The Dutch port city of Rotterdam is considering a proposal to build a "Windwheel", a 174m-tall wind structure made up of two giant rings containing 28,000 square metres of residential space.
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The rings, one of which is coiled inside the other, would be made from steel and glass. If it is built, the outer ring will contain 40 rotating cabins; the inner will house a restaurant, a "sky lobby", a 160-room hotel, 72 apartments and shops.
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Some of the power for the structure will come from a wind turbine that uses a framework of steel tubes to generate electricity with no moving mechanical parts. This "electrostatic wind energy converter" technology was developed two years ago by a consortium including the TU Delft and Wageningen University. It uses electrically charged water droplets to create a current.
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How water will play a part in the structure
The system has not been shown to work in a building as large as this, which may prove to be an obstacle to funding. At the moment, the Windwheel is just a proposal, albeit one that its backers say has the potential to attract 1.5 million tourists a year, giving it a 10-year break-even period. Â
The building design also features water recycling, solar panels and a plant that would turn waste into biofuel.
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How sun and wind power will be utilised
For more information visit the Dutch Windwheel website
Images courtesy of Dutch Windwheel