Wind Trees

These turbines look like tree from a distance and they are perfect for urban settings. Created by a French company, these Wind Trees are three meter tall generators that can generate about 3 kW of power. The leaves are the micro turbines that can rotate. It does not sound like much but several of them in an urban setting can help offset the energy used in homes, street lamps, and to charge electric cars. There is another 12 meter prototype that is being developed which will cost about $35,000 so it is not quite available for the average consumer but many industrial architects are taking notice. Obviously, this type of technology is not the first nor the last. There are plenty of structures that are "green" and even have solar cells. The best part is that these systems are being connected to a network and internet as well as mobile applications. We can then collect data and further analyze how to best use the systems to generate more energy and decrease the impact that humans have on the environment.