Innovation in clean energy from man-made wind and small-wind generation

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 22932 - 11
• Main Authors: Gil-García, Isabel C., Fernández-Guillamón, Ana, Montes-Torres, Álvaro H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 02-10-2024; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 639/4077/909/4110; 704/106/694/682; Air conditioning; Air flow; Appropriate technology; Artificial wind; Carbon dioxide; Clean energy; Clean energy generation; Clean technology; Electricity; Emissions; Energy recovery; Humanities and Social Sciences; multidisciplinary; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Small wind turbines; Statistical analysis; Sustainable technology; Terrestrial environments; Turbines; Wind power; Wind speed; Small wind turbines; Energy recovery; Artificial wind; Clean energy generation; Sustainable technology
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-74141-w

The need to reduce global emissions leads us to look for various sources of clean energy. In recent decades, wind technology has advanced significantly, enabling large-scale power generation in both marine and terrestrial environments, as well as the development of mini-wind solutions. However, we often underestimate the capacity of certain human activities and production processes to generate clean energy, wasting their true potential. This work focuses on using artificially generated wind gusts to transform them into clean electricity through small wind turbines. The proposal is developed in four phases: (1) identify activities that generate wind, (2) collect data on wind speed and direction, (3) perform a descriptive statistical analysis of the wind resource, and (4) select the appropriate technology to calculate the electricity generation. The proposal is evaluated using the air flow produced by the air conditioning systems of a data center in Colombia. The results are analyzed from technical, economic, environmental, and political perspectives. Through small wind power, an annual production of approximately 468 MWh is estimated, avoiding the emission of 300 metric tons of
CO
2
.