Foo - PhantomCow - Alternative energy

Since you seem so interested in alternative energy, I figured I'd let you know that I'm going to be attempting to build one of these (http://www.humdingerwind.com/windbelt.html) in addition to a few other rotary designs when I'm living out in the desert this winter with no electricity. Should be interesting. I just wish it weren't so hard to find these people's painstaking research. It would make it much easier to be able to simply copy all of their hard work.

Nice. I don't get it.

I'm wondering if this belt idea runs something like an idea I had. I've always been struck by the gigantic size of the blades on most electric wind mills. It seemed to me that it would be more efficient to run a zillion tiny pinwheel-sized windmills--they'd turn in smaller breezes and rotate faster. Also, they wouldn't be so loud or kill birds. You could put them on the walls/roof of exisiting structures.

Living in the desert with no electricity, eh?

That windbelt technology looks very cool. I just wonder how practical it will be for applications though, such as providing enough current for off-grid living.

I'll be spending a little over a month in a canvas tent a few miles outside of El Paso, doing the dirtbag climber thing. My friend whose land I'll be staying on is psyched on creating a sustainable place he can retreat to so we've been researching lots of low-cost alternative energy solutions. The windbelt is definantly the neatest solution of what I've found, though I can't really attest to its actual simplicity in implementation. I think the first large scale one we're going to build will be a vertical wind turbine. Luckily I have a mountain top to work with and sustained high winds. Hopefully through the process of trial and error we'll come up with a way to keep a few deep cycle batteries charged up enough to keep our precious electronics going.

Of course this all comes well after the issues of water and waste disposal. Can't wait!