1. BUILDING THE FRAMEWORK FOR HURRICANE CHASER---A CONCEPTUAL WIND-ENERGY HARVESTING VEHICLE Talking and Walking Sustainability Conference, NZSSES 2007 By Dr. Donald D. Liou University of North Carolina at Charlotte U.S.A.

2. 2004, A Year of Record Hurricanes 27 named hurricanes, including Katrina, Rita and Wilma Katrina killed more than 1,000 people, and left New Orleans in ruin (the most costliest in US) Wind of Wilma reached 185 miles per hour (87 m/s) at sea, and 120 miles (54 m/s) per hour at land A continuation of hurricane baby-boom since 1995 (at least 9 out of 12 past seasons) An indication of the grim possibility that global warming is making the storms stronger

3. A Satellite Image of Katrina Near Miami Florida

4. Common Characteristics of Hurricanes Like smoke up in a chimney, send moist air from warm ocean (80F or 29C) toward frigid upper atmosphere (50,000 ft or 15,000 m or more) Wide span (650 miles or 1,040 km across) Slow moving (Eye speed=15-20 mph or 7-9 m/s) Long duration (up to 1 week) Fuelled by warm water supply Packed with power (Average=1.5 trillion watts, half of world’s electricity generating capacity) Die after landfall

5. Wind Energy As A Renewable Energy Source in USA

6. Factors in Favor of Developing Hurricane Chasers Meteorological hurricane scales are well-defined (Saffir-Simpson Scales 1-5), which provide good reference points Improvements in forecast of hurricanes (23 mph or 10m/s error in wind-speed, 70 miles or 112 km in 1-day forecast of storm position) Re-emergence of utility-scale wind-power industry in US Offshore wind-power farm projects in Europe Bush administration is in need of a domestic agenda

7. Some Data from Offshore Wind Farms Europe lead the world in development Mainly in Baltic and North Sea London Array in Thames Estuary to have 1,000 WM, using 3 MW turbines Cost in 2006 was $3,000,000 per MW Issues include cost of offshore installation, availability and volatility in material prices, capricious offshore environment

8. A Possible Hurricane Chaser Configuration?

9. Concept of a Hurricane Chaser Similar to commercial fishing or whaling ships Design for long voyage (30 days) in rough ocean (18 ft or 5.5 m storm surge) and strong wind (155 mph or 70 m/s) Capable of carrying and operating large rotor (128-157 ft long), high tower (400-500 ft tall), utility-scale (1.5 megawatt) machines Can follow hurricanes like a 15 th -century armada followed trade winds

10. Full Pressure-efficiency Chart of Air Compressor

11. Partial Pressure-Efficiency Chart of Air Compressor

12. Average Eye Speed of Katrina

13. Framework for the Conceptual Wind-energy Harvester An un-orthodox design paradigm Re-configuring existing wind turbines Define basic vehicular configuration Define performance specifications Translating meteorological data to navigation guides Searching for suitable materials Develop power storage and distribution systems

14. Conclusions Hurricane chaser concept introduced Factors for development favorable The political timing for development fair Open up a new technological front for competition Potential for a new industry to emerge Any questions?