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Renewable energy has to be the way of the future.
No fuels, no waste, no pollution. Just smart design and cutting edge engineering.
But no matter how far the technology goes, some green energy concepts have a beautiful simplicity. Like this solar chimney for instance.
You can find this presented in a short video clip at Berlin Technical Engineering Museum (Deutsches Techikmuseum Berlin), at the wind power exhibition (Windstärke).
What you need
- Build a large circular greenhouse in a sunny area.
- Place a 1000 meters high chimney in the middle of the greenhouse.
- Add a wind turbine within the chimney.
- Plant some crops inside the greenhouse (exotic plants that could benefit the hot humid conditions).
- Add a special floor with sandwich type solar water heaters.
- Make some air inlets in the lateral of the greenhouse.
How it works
- The sun heats the air inside the greenhouse so the air rises up through the shaft.
- The turbine starts spinning, generating electricity for a nearby town.
- The excess heat is absorbed by the water within the dark solar panels (built on the floor of the greenhouse).
- During the night when there is no sun shining, the water releases the heat keeping the turbine spinning.
The 1000 meters difference between the base (greenhouse) and the top outlet grants a significant temperature and pressure difference, enabling the air to rise through the shaft in a strong draught.
Crazy?
Perhaps not.
We already have a 900 meter tower in Dubai. So why not build another tower for green energy purposes?
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