We've seen a couple innovative wind power solutions pop up, but none
that claim to offer the benefits of maglev wind turbines, which use
full-permanent magnets to nearly eliminate friction by "floating" the
blades above the base. According to developers, the technology is
capable of scaling to massive sizes, with a proposed $53M turbine able
enough to replace 1000 traditional windmills and power 750 thousand
homes. Additional benefits include the ability to generate power with
*winds as slow as three miles per hour*, operational costs some 50
percent cheaper than windmills, and an estimated lifespan of 500 years.
That all sounds great, but the real proof will come when these things
get put to use, which may happen sooner than you'd think: Development is
proceeding rapidly in both the US and China, with Chinese power company
Zhongke Hengyuan Energy Technology currently building a $5M factory to
produce the turbines in capacities from 400 to 5,000 watts.