When people think about clean energy, they think about things like rooftop solar panels or wind farms, but those are just two simple parts of a very complex and versatile industry. The more interesting parts of clean energy start to be revealed when people apply their entrepreneurial creativity to the industry, a perfect example of which is Capture Mobility, a wind turbine that’s meant to be placed alongside highways. Not only is the turbine aesthetically pleasing, it’s able to harness the wind that’s generated by passing cars and turn it into electricity, which means it can generate power no matter what the weather is like.
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word, “windmill”? Do you think of some Hansel and Gretel-type structure on a farm in the Netherlands? Or do you think of a stark-white colossus sitting on the coast of Scotland? Both thoughts are correct — but neither even slightly resembles the next generation of wind-power technology. Capture Mobility is a new kind of wind turbine that looks like a piece of street-side modern art. And better yet, it has the ability to completely transform the way we think about energy waste. Sanwal Muneer, the turbine’s inventor, describes it this way: “Imagine you are standing by the side of a big, busy highway and you feel a lot of air thrust with the passing by of traffic. Imagine if we could capture this turbulence to generate green energy. That’s exactly what Capture Mobility is doing.” Simply put, cars waste energy — Capture Mobility takes it back. Sounds great, right? But how does the technology actually work? Muneer’s creation is helical structure that rotates on a horizontal plane — picture a clock lying on its side — which allows it to harness airflow from any direction. This is a major departure from traditional wind turbine designs and is reason Capture Mobility can create energy from some of the world’s biggest energy hogs.
