I’ve been a huge fan of wind energy for years. I have family in the wind business, and have been up close and personal with the huge commercial wind turbines that bring clean energy to thousands of homes. But the turbines of the future might be getting a significant shrink if these micro windmills come into being. Scientists and engineers at the University of Texas have created windmills so small that you nearly need a microscope to see them. Individually they produce a minuscule amount of energy. But multiply their effect by 1000x, and you start to see real return. Pretty amazing.
Via Forbes:
An iPhone could fit about 2,040 of the micro-windmills on its surface, each one generating electricity from ambient wind currents.
You’d theoretically be able to hold the phone in a breeze for a few minutes and get charged up.