Looking for an Alternative Energy Source? How about a Man-Made Tornado
This idea initially sounds a bit crazy, but then you think about it.......
There has been a lot of discussion lately about alternative energy, especially due to the recent high cost of fuel, in addition to finding ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Well, our friend Laura Hannon, who was the original moderator of this blog sent me the link to this interesting concept about a new way to generate electricity.
Louis Michaud, a Canadian engineer, has found a way to generate energy from the tail of a man-made tornado engine by using the natural movement of warm and cold air currents. The key is to have a tight temperature gradient with the air at the surface much warmer than the air above.
Michaud proposes using wind turbines placed at the bottom of the tornado could generate electricity from sucked-up air. He calls his "tornado" the Atmospheric Vortex Engine (AVE).
Here is a link to his AVE site with diagrams and FAQ's.
The AVE structure would be an arena 200 meters (656 feet) wide with 100 meter (328 feet) high walls. The source of the warm air would be from the exhaust of a power plant.
With wind turbines at the inlets to the arena, Michaud calculates that as much as 200 megawatts of electricity (enough to power a small city) could be extracted without draining the vortex of its power.
Michaud is currently working on a 4 megawatt prototype, but so far had no investors. He estimates that the 200 megawatt facility would cost 60 million to build.
