REGISTER LOGIN

Worth Reading?

NoYes

+36 [42 votes]

Philippe Starck may be best known for semi-minimalist furniture, tricky to read watches and a portfolio that could fill your entire home, wardrobe and garden, but the poor guy has recently been taking some time out to sob about how criminally materialistic we all are.  His solution: a personal wind-turbine, called Democratic Ecology

Democratic Ecology windmill

Democratic Ecology windmill

The claim is that a single windmill can generate 20-60% of the energy needed to power a home, and since Starck left the mechanics of the thing to generator company Pramac that’s slightly more believable.  It’s made of transparent polycarbonate because, well, that looks pretty cool when it’s spinning and the light catches on it, but there’s also apparently a more subdued version for those afraid of modern design.

Unlike some eco concepts we’ve seen, though, this one will actually be available later on in the year.  To give Starck his due, the Democratic Ecology is set to go on sale in September 2008, priced at just €400 ($633).  That may sound a lot, but compared to existing domestic turbines – which can cost several thousand dollars – it’s actually reasonably affordable.

Democratic Ecology windmill

[via Core77]

Subscribe via RSS or Email | Read 9,962 times

5 Responses to “Philippe Starck Democratic Ecology personal wind turbine”

  1. Amadeus July 3, 2008

    Wow, if this does what it says it can do, it’d be pretty fucking amazing, especially at that price. Might be the true start of the eco-revolution.

    Neutral  Add karma Subtract karma  
  2. Clive July 3, 2008

    Wind power is only a part of the solution – but a vital part, wind chill
    pushes the demand on the power grid up by around 20% or more in cold
    weather, wind turbines are ideally placed to off set this power demand, this
    is why they are so useful, and will be especially useful should the bulk of
    our power come from inflexible atomic power station in the future. Also,
    despite their higher up front cost, (requiring grant support) wind turbines
    produce over their life time, the cheapest power on account of not needing
    any fuel. A typical wind turbine consumes about 1,000 tons of resources in
    the course of its construction, but saves about 2,000 tons of emissions in
    the first year of operation alone. Turbines are a low maintenance form of
    power generation that can run unattended. 8,000,000 birds are killed every
    year by flying in to things like power station cooling towers (I know!).Most
    people love turbines, and I speak for the 90odd percent majority in my
    appreciation of these elegant quiet, and beautiful machines.

    Neutral  Add karma Subtract karma  
  3. carsten jorgensen September 19, 2008

    How can i bye many of theese wonderfull mills/turbines?
    Green Bali greetings Carsten!

    Neutral  Add karma Subtract karma  
  4. Dutch November 21, 2008

    So….it is late in November…. September is well past…. where can one buy the turbine?
    Quick !!…before all my money disappears in the stock market!

    Neutral  Add karma Subtract karma  
  5. gie December 6, 2008

    Now it’s December, it’s windy where I live. I am very excited by the prospect of being able to harness this energy. Where is the democratic ecology?

    Neutral  Add karma Subtract karma  

Post a comment

Please login to leave a comment. If you haven't signed up, you can do so free here. Lost your password? Reset it. With SlashGear account, you will be able to participate on SlashGear Forums.