Breakthrough invention - perpetual energy turbine

[brainhulk]

http://gizmodo.com/strap-this-wind-turbine-to-your-electric-car-and-you-ca-1497320336/@matthardigree

Woot no more need for gas

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

I guess they missed school the day they talked about conservation of energy.

 

[IronWing]

Let's start a pool. I say this thread goes to 138 posts.

 

[DrPizza]

LMAO!

edit: son of a bitch - this is like the 5th time this year that the night before I started a new unit in physics, someone posted something that was immediately useful to me the next day.

 

[Pray To Jesus]

No.

 

[PieIsAwesome]

Oh dear.

 

[skyking]

All the B.S. about perpetual motion aside, a deployable wind generator would charge the heck out of an electric car PARKED in the right place.
It would be so much better than solar panels. Solar panels have a relatively low energy density, and need to be aimed at the proper angle to maximize output.
A wind turbine that came up on a mast when you park would be the bomb in certain parts of the country.

 

[silverpig]

Wow. Gizmodo, you suck.

 

[skyking]

Wow. Gizmodo, you suck.

bad.

 

[Rakehellion]

All the B.S. about perpetual motion aside, a deployable wind generator would charge the heck out of an electric car PARKED in the right place.
It would be so much better than solar panels. Solar panels have a relatively low energy density, and need to be aimed at the proper angle to maximize output.
A wind turbine that came up on a mast when you park would be the bomb in certain parts of the country.

That's what I was thinking. These scam artists involuntarily stumbled upon a bright idea.

 

[brainhulk]

A wind turbine that came up on a mast when you park would be the bomb in certain parts of the country.

Kinda like the pop up wing on sports cars

 

[SKORPI0]

 

[T9D]

LOL @ last photo posted

 

[ImpulsE69]

This reminds me alot of the pinwheel I put behind my buttox....however I call mine the perpetual gas machine.

 

[phucheneh]

Aside from the whole 'push the car through wind to generate power thing,' I kinda think that if small-scale wind turbines were at all feasible, someone would have already done it. I'm sure some engineer-type-person could chime in with a vague guess at what kind of power could be generated in this scale.

We do all know how generators work, right? It's not a freewheeling fan. Work must be done. An errant breeze on a tiny fan is going to have a hard time turning anything capable of generating electricity. You would need such severe gear reduction that the milliamps of current generated would probably never pay for the cost to build the device.

 

[LTC8K6]

The title is a pretty clear indication that Gizmodo is joking.

 

[DrPizza]

Aside from the whole 'push the car through wind to generate power thing,' I kinda think that if small-scale wind turbines were at all feasible, someone would have already done it. I'm sure some engineer-type-person could chime in with a vague guess at what kind of power could be generated in this scale.

We do all know how generators work, right? It's not a freewheeling fan. Work must be done. An errant breeze on a tiny fan is going to have a hard time turning anything capable of generating electricity. You would need such severe gear reduction that the milliamps of current generated would probably never pay for the cost to build the device.

Vague guess; or rather method to estimate:
The energy output of these turbines would be less than the amount of energy required to turn the turbines at an equal RPM. That is, take a drill & spin those turbines. Measure the power output of the drill. That's going to be more than the power generated by the turbine. A lot of computer case fans are under 2 watts, to get a ballpark estimate. A pair of headlights on a vehicle are 50-100 watts?? Now, think of how much gasoline could be saved if you didn't turn on the headlights during the day - I don't know any people who are "ohhh, gotta keep the lights off unless absolutely necessary - it helps my gas mileage!" So, ballpark: such a trivial amount of energy that the increased drag to the vehicle while operating the vehicle would result in no net gain.

 

[DrPizza]

<troll>

You guys saying it won't work...

What if the car was driving into the wind!
</troll>

 

[halik]

 

[halik]

Someone tell adlep tough

 

[bignateyk]

There was a guy I knew in college (who was an EE) who came up with this idea and thought it was going to make him rich.

I didn't have the heart to tell him he was an idiot, so I just facepalmed on the inside and let him keep dreaming.

He made me swear not to tell anyone about his idea.

 

[Scarpozzi]

That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

If those were fixed to your roof and you put your car in reverse, it would suck your batteries dry in minutes! They need to be on a swivel.

 

[Tiamat]

ROFL

 

[SlowSpyder]

They should add some magnets for even more power!

 

[DesiPower]

LOL, there is a comment below the article with a picture of Unicorn, that pretty much sums it up

Is Gizmodo competing with Onion now?