Wind Power at Sea

Britain is easily the world's leader in off-shore energy, with 330 wind turbines already in operation in the country's coastal waters. Avinash Rajagopal reports on the latest in wind power technology:

"Last month, British firm Wind Power Limited unveiled a design that, in terms of radical innovation, pretty much blows the others out of the water. The Aerogenerator X (above) was designed by the architectural firm Grimshaw, in collaboration with Wind Power's engineering team, and engineers from ARUP, BP, Rolls Royce and Shell. Inspired by the spiraling motion of a sycamore seed as it falls from a tree, the Aerogenerator X spins on a vertical axis. This means that it achieves the same energy performance, but is half the height of a regular horizontal-axis turbine."