last edited 2009/06/04 08:45 ( *) A British engineer from Hampshire has broken the world land speed record for a wind-powered vehicle. Richard Jenkins reached 126.1mph (202.9km/h) in his Greenbird car on the dry plains of Ivanpah Lake in Nevada with a wind speed of just 30mph (48km/h).
So, what's the MPG (miles per gallon) or the Liters (of gasoline) per 100km of that vehicle? Before you come up with some numbers, consider this: the Sun heats the Earth, due different heat storage qualities of the landscape (ocean and land mainly) and the natural green house effect of the atmosphere winds occur, and those drive the vehicle. So - there is an energy usage, yet, none which comes from the planet itself, but from the Sun. So, in this sense, every wind powered device is essentially a sun powered device.
Greenbird wind powered car |
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