Another silly idea?

[2 As and a B]

There is quite a breeze that funnels through the side alley between our end of a semi and next-door's semi-detached, even on an airless day (making it the best place to hang out on a hot muggy summer's day).

Could these gaps amongst lines of houses not be made use of to generate wind-energy in some way? How about designing (wind-)tunnels through houses? Or hanging wind turbines off the side of high-rise buildings - e.g. in places like Chicago, "the windy city"?

[kenneal - lagger]

Zedfactory are already doing this but only in very windy situations such as this one on Shoreham sea front.

http://www.zedfactory.com/portzed.html#

A few architects, including Zedfactory, have also proposed wind generation between twin tower blocks shaped to channel the wind efficiently.

It's not feasible on an ordinary house though; too little wind, too infrequently.

[adam2]

It is certainly a possibility, but a wind turbine mounted on the side of a tall building would add considerable wind loading to the structure which might add substantialy to the cost.

In case of smaller installations between houses, it should work, apart from noise and vibration and the NIMBY factor.

[PS_RalphW]

There is a skyscraper in the far east somewhere which has a large square horizontal hole in it near the top, with 3 turbines in the 'funnel'. The wind loading is cerainly no more than the same building without the hole.

Not heard how much they generate.

[edit]

Actually there are several, all claiming to be the world's first

http://inhabitat.com/the-strata-worlds- ... -turbines/

[DominicJ]

Its possible, but the energy available is far too limited to make it worth while, even with massive subsidy.

[2 As and a B]

What brought this to mind was, apart from the breeze between the two buildings, seeing a (re)construction of a small wooden Roman winnower on the TV that used wind-funneling to create a draught for the grain to fall through.

[kenneal - lagger]

What brought this to mind was, apart from the breeze between the two buildings, seeing a (re)construction of a small wooden Roman winnower on the TV that used wind-funneling to create a draught for the grain to fall through.

The energyavailable in the wind required for winnowing and useful energy generation are orders of magnitude apart, Foodi. While the embodied energy in some screens to improve the efficiency of winnowing is quite small that for building even a small wind turbine in enormous in comparison. You would have to generate that energy and more to get a return on the energy invested and that would be unlikely in an urban area anywhere near ground level.

The energy available near the top of an high rise block is an order of magnitude higher than that available at ground level. Provided there are not too many other block in the vicinity, there is a clear flow of air available and it is not disturbed or slowed by the houses and other low rise structures around. The air speed can be double or treble that at ground level and, as the energy generated is proportional to the square of the air speed, there is far more energy to be generated.