Peter Thiel's Latest Pet Project: Tornado-Powered Energy

Thiel's Breakout Labs has awarded an energy firm $300,000 to continue its research harnessing tornadoes for cheap, clean energy.

By Rebecca Boyle Posted 12.18.2012 at 6:00 pm 7 Comments

Tornado Power Atmospheric Vortex Engine

Billionaire Peter Thiel is already trying to create all sorts of zany things: 3-D printed meat, reconstructed brain tissue, antimatter-fueled spaceships and more. Now he wants to harness tornadoes. To produce energy.

Thiel's Breakout Labs has awarded Louis Michaud’s company AVEtec $300,000 to research tornado power.

Michaud is a Canadian electrical engineer and entrepreneur. His idea is to create a power plant add-on that would tap into the waste heat generated at a regular gas- or coal-fired power plant. The add-on would work by blowing hot air into a hollow cylinder at a sharp angle, which would cause a swirling air current in the cylinder. Hot air rises, so the circular current would rotate upward. The temperature difference between the warm incoming air and cooler air above it would continually feed the vortex, which would suck in hot air rapidly at its base. This controlled tornado would spin other turbines, which would be used to create more electricity. The heat could also come from solar panels or warm water, Michaud says.

It’s a pretty neat concept, and you can see some of Michaud’s designs at his website. He says a full-sized vortex engine could be up to 100 meters in diameter--about 330 feet--and generate 200 megawatts of electricity. It wouldn’t emit any carbon dioxide or any other waste products in the process of creating power. Michaud told the Toronto Star that the waste heat from a 500-MW power plant could produce another 200 MW using this vortex engine.

The first step is to build a working prototype with Lambton College in Ontario. The prototype would be 131 feet tall and 26 feet in diameter, which apparently would be enough to produce a one-foot-diameter vortex that can drive a small turbine.

“The power in a tornado is undisputed,” Michaud said in a statement. And they would be safe to control--to shut them off, just kill the hot air supply.

"We hope Breakout Labs inspires more investors to fund real innovation; more young people to pursue technology and entrepreneurship; and more nonprofits to foster risky, radical ideas," said Thiel Foundation president Jonathan Cain. Check out more background on AVEtec here.

[via PhysOrg]

Previous Article: A History Of Our 'Best Of What's New' Special In An Interactive Graphic

Next Article: Ping Pong Ball-Sized Robots Can Swarm Together To Form A Smart Liquid

7 Comments

Link to this comment

Kevin Elzinga 1

12/18/12 at 8:40 pm

Clearly, the waste heat in these vortexes will produce some extra energy, but I find myself wondering if there are other, more efficient methods of converting waste heat into useable energy.

Link to this comment

Robot

12/18/12 at 10:00 pm

Mmmm, lots of good heat and friction have been known to make babies, which can be productive if that is your desire goal. ;)

Oh and yes the rising votexes are much fun too!

Link to this comment

Silverjeff

12/19/12 at 9:08 am

Seriously Robot? A sexual comment on this completely non-suggestive article about energy production? Your trolling is out of control.

Anyway, I think this is a great idea. Harnessing the waste products we create (even if it's just heat) is always the right direction to go in my opinion.

Link to this comment

CosmicJoker42

12/19/12 at 1:38 pm

@Silverjeff
I agree with both statements. This could even be perched atop (or used in place of) cooling towers for nuclear power plants. Or used on heliostats.

Link to this comment

Robot

12/19/12 at 1:50 pm

CosmicJoker42,
All righty then, I suppose if it is made more technology available to exploit low energy sources, then more homes will become more energy independent. Kudos for attempting low energy resources!!!

Link to this comment

Apoc

12/19/12 at 1:54 pm

They should put it on my bosses mouth...

Link to this comment

ghost

12/19/12 at 5:41 pm

^ lot's of hot air?

this seems like a good idea and it would in fact turn waste heat into useable energy. right now we only have a limited number of operations that can even do this. steam requires the incoming temperature be above or around boiling temperature. a stirling engine can work on any kind of heat differential but it's torque is laughable. using evaporation instead of JUST steam would allow similar efficiencies with lower temperatures.

to mars or bust!

Popular Tags

Technology

All Tags All Photos All Videos

Technology

+ More Photo Galleries

June 2013: American Energy Independence

Five amazing, clean technologies that will set us free, in this month's energy-focused issue. Also: how to build a better bomb detector, the robotic toys that are raising your children, a human catapult, the world's smallest arcade, and much more.