Tech Crunch
Bill Gates has chosen to support an innovative wind power initiative by investing in Airloom Energy, a company at the forefront of developing a unique carousel-style wind turbine. The Breakthrough Energy Ventures, led by the Microsoft billionaire, spearheaded a funding round that injected $4 million in seed capital to propel the growth of this groundbreaking technology. The key promise of this innovation lies in its potential to dramatically reduce the production cost of wind energy by half.
In comparison to conventional horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWTs), which can reach towering heights of 500 feet with 180-foot blades rotating on a 300-foot tower, the Airloom device operates on an entirely different scale. Despite utilizing the same fundamental principles of physics, the typical Airloom design features 30-foot blades running along a lightweight track at a modest height of 80 feet. This stark contrast in dimensions holds the promise of achieving the same power output as a traditional HAWT but at a fraction of the mass and cost.
