This Giant Straw Is Actually A Vertical Bladeless Wind Turbine

This article originally appeared on Treehugger.com.

Small-scale wind generators, especially vertical designs, are the renewable energy pariahs, and the clean energy concept that many cleantech enthusiasts love to hate.

But that hasn't stopped anyone from continuing to develop new versions of wind generators that break with the conventional windmill design, and the team behind the Vortex Bladeless design believes their creation is a leap forward in wind energy, and is a “more efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly way to produce energy.”

I've previously covered other designs of bladeless wind turbines here on TreeHugger, with the comments mostly resembling that of Eeyore saying, "It'll never work," but like many innovations intended for established industries, that's par for the course. That's not to say that there aren't any clean energy startups (or startups in general) that mislead the public about the claims of their products, or that there aren't any scams or hoaxes in the green energy field, but rather that it's easy to take a quick look and say something's a scam, even if you're only talking about a company that overpromises and underdelivers on its marketing claims.

Here's a quick video overview of the device: