New Bird-Friendly Bladeless Wind Turbine Design to be Tested and Manufactured in NJ

Treehugger, Derek Markham, Technology / Wind Technology, August 30, 2012

© Catching Wind Power

The potential damage to bird and bat populations by large wind turbines is often used as an argument against more wind power installations, and serves as great fodder for comments here on TreeHugger when we publish something about wind technology.

But there are other options for viable wind turbines that are claimed to be bird- and bat-friendly, including the Catching Wind Power (CWP) device, which will soon be tested, improved upon, and manufactured by Sigma Design.

The CWP Compressed Air Enclosed Wind Turbine is the brainchild of 89 year old Raymond Green, who invented and patented his unique version of wind power generator. Green believes these units can be manufactured in sizes ranging from small personal-use/portable units up to massively sized units that can be installed at wind farms, and that they hold significant advantages over traditional turbine designs.

According to the Green's website,

"Traditional three blade turbines knock the birds out of the sky because the birds can not see the massive, spinning, blades that turn between 80mph and 190mph, therefore hitting them and knocking them to the ground, killing them. Our design does not have any external moving parts to hit the birds. Our unit is easy to see so the birds can avoid it, and all moving parts are internal. The blades are mounted behind the windsock and inner compression cone, therefore making them nonaccessible to birds. Also, our turbines make virtually no noise."

The CWP turbine uses their patented Inner Compression Cone Technology, which is claimed to squeeze and compress the incoming air in order to be able to create more power at the turbine.

Here's their introduction to the CWP:

Green, a retired veteran, chose Sigma Design to further his design because it is a veteran-owned company, and as he says,

"There are so many disabled and unemployed veterans out there that I wanted to help ... so I searched the Internet to find someone that could manufacture and introduce my ... design to the public." - Green

For more about the turbine, see Catching Wind Power.