flocking windmills

[Roger Critchlow-2]

A golden oldie for you all.  Just about this time in 2009 we discussed the possibility that vertical axis wind turbines could be organised as schools of fish to boost efficiency as a flock.  Peter Lissaman was not amused.

It turns out that the physicist who proposed the idea won a MacArthur fellowship in 2010 -- http://www.macfound.org/fellows/30/ -- but the idea hasn't really panned out. According to http://www.gizmag.com/dabiri-fish-school-wind-farms/28355/ there can be efficiency gains and there can be density advantages, but the arguments are not especially overwhelming.

-- rec --

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