The Invention Nation guys build a wind turbine
Invention Nation is a show about three guys trying to make it across the country on a bus that runs on used cooking oil. Along the way they seek out everyday people who have made awesome eco-inventions. Today’s episode centers on inventions that generate energy, with the focus being innovative ways to use old technologies.
First they visit Working Bikes Cooperative in Chicago. This is a place that gives away 5000 bikes a year and sells bikes to pay for shipping. They also promote bikes for power generation within the home. The demonstration on how a simple bike can be used to create energy is really cool.
The next stop for the guys is Chip Energy in Goodfield Illinois. There they build a gasifying stove. The stove is green because when you burn gases you get cleaner combustion or something like that. I have to admit that didn’t totally get it. It just looked like a fancier grill chimney with a fan to me. If you have a better explanation of how it is green please leave it in the comments.
Next the boys go to New York state to meet two people who build wind turbines. One of these guys, James S. Juczak, lives in a house that is completely off the grid and is made from 80% recycled materials, and looks incredibly awesome. In upstate New York that they try to build a small wind turbine, and in a show of my ignorance I discover a turbine is much, much more complicated than a Dutch windmill.
How Green Was the Show: Very. Everything these guys do and show is green.
Fun Facts:
- I lived a few miles down the street from Working Bikes Cooperative in Chicago for two years and never knew it was there
- The turbines that power the off-the-grid house need winds of only 7 mph to function
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