It all began in 2011, when Jérôme Michaud-Larivière hatched the idea of creating an electrical power generating system in the form of a tree, with each leaf an actual mini wind turbine. Capturing low wind speeds and turbulence is at the core of this new approach, which can deliver power and autonomy simply through a proliferation of leaves. Thus, the Arbre à Vent® was born out of a desire to create the first human-scale biomimetic wind turbine.
Claudio Colucci was entrusted with the design of the Arbre of Vent®. Combining elegance and performance, he freed the tree from its central trunk and placed its leaves in a seemingly chaotic manner so as to capture the maximum amount of air movement. Organic and curvilinear in form, the Arbre à Vent®turns its back on our very notion of windmills, obscuring cables, blades and generators within the guise of the tree.
Its groundbreaking Aeroleaf® technology is simultaneously rustic and sophisticated. A microprocessor in each leaf allows it to harvest maximum energy from the wind available at any given moment. It took three and a half years of R&D to latch onto the curve of the wind, without inertia, and attain energy efficiency.
For more information on NewWind and their progress please continue reading here.
