Energy from vents & chimneys

[Chef Kyle]

Hiya all,

Here Down Under they're going to build a massive solar tower. A big greenhouse will heat up air, it'll flow up through a chimney, drive turbines and generate electricity.

I was wondering if anyone had ever tried anything similar on their vents. Here in Australia, it often gets quite hot, and houses have chimney vents, tall tubes, often with sieve-like windmills on 'em. Couldn't we chuck a small turbine on that? Wouldn't produce much power, but if nothing else it could power a ceiling fan in the house!

[zbotrobot]

Too much fun. A summer "roomate" always insists that the best way to make power is by going up a mountainside with a closed collum of solar heated air driving fans.

[hardwired]

You could build a direct drive fan as long as it was light and you used good bearings I don't see why not.

Congradulations on soon having the tallest free standing structure in the world, you're besting the CN Tower by doulbe it's hieght!