism. Yesterday, Trump and Co. rolled back America's position on renewables, emissions targets, regulation, etc. and pretty well singlehandedly let global leadership on environmental issues pass to China. And China has earned it. How? By embracing nuclear technology, huge hydro projects, a crash solar program, and a crash wind program, and national programs, often overlooked that encourage solar water heating and electric vehicles. They saw their energy needs and they are fulfilling them. But policy is the hero, not technology. The US is chucking the policy and hoping that technology will see it through. China is moving ahead quickly with what it has, and it is making huge gains. Japan? It is NOT using what it has, and it is paralyzed by a policy of hysteria and unfounded doubt.

The article says it. Wind power is "less than 1%." No kidding. And it is worse than that. Last year it was 150 MW. This year it doubled, to 300 MW. I think that is closer to "one-tenth of 1%." Why the dismal numbers? Technology? No way. Japan can build skyscrapers, jets, generators and carbon fiber structures. Economics? Nope. Japan has high energy prices. It has the capital to support this. What is lacking is the will. The belief that "somebody else should do it with somebody else's money" is pervasive. And oh yeah. Let's gut the utilities and just let them eat the costs of perfectly good nuclear plant investments. Let someone else buy the LED bulbs and drive a Prius and install solar.

So what is the good news? Here is some neat new technology, people. Young people with great ideas are going to be changing the world. Somewhere, somebody is going to use these ideas and not only make a lot of money, but accomplish a lot of social good. I encourage this person to run as far away from Japan as he can, and avoid the US, where the message is that "good ideas need not apply." Japan used to be a country that rewarded ambition. Now we wring our hands at every mistake, hoping for someone to blame and looking for someone to save us. Maybe this guy has invented the next blue LED, or fission reactor. Japan, demonstrably, has no room for such people. The obvious message is that WE need to change. People living in Japan need to change. That should be abundantly clear.

Sorry. Did you miss the optimism part? We should all be happy that this person has created something new and useful. In a country where such qualities are valued, he will be a great success. I recommend that he use this project for ODA in Bangladesh or Vietnam, where it will be appreciated.

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What is lacking is the will. The belief that "somebody else should do it with somebody else's money" is pervasive. And oh yeah. Let's gut the utilities and just let them eat the costs of perfectly good nuclear plant investments. Let someone else buy the LED bulbs and drive a Prius and install solar.

What also is lacking is a sincere desire to protect the environment too! Not to mention that when something like this gets commercialized the costs associated with construction and installation go through the roof. One "traditional" wind-turbine, like the one's we see here in Japan, run well over 一億円 100,000,000 MILLION yen to install.

Solar too, it cost me over 2.5 million yen for my solar panels, it's not cheap here, plus the utility companies are bitching like crazy about having to "buy" unused electric as well. It's not worth the cost of installation if there is no buy-back in place, same for the wind turbines as well.

There are also under-water turbines under development that would use the power of the waves to generate electricity, same problems.....

Until the government gets really serious about clean energy Japan is going to continue to fall behind.

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Yubaru, re: 一億, surely not "100,000,000 MILLION", but 100 million JPY.

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Yubaru, re: 一億, surely not "100,000,000 MILLION", but 100 million JPY.

Yes, ichi-oku-en, 100,000,000 million yen! Did you read the next line?

一億円 100,000,000 MILLION yen to install.

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Yubaru - I think the point was that you added the world 'million', meaning it would be 100,000,000,000,000, which would be 100 trillion, or 100兆円 (I think. Lots of zeros there)

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It is not just typhoon that generate terriblr wind. If you live in the Kanto Plain, Hokuriku areas, and northern part of this country, you would realize the terrible wind, called "kogarashi or haru ichiban," which occurs during spring and winter season. Probably, I think the strength of the wind is comparable to that of typhoon, so his challenge has many chances.

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It is not just typhoon that generate terriblr wind. If you live in the Kanto Plain, Hokuriku areas, and northern part of this country, you would realize the terrible wind, called "kogarashi or haru ichiban," which occurs during spring and winter season. Probably, I think the strength of the wind is comparable to that of typhoon, so his challenge has many chances.

Please.......typhoons that hit mainland are nothing compared to the typhoons that come to Okinawa. "terrible" ? Not even close.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Vertical wind turbine. It has been around for quite sometime.

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Build it, and we will come. I think. Ethyl! Turn the heat up, I'm cold!

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I like his thinking. There is MASSIVE energy in a typhoon, if we could harness some of that energy efficiently, it could be a great source of clean energy. I think the biggest issue is storage - you could generate a ton of energy during a typhoon, but if you don't have a good way to store it to use later, it's not going to be particularly useful.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

This is a technical Aikido, using opponent's power for your own good.

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"What also is lacking is a sincere desire to protect the environment too! Not to mention that when something like this gets commercialized the costs associated with construction and installation go through the roof"

Well, SINCERE DESIRE is just too vague to put a price on. PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT is a similarly slippery concept. A long time ago, I resigned myself to the notion that people are not going to do the right thing until it is cheap enough for them to do it for every other reason imaginable. Most people still don't use LEDs, despite the fact that they last forever, provide better light and less heat and are less than the price of a BigMac. Most people don't compost, even though they can save money doing it. Most people are lazy pigs who don't care about anybody else, much less THE PLANET. Most people drink their savings rather than putting them in a bank. And believe me, no grandchild EVER is going to thank you for turning down your thermostat.

There is another path where, once you start, things become cheaper and cheaper. Once you have solar, then EVs and plug in vehicles become cheaper, AC becomes cheaper, etc. Unfortunately, most people can't get over the hump, and effectively remain in the past. Stuck in a dirty expensive, piggish lifestyle. Wallowing and grunting about climate change rather than standing up and doing something.

You don't have to agree with me, but let me present another piece of evidence: the "any day now" poster. Any day now, we will have cheap batteries. Any day now, electric cars will be cheap and stylish. Any day now, we will all have typhoon turbines. If you listen to these people, you will keep putting off making a real decision and a real choice FOREVER. Cheap batteries and EVs are not here and the gigafactory is not going to change that. The typhoon twister wind generator will not be appearing in your neighborhood anytime soon.

The time to make a difference was yesterday. Most of you failed. And you won't make a difference today, either. Will you ever stop failing? If not now, when? And seriously, why change if you can just make up a convenient excuse instead? Extra points if it s a conspiracy theory with nuclear power or Prime Minister Abe, right?

Like I said, I feel sorry for the guy. He needs to get someplace that is not overrun by defeatist losers. Alternatively, he will need to make a stand and do it for himself, possibly presenting a better future by example. Then everyone can call him a smug elitist.

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