Funnel Wind Turbine Generates Jaw-Dropping Power : Discovery News

— the cost could be as low as 1 cent per KWh. For comparison, conventional tower and blade wind power plants cost about 45 to 80 cents per KWh and natural gas plants cost about 2 to 3 cents per KWh.

The company’s Invelox captures wind using wide-mouthed funnels. Inside, passageways turn the wind horizontally and taper it into a narrow space, which naturally accelerates the flow. The higher speed wind is then channeled into a turbine positioned at ground level. According to the company, the system works even if wind speeds are slow at the top. For example, a wind entering at 10 mph is increased to 40 mph by the time it enters the turbine. After passing through the turbine, the wind is exhausted back into the environment at 15mph.

The unit is about 50 percent shorter than traditional wind towers and the turbine blades on the generator are 84 percent smaller — as a result, equipment and maintenance costs are lower.

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HOW DOES IT WORK:  http://sheerwind.com/technology/how-does-it-work

Scott Walker ex-aide's e-mails: how damaging? - CSMonitor.com

 

By Linda Feldmann,

The release of 28,000 pages of documents connected with two criminal investigations involving former aides has put Governor Walker in an uncomfortable spot. And it has opened the door to efforts by Democrats, and some in the media, to paint him with the same broad brush as Gov. Chris Christie (R) of New Jersey, who faces legal scrutiny over the misdeeds of aides.

The documents, released Wednesday, showed how, in 2010, aides to then-Milwaukee County Executive Walker worked on his gubernatorial campaign while doing their government jobs, which is against the law. In all, six aides and allies were convicted, including two for doing campaign work on county time. Walker was never a target of investigation and has denied wrongdoing.

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Rockford near deal to turn Amerock building into $50 million hotel and convention center - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

By Brian Leaf

ROCKFORD - Wisconsin-based Gorman & Co. is close to an agreement that would return the city's first skyscraper to downtown prominence as a $50 million hotel and convention center.

A proposed development agreement to renovate the 13-story Ziock building, perhaps better known as the Amerock building, at 416 S. Main St., is expected to go before the Rockford City Council in March.

"I'm feeling very good about it," Rockford Mayor Larry Morrissey said, "but we've had a lot of things to work through. Gorman is an extremely capable firm. They've done a lot of projects of significant magnitude across the country."

… company had done projects in four states and 25 communities, including Milwaukee, where it turned the brew house and mill house at the shuttered Pabst brewery into a 90-room extended-stay hotel, The Brewhouse Inn & Suites.

….The Ziock project involves state and federal tax credits, which will pay for 45 percent of construction costs. The state tax credit program requires the building to be in use by the end of 2016, so the company hopes to proceed quickly.

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