China Confidential

Engineers at the University of Hong Kong and a private renewable energy company, Motorwave Limited, have developed a new micro-wind turbine technology that can generate electricity even if wind speeds are as low as two meters per second.

Unlike conventionall wind turbines with 50-meter-diameter rotor blades, the compact micro-wind turbines are equipped with specially designed plastic gearwheels with a rotor diameter of just 26 centimeters. By linking the gearwheels together, the micro-wind turbine can generate more electricity. Users can choose the numbers of gearwheels they want, and determine the size of their wind turbines according to their energy needs and the space they have on their balconies or rooftops.

The technology's unique features will enable people living and working in urban environments to use wind energy to drive their electrical appliances, while reducing carbon emissions from mainstream power use.

Motorwave president Lucien Gambarota explains: "Let's say if you have good conditions, five, six meters of wind per second, if you are a family with one kid you need most probably three, four square meters of that to provide at least 60 or 70 percent of your energy needs."

Gambarota says conventional small wind turbines only work about 40 percent of the time because of low wind speed.

"We never stop this machine because there is always one meter per second wind," he says."These turbines keep moving. They keep spinning."

Gambarota says the small turbines are ideal for crowded cities such as Hong Kong because they can easily be installed on rooftops and balconies.

The micro-turbine is also comparatively cheap. A set of 20 gearwheels currently costs about $25. But the price is expected to go down once the turbines are mass-produced, making them a good option for consumers seeking to reduce energy costs.

The technology can also help power bigger buildings. In April, administrators at Hong Kong's Sea School, a secondary school offering basic seaman training, will install the new turbines on the roof of the building.

Gambarota says his biggest dream is to see his invention being used in developing countries. He says energy generated by micro wind turbines can be used to pump water--for example, saving women and girls from having to walk for miles to rivers and lakes to fetch it.

Motorwave is also looking at the oil-addicted American market, where alternative energy has become the hottest technology sector, especially in Silicon Valley. Funding for clean technology firms increased 266 percent last year, raising $300 million in the third quarter alone, according to the Silicon Valley Index.

Legendary venture capitalists such as Vinod Khosla, who backed Sun Microsystems and Juniper Networks, are investing heavily in alternative energy. And ConocoPhillips, the third largest oil company in the United States, plans to increase alternative energy research in ethanol, biodiesel and other cleaner burning fuels by 60 percent this year. The company is competing with Chevron, which last year purchased a 22 percent stake in a Texas biodiesel company.

Marathon Oil is considering a joint venture to make ethanol with giant grain processor Andersons; and BP and DuPont have teamed up to research biobutanol, an alternative fuel that can be produced from fermenting biomass, much like compost, as well as petroleum.