Everett Community College (EvCC) is collaborating with WSU (Washington State University) to work on a revolutionary type of wind turbine called a variable pitch vertical axis wind turbine (also known as a cyclo turbine) and have formed a wind energy team. Tests are going well and these kinds of turbines can theoretically be more efficient and produce more energy than standard horizontal axis turbines. Cyclo turbines would also be much smaller than the standard horizontal axis ones and would be easier to construct and maintain. This would also allow them to be built in more urban areas and offshore floating wind farms. They can also handle more turbulent air.
The wind team are also working with JC Dream (https://jcdream.org/), a Washington organization working to find alternatives to harmful rare earth metals used in technology such as lithium.
In June, EvCC and WSU will be attending the Collegiate Wind Energy Competition (https://www.energy.gov/eere/collegiatewindcompetition/collegiate-wind-competition) in Denver to present their turbine and learn more about the wind and renewable energy industry. If you would like to learn more about this project contact STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) club advisor jgraber@everettcc.edu.
