Turbine-less wind power

Cool innovation. Winner of a 2007 Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Award.

[Shawn] Frayne’s device, which he calls a Windbelt, is a taut membrane fitted with a pair of magnets that oscillate between metal coils. Prototypes have generated 40 milliwatts in 10-mph slivers of wind, making his device 10 to 30 times as efficient as the best microturbines. Frayne envisions the Windbelt costing a few dollars and replacing kerosene lamps in Haitian homes.

Lots of developing world applications. Especially appreciate the ease of repair and maintenance. (as a director of a clean drinking water non-profit once told me: "it's not finding the technology that's a problem, it's fixing it. How do you fix something in the middle of the African bush with no tools, no electricity and no city within two hundred miles?")

More information is available directly on the Popular Mechanics link.