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Apple's New Wind Tech Design Generates and Stores Heat
Apple's New Wind Tech Design Generates and Stores Heat : TreeHugger
Apple's New Wind Tech Design Generates and Stores Heat : TreeHugger
A patent application from the computing giant Apple claims to be able to store wind power as heat, and then release it on demand to generate electricity.
Apple doesn't just confine itself to innovation in computer and mobile technology, but also pursues ideas in other areas, such as renewable energy. A patent for a design for "On-Demand Generation of Electricity from Stored Wind Energy" was filed by the company in June 2011, and if it pans out, the new technology could help to even out the supply and demand disparities in wind power.
Because wind speeds aren't constant throughout the day and throughout the year, one of the big hurdles for wind power has been developing efficient and cost-effective storage for the energy being generated by the turbines.
Instead of converting the kinetic energy from the rotation of the blades on the turbine directly into electricity, this design calls for converting the rotational energy into heat, which can then be stored and used to generate electricity on demand.