Dyson's Bladeless Fan: Could It Revolutionize Wind Power?

[sanman]

Dyson, the same guy who invented the bagless vacuum cleaners, has now come out with a bladeless fan:

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1931455,00.html


That makes me wonder - could similar principles be used to come up with a bladeless wind turbine? Some environmentalists are concerned that wind turbine blades could pose a hazard to birds. I'm wondering if Dyson's approach couldn't be used to rectify that?

Also, many residential areas might have zoning laws against things like wind turbines, but if they could be made bladeless then perhaps they might be exempted from such restrictions.

Is such a concept possible? If so, would such a device prove to have comparable efficiency to standard wind turbines?

 

[berkeman]

There's a thread about this in the General Engineering forum. Here's a link:

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=345312

.