Tornado Power

Posted on August 1, 2007 at 2:07 pm (PST)

Is this playing with fire - or in this case, a killer wind?

It even has a patent number - Louis Michaud’s US 2004/0112055 A1 and is called an “Atmospheric Vortex Engine.” Basically, Michaud thinks he can control a tornado! They want to create a vortex and hold it in one spot to harness the energy that is produced when “heat is carried upward by convection in the atmosphere.”

“The unit cost of electrical energy produced with an AVE could be half the cost of the next most economical alternative.”

A commercial plant would need to be between 200 and 400 meters in diameter at a cost of $60 million.

I live in Tornado Alley, so I am not too thrilled with this one.