Japanese Invention Can Power Japan for 50 Years From the Energy of One Typhoon

Using his revolutionary invention, a Japanese engineer is hoping to tap into a powerful and free energy source that is relatively abundant in his local region: the typhoon.

Known to be a regular occurrence in Japan, typhoons generate massive amounts of energy and Atsushi Shimizu claims he can utilize this power.

The inventor has reportedly created the world’s first typhoon wind turbine he calls Challenergy, a machine capable of harnessing the energy of storms as a renewable energy source, reported CNN.

A mature typhoon, according to estimates of the Atlantic Oceanographic & Meteorological Laboratory, produces power “equivalent to about half the world-wide electrical generating capacity.”

According to Shimizu, his vertical-axis Magnus wind power generator invention can generate enough energy that could power the whole of Japan for 50 years from just one typhoon. The device itself was designed to be tough and strong enough to be able to withstand the powerful typhoon winds so it can generate electricity.

Shimizu’s creation, he said, is just returning a service he owed his country.

“Our generation reaped the benefit of nuclear power — we never experience a power black out because of it,” Shimizu said. “Now we are responsible for changing the future.”

The machine, shaped like a giant egg-beater has so far achieved promising results and is currently under further development. Shimizu’s team last simulated their invention in July 2015, and it achieved 30% efficiency. Current generation propeller-based wind turbines normally operate at 40% efficiency, but they are impossible to utilize in a typhoon.

This year, in July, Challenergy installed its first prototype in Okinawa and the team needs an actual typhoon to test its real life efficiency.

“I want to install our wind-power generator at the new National Stadium,” Shimizu told CNN, pertaining to the facility currently being built for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. “Or on the Tokyo Tower, because the Eiffel Tower installed a wind-power generator last year at the time of the COP21 (climate summit).”

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