Outside the box…the vertical windmill is a sustainable step
Out of the box…the vertical windmill is a sustainable step
For a century or more, humans have begun to engage in many industrial activities, until their economic growth has increased. This caused the emergence of serious climate issues, among which wasglobal warming, which required all countries of the world to take into consideration the challenges of the future in the field of energy. To re-green the earth again, in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)in the whole world.
The pace of industrialization and production processes has become more rapid generation after generation, and man had to use the energy resources available to him, which – unfortunately – were fromfossil fuels; That is, coal, gas and oil. This approach to using non-renewable energy has left the Earth on a hot plate. The countries of the world had to try to explore solutions to switch from this type of fuel, and among these solutions was wind energy.
Wind is a renewable energy source
In recent years, wind has become a promising and more sustainable solution, and it can help the Earth overcome the current climate crisis. This was the reason for a country like Egypt to establishprojectsbased on wind, or what are calledwind farms.
These projects for generating energy from wind are based on the use oftraditional windmills,that come with horizontal blades (HAWT), as this type of windmill consists of fan-like blades, and these blades are on top of a high tower, made of steel, and placed on a concrete base.
(VAWT) A new generation of windmills
The horizontal windmill depends on directing its blades along a horizontal axis in the face of strong winds, such as the winds coming fromsea coasts, but today there is a vertical windmill that relies on a vertical axis – perpendicular – with respect to the direction of the wind.
The blades of a vertical wind turbine – called a vertical-axis wind turbine, or VAWT – are in a vertical position close to the ground, unlike a horizontal windmill, which is hundreds of feet above the ground.
This innovative generation of windmills does not need to direct its blades automatically, because they have multiple directions. Which means that it picks up winds – whenever they are present – from all directions. This means that it is capable ofgenerating electricitywithout mechanical intervention, but rather through a completely sustainable process.
The uncomplicated configuration – in addition to the above – is an advantage of the vertical windmill, and this makes it less in need ofmaintenance like the horizontal windmill with a complex installation, in addition to the possibility of placing it in close spaces, and it also has lower manufacturing costs; Therefore, its purchasing cost is also lower, making it a sustainable solution on a large scale.
Vertical windmills on the road
The mechanical design of vertical windmills makes them flexible in many uses, including vertical axis wind turbines, which can be placed in the middle of highways, where the winds generated by the movement of vehicles from both sides of the road – in opposite directions – work to rotate the windmill at higher speeds.
This innovative exploitation of vertical windmills ensures the generation of electricity even in times when the wind is not active, while the generated electricity is exploited for road lighting in a sustainable manner, in addition to delivering the surplus production of this electricity to electric car charging stations along the road.
We have tried – with the above – to shed light on an innovative idea and a sustainable method in a promising and attractive field for long-term investment. It is one of the ideas thatEarth Guards explains and explains – within theOutside the Box series – to be an approach followed in many fields, and so that we can achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with such ideas and innovations.
