Citizen Brand

Now this is what I call wind power

Now I know there are some people out there who don't want those big wind mill turbines dotting the landscape or even the ocean scape....but I wonder how they would feel about a giant "tethered tornado" in their backyard.  Thanks to triplepundit for the pointer.

Seems a guy named Louis Michaud has come up with an idea to create an "atmospheric vortex engine" that will actually create a tornado that he believes can create energy.

"This so-called atmospheric vortex engine will suck in hot air through a series of ducts at the base and channel it into an open roof arena. This would lead to the production of a tornado-like funnel of air that would provide the turbulent push to turn power-generating turbines."

"In order to generate electricity from this crazy machine the fans that create the vortex double as the power generators as well. Once the vortex is generated the twister will spin on its own without any additional or constant energy input needed claims Michaud. This self propelled full-grown tornado will suck in air through its base to continue spinning. This influx of air will turn the fans which will convert the mechanical energy into a claimed 100 megawatts of electricity."

Being a native Kansan and having lived through a tornado when I was 10 years old, this isn't such a crazy idea.  I have often thought during our summer thunderstorms that if we could just figure out how to harness the energy from them, we would solve a lot of problems. We will see if it can work next spring when Michaud tests a 12 foot model in Ontario. 

Under siege

Mother Nature has been wreaking havoc in the Midwestern USA.  The strange thing is that the part of the metro area that I live in barely got any rain, yet there were storms around us in every direction.  It started in Lawrence this morning.

This is what the storm looked like as it approached Lawrence.

And this is an example of what it did.

Storms continued throughout the day in every direction from my part of town, but if it weren't for the media inundating us with warnings all day, I would not have known.  Tonight, brilliant lightning shows provided free fireworks.  It seemed as if we would escape the day without any tragedies other than those to property, but that changed tonight when it was learned that a woman had died in her trailer home near Sedalia in central Missouri.

It's been a full day here in the middle west.  As usual, nature provided us with a reminder of what is really important.