Attractive Italian Viaduct Has Wind Turbines Built In (just kidding it's just concept art) - Polidicks

[QUOTE]A new bridge concept incorporates wind and solar energy into its design, generating 40 million kilowatt-hours per year — and looking pretty slick to boot. The Solar Wind concept would use the space between an existing viaduct in southern Italy to install 26 wind turbines, which designers Francesco Colarossi, Giovanna Saracino and Luisa Saracino say could provide 36 million kilowatt hours of electricity every year. The design team conceived the Solar Wind project for a contest that aims to repurpose some old, unused viaducts near Calabria, a region in the toe of Italy. It would cost about $55 million to demolish the viaducts, so town officials held a contest for proposals that would re-use them in an environmentally friendly way. The wind turbine bridge took second place. The proposal also includes a solar-paneled roadway to provide another 11.2 million kilowatt hours, Colarossi and colleagues say. It turns the entire viaduct into a park, with spaces to pull over and take in the view off the Italian coast. Travelers could stop and buy fresh produce grown in solar-powered greenhouses located along the bridge. The whole roadway would be covered in a dense grid of solar cells coated in a thin, transparent plastic, the designers say. All in all, the system would be capable of generating 40 million kWh each year, enough to power 15,000 homes. [img]http://www.popsci.com/files/imagecache/article_image_large/articles/Picture%202_29.png[/img] [img]http://www.popsci.com/files/imagecache/article_image_large/articles/Picture%201_39.png[/img][/QUOTE] Source: [url]http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-02/wind-turbines-embedded-italian-viaduct-would-preserve-architecture-and-generate-power[/url]

Is it me or does that thing look awesome?

that made me pop my photography boner. edit yeah poster above agrees

That actually doesn't look too bad, I though it'd look pretty bad.

"40 million kilowatt-hours per year" WHAT'S WRONG WITH JUST USING WATTS [editline]2nd February 2011[/editline] awesome concept

Looks nice, but is there a reason all of the turbines are different sizes other than looks?

That's a pretty great idea! The concept looks awesome.

man that's going to look fucking awful from the town

I dont understand the people who dislike how normal wind turbines look. I think they look cool as hell, kinda majestic in a way. This just looks awesomely futuristic. [editline]2nd February 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=ThePutty;27817540]man that's going to look fucking awful from the town[/QUOTE] Why do you say that?

[QUOTE=Turnips5;27817418]"40 million kilowatt-hours per year" WHAT'S WRONG WITH JUST USING WATTS [/QUOTE] Because then people would realize it doesn't produce that much electricy. By comparison, your average coal power plant produces 3.5 [b]trillion[/b] kilowatt hours a year. Six orders of magnitude is pretty fucking huge.

Looks sexy. All of those holes.. :flashfap:

Welcome to the world's sexiest viaduct, ignore the roaring.

[QUOTE=Xenoyia v2;27817832]Looks sexy. All of those holes.. :flashfap:[/QUOTE] Those holes have spinning blades in them. Good luck with that. On the other hand, you sure would get blown

[QUOTE=Contag;27817789]Because then people would realize it doesn't produce that much electricy. By comparison, your average coal power plant produces 3.5 [b]trillion[/b] kilowatt hours a year. Six orders of magnitude is pretty fucking huge.[/QUOTE] wtf are you talking about, the USA produces 4.11 trillion kWh, as total energy production! [url]https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html[/url]

Bloody feathers. Bloody feathers everywhere!

Am I the only one who doesn't like the design? :saddowns:

What's interested me is why nobody has ever made sail-like wind farms. like this shitty sketch : [img]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/888382/y%20not.JPG[/img]

Never going to be built.

[QUOTE=Canuhearme?;27818501]Never going to be built.[/QUOTE] killjoy :saddowns:

Repairing them is going to be a big problem. I wonder how they are going to get around it?

[QUOTE=Instant Mix;27818490]What's interested me is why nobody has ever made sail-like wind farms. like this shitty sketch : [img_thumb]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/888382/y%20not.JPG[/img_thumb][/QUOTE] That sketch is oddly pretty. Nice colouring.

then some jackass flies into it with a plane and the whole thing comes crashing down

[QUOTE=Instant Mix;27818490]What's interested me is why nobody has ever made sail-like wind farms. like this shitty sketch : [img_thumb]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/888382/y%20not.JPG[/img_thumb][/QUOTE] When it spins the amount of solar panel exposed to sunlight is minimal. Better to keep them separate, way more cost effective.

this looks like a giant mercedez advertisement

[QUOTE=Instant Mix;27818490]What's interested me is why nobody has ever made sail-like wind farms. like this shitty sketch : [img_thumb]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/888382/y%20not.JPG[/img_thumb][/QUOTE] Solar panels works by converting heat energy from radiation emitted from the sun. Building them on the wings would cool down the solar panel, rendering it useless as a mean of producing electrical energy. [editline]2nd February 2011[/editline] Come on, this is basic physics.

I'm not a fan of solar power or wind farms but that is pretty badass.

[QUOTE=craigharley;27818836]When it spins the amount of solar panel exposed to sunlight is minimal. Better to keep them separate, way more cost effective.[/QUOTE] Light travels too fast for the fact that the blade is spinning to have any effect. The problem lies with the fact that the solar panels are expensive and delicate so installing them wouldn't be worth it.

I expected roman aqueducts with turbines in their arches. Still cool concept. And yes I know, viaducts and aqueducts are different things.

[QUOTE=Contag;27817789]Because then people would realize it doesn't produce that much electricy. By comparison, your average coal power plant produces 3.5 [b]trillion[/b] kilowatt hours a year. Six orders of magnitude is pretty fucking huge.[/QUOTE] uh no 3.5 trillion kwh is enough to power china for a year [url=http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=electricity+produced+in+usa+in+one+year]the us produces over four trillion kwh a year[/url] [quote]All in all, the system would be capable of generating 40 million kWh each year, enough to power 15,000 homes.[/quote]

[QUOTE=Ond kaja;27819143]Solar panels works by converting heat energy from radiation emitted from the sun. Building them on the wings would cool down the solar panel, rendering it useless as a mean of producing electrical energy. [editline]2nd February 2011[/editline] Come on, this is basic physics.[/QUOTE] The wind chill would have a minimal effect as the sunlight is converted into heat which is in turn converted into energy. It would have an effect comparable to that of a blizzard on a coal power station.