WO2008110018A1

WO2008110018A1 - Wind powered system for the direct mechanical powering of systems and energy storage devices

Info

Publication number: WO2008110018A1
Application number: PCT/CA2008/000551
Authority: WO
Inventors: Stephen W. Dewar
Original assignee: Whalepower Corporation
Priority date: 2007-03-12
Filing date: 2008-03-12
Publication date: 2008-09-18

Abstract

A wind powered system (10) comprises at least one wind turbine (12) and at least one system (14) mechanically coupled to and powered by the wind turbine. The at least one system (14) stores the product of mechanical energy developed by the wind turbine and uses stored energy in the absence of sufficient wind.

Description

WIND POWERED SYSTEM FOR

THE DIRECT MECHANICAL POWERING OF SYSTEMS AND ENERGY STORAGE DEVICES

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to power generation and in particular, to a wind powered system and method for the direct mechanical powering of systems and energy storage devices.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Wind and water turbines, paddle wheels and windmills and other such devices are well known and have been used as sources of mechanical energy to operate mills, pumps, etc. While the use wind generated power has grown dramatically in recent decades, the overwhelming bulk of that growth has been for wind turbines which generate electricity. Although mechanical windmills and paddle wheels are still used today to pump water and grind grain, the use of windmills and paddle wheels has steadily declined.

In recent years, the increasingly urgent requirement for alternate means to generate clean electricity has led to a dramatic growth in the deployment of wind turbines as sources of so-called "alternative" or "green" energy. Large scale (utility- scale), horizontal axis, wind turbines which drive electrical generators have formed the vast majority of such devices.

Three key trends have motivated research and development into wind- driven alternative energy generation. Burgeoning demand for oil and gas and a decline in the discovery of significant new reserves has led most analysts to conclude that overall energy costs will rise dramatically in the coming decades, driven primarily by rises in the prices of all thermal energy sources, but especially oil. Attempts to substitute alternative hydrocarbon energy sources, such as coal fired electrical plants, have been countered by concerns about adverse health effects caused by the fine particulate matter discharged by coal fired plants and the difficulty and expense of removing the most dangerous sub-micron sized particle emissions. The impact of the energy price trend has been amplified by the concerns of scientists and governments that the growing use of hydrocarbon fuels is releasing a significant quantity of so-called "green house gases", such as CO₂ and methane, into the atmosphere where they are accumulating and driving a process commonly referred to as "global warming".

As a consequence wind turbine deployment has made wind generated electricity the fastest growing component of the energy sector over the past decade. It has also led both governments and industries around the world to invest heavily in efforts to improve the performance of wind turbines.

The investments referred to above have had some impact. Improvements have been made to wind turbine blades, generators and power conditioning circuits. Concerted efforts have also been made to develop dramatically larger scale turbines which are more efficient in low wind conditions and also more cost effective with respect to tower erection, land and site costs, and electrical grid hookup costs. The current generation of utility scale turbine rotors sweep areas as big as 120 meters and produce rated power on the order of 2.5 megawatts (MW) in terrestrial deployment. Larger wind turbines with rotor sweep areas capable of rated power up to 7.5 MW are being developed for installation in offshore environments. These advances have significantly reduced the cost of wind generated electricity delivered to the electrical grid to a price well below the cost of nuclear generation, oil and gas generation and even clean coal technology. Established hydroelectric generating stations still retain a significant price advantage but due to the scarcity of hydroelectric sites near major cities, the gap between wind generated electricity and new hydroelectric generation has narrowed significantly.

Despite these advances, the wind generated electricity option still faces a number of important hurdles, determined for the most part, by the unsteady and intermittent nature of wind, which makes the stable production of wind generated electrical power a challenge. In an average year, a typical wind powered electricity generating site receives too little wind to function approximately 25-30 per cent of the time. Similarly, when much higher speed winds occur, even the most advanced utility scale wind turbines must deliberately waste energy in order to avoid damage to the turbine rotors, wear and tear on the generators and drive trains, and excessive stresses on the turbine support towers. The net result is that a typical wind powered electricity generating site delivers an annualized electricity energy output well below the rated power of its turbines. In practice, an average electrical energy output of only 25 to 30 per cent is considered very good. With respect to utility scale electricity generation, when the wind resource at any given turbine falls or fails, other energy sources must be employed to meet the demand load. Typically, this means that conventional sources (oil, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric or nuclear generation) must be used to meet the additional demand.

It has been widely projected that wind generated electricity has a limited potential to generate no more than about 20% of the electricity demand. Recent studies in Europe have sought to determine whether it is possible increase this potential by deploying large numbers of wind turbines over a much larger area so that at any time, a significant portion of those wind turbines will encounter enough usable wind to provide a reasonably stable supply of electricity to the electrical grid serving the entire wide area. While these studies indicate that it is possible to improve stability of the electrical energy supply generated in this manner, the proposal carries substantial collateral costs because widespread deployment of wind turbines requires substantial expansion of electrical grids which in turn, increases the net cost of electricity.

The intermittent nature of wind generated electricity presents an even more serious problem for small wind turbine systems serving remote and rural areas, and in remote locations, such as the far north. In rural areas and on farms the wind turbines must commonly be backed up by costly connections to the electrical grid. Installations remote from an electrical grid must be backed up with diesel powered generators or small gas turbine powered generators.

The limited reliability of wind generated electrical power has prompted a great deal of research into various means of storing excess generated energy when usable wind is available. Some of the energy storage systems that have been proposed to-date seek to store power that can be used to supplement inadequate power generation during times of low wind and/or regenerate additional electricity when winds fail. For example, energy storage systems that have been considered include storage batteries; hydraulic systems which pump water to an elevation where it is useful as a fluid flow source to water turbines ("pumped water"); systems which use a portion of the electrical energy generated to compress and store air in large underground caverns from which the compressed air can then be released to power a turbine; energy storage systems which heat water to a temperature high enough to power a steam turbine; and energy storage systems which store heat in the form of reversible reactions or material state changes, which heat can be released on demand and used to regenerate electricity. It is interesting to note that all of these approaches utilize wind turbines to generate electricity and then use a portion of that electricity to create an energy store (the batteries) or an energy resource (elevated water, stored heat, or compressed air) which is then used to regenerate electricity at a later time. It is possible to build all of these energy storage systems, however, only pumped water appears to be both practical and cost effective, but it too has had limited acceptance because its costs are highly dependent on site costs.

The above energy storage proposals unfortunately only address the broad concern that wind generated electricity requires a storage component before it can reach its full potential as a solution to the overall rising demand for electricity delivered to the electrical grid. This focus on overall demand does not recognize that in reality the demand for electricity is driven by specific applications and varies on a seasonal basis. The focus on supplying peak demands also tends not to take seasonal variations in the availability of wind power into account such as the fact that wind electricity generating sites are most productive in cold months when the air is denser. The demand for electrical capacity now peaks in hot months due to the burgeoning demand for air conditioning. In North America the summer period puts serious stress on, and taxes generation capacity and the reliability of the electrical grid. Comparatively lower demand peaks occur in winter when total electricity demand is significantly lower. This is because, in the current energy market, electrical heating is more expensive than heating with oil or natural gas combustion.

It is widely predicted that this pattern of higher summer electricity demand is likely to change in the near future as oil and gas prices rise due to an anticipated growth in global demand for oil and gas. Further, it is anticipated that conventional air conditioning systems for cooling will be replaced with reversible heat pump systems that can also deliver significant amounts of heat. In fact, current oil prices are already making reversible heat pumps more cost effective than furnaces for many applications, especially when combined with a ground water heat exchange interface. However wider use of reversible heat pumps causes concern, because it will result in an increase in the demand for electricity in winter. That, in turn, will put more strain on electrical generation and delivery systems which are already struggling to keep up with demand and to meet reasonable standards of reliability. The prospect of meeting the increased demand for electricity with wind generated power is attractive because of the comparative speed at which wind turbines can be installed. The costs associated with widespread large scale wind turbine deployment and its burden on the electrical grid however, make this solution unlikely. There is a possibility that distributed deployment of small scale wind turbines may make the above approach feasible.

From the foregoing it can be readily seen that solutions to two goals are simultaneously being sought. Firstly, a cost effective means of storing wind generated energy when winds are abundantly available, for utilization at a later time as required, is desired. Secondly, a system which can be widely deployed so as to avoid overburdening of the electrical grid while minimizing unacceptable performance penalties deriving from the comparative inefficiencies of small scale wind turbines is desired.

With respect to solving the first goal, although the prior art has demonstrated various methods of storing wind generated power, these methods are inherently inefficient and costly, hi particular, electrical generators suffer losses; battery systems are too expensive for most purposes; and storage of high temperature heat (whether hot water or other means) imposes penalties in terms of both cost and efficiency. Pumped water storage is only cost effective in comparatively large scale facilities adjacent to large electrical power generating plants. With respect to solving the second goal, it is desirable that small wind turbine electrical generating systems be deployed on a distributed basis in order to serve significant localized demands without imposing excessive loads on the electrical grid. However, small wind turbine electrical generating systems are limited by their high overall cost; the capital cost per kilowatt for small wind turbines is typically as much as three times that of a multiple megawatt utility turbine. Consequently, these small wind turbine generators are rightly regarded as impractical for deployment except at those sites where alternative power supplies are even more expensive, such as at remote and rural locations with no easy access to the electrical grid. As will be appreciated, improvements in wind powered systems are desired.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a novel wind powered system and method for the direct mechanical powering of systems and energy storage devices.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, in one aspect there is provided a wind powered system comprising: at least one wind turbine; and at least one system mechanically coupled to and powered by said wind turbine, said at least one system storing the product of mechanical energy developed by said wind turbine and using stored energy in the absence of sufficient wind.

In one embodiment, the wind powered system comprises a plurality of systems mechanically coupled to and powered by the wind turbine. The plurality of systems is selected from the group comprising a heat pump, a mechanical heater, an air compressor and an electrical generator. Each system is coupled to the wind turbine via a transmission. Each transmission comprises at least one of mechanical, magnetic, pneumatic and hydraulic linkages. The wind turbine comprises a ring gear- like arrangement to drive each of the transmissions simultaneously.

In the case of a heat pump, the mechanical energy developed by the wind turbine is used to power a compressor of the heat pump. In the case of a mechanical heater, the mechanical energy developed by the wind turbine is used by the mechanical heater to heat fluid in a storage tank, hi one embodiment, the heated fluid in the storage tank is fed to an expander that converts the heated fluid into steam. The steam is then used to power a steam turbine. In the case of an air compressor, the mechanical energy developed by the wind turbine is used to compress air stored in a storage tank.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure l is a schematic diagram of a wind powered system for the direct mechanical powering of systems and energy storage devices; and

Figure 2 is another schematic diagram of the wind powered mechanical system of Figure 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Disclosed herein is a wind powered system comprising at least one wind turbine that is mechanically coupled to and powers one or more systems that store the product of mechanical energy developed by the wind turbine and use stored energy in the absence of sufficient wind.

In one embodiment, the wind turbine directly powers multiple heating, ventilation, air conditioning ("HVAC") systems such as heat pumps, mechanical heaters, fans and small electrical generators, one or more of which comprise at least one low grade energy storage device. The mechanical energy developed by the wind turbine is delivered to the HVAC systems by means of a drive train including various shafts, gears and/or hydraulic or pneumatic linkages, all of which operate under the control of an electronic control system.

As a result, when useful wind is abundant, the wind powered system operates in a manner similar to that of a conventional windmill. However, by incorporating a number of different low grade energy storage devices, each designed to store surplus energy during times of abundant wind, the stored energy can be used when the wind resource is marginally inadequate or even unavailable.

The mechanical energy is stored by the one or more energy storage devices in a form or forms which represent the intermediate product of mechanical work. Such stored products include but are not limited to: a quantity of compressed gas stored in a tank that is ready to be used in heat pumps during heating or cooling operations; a quantity of mechanically heated water stored in an insulated tank and available as a supplemental heat source for use with heat pumps; a quantity of compressed air stored in a tank which can then be employed as a pneumatic power source to provide mechanical energy to various machines such as fans, pumps and small electrical generators.

The use of stored compressed refrigerant gas is straightforward with respect to the cooling air conditioning cycle of an HVAC heat pump because either heat exchange with the atmosphere or with ground water is adequate for virtually any air conditioning requirement. Heating operations present a more difficult case in some climate zones. In moderate climate zones both air heat exchange and ground water heat exchange offer a sufficient quantity of heat, (though ground water exchange is more efficient). However, in arctic environments, for example, ground water heat exchange is impractical. Indeed this can be the case in any location where the ground freezes for significant periods. Similarly, cold climates can also render air heat exchange inadequate or unworkable. In these environments, the wind powered mechanical system is configured to simultaneously power a mechanical water heater, which in concert with a comparatively simple storage means, such as an insulated tank, serves as a supplemental heat exchange source for the heat pump when operating in the heating mode.

When an air compressor and tank system is used to store energy developed by the wind turbine, the stored energy can be used to pneumatically power the electrical generator or deliver power pneumatically to fans and pumps as required. In short, virtually any combination of the devices mentioned above may be combined into an overall system suitable for the needs of a specific location and powered either directly by the wind turbine or by one or more of the energy storage devices. The mechanical energy can also be used to power a small electrical generator which may be used to power various devices, such as the electronic control system, other electromagnetic control systems, fans and pumps. If desired, surplus electrical energy generated by the electrical generator may also be stored conventionally in batteries as required. The wind powered system uses a direct source of mechanical energy from the wind turbine drive train to drive one or more HVAC systems and to charge one or more storage energy devices in adequate wind conditions. The energy stored by the energy storage devices is then available to the HVAC systems in inadequate wind conditions. In this manner, in both adequate and inadequate wind conditions, HVAC system operation is continuous and does not decline or cease to function during times of inadequate wind.

Provision can also be made for an electrical motor, supplied with a conventional utility power source connection, which is coupled to the drive train and thus is capable of operating the system during times of prolonged failure of the winds or service interruptions to the wind turbine.

Although small wind turbines are significantly less efficient and cost effective than utility scale wind turbines with respect to electrical generation, the inherent efficiencies and cost effectiveness of employing mechanical energy to directly power the HVAC systems significantly mitigates these deficiencies due to scale. The elimination of generation losses, transmission losses, motor inefficiencies, and high cost energy storage, enhance the efficiency and bolster reliability of the system as a whole through distributed deployment. The unique efficiencies of heat pumps makes them of particular interest. Surplus compressed air conditioner gas can be produced with substantially less energy than the total number of thermal or electrically generated heat units which can be "pumped" from one location to another and requires only simple and reliable pressurized storage which does not require any energy input to be maintained or to be used. Given the dramatic contribution that air conditioning makes to overall electricity demand in summer, this alone constitutes a major advance. As the prices of fossil fuels increase, the ability of such a system to deliver heat as well as other goods will demonstrate increasing practicality and cost effectiveness. In another embodiment compressed refrigerant gas, compressed air, and mechanically heated hot water is produced and stored during off-peak hours when electricity prices are lower. These stored resources are then used in the manner described above to reduce the HVAC system(s)' demand for electricity during peak hours when electricity is more expensive. Thus, this embodiment can serve to both reduce electrical demand in peak hours, potentially lowering peak electrical demand from the electrical grid, and also to lower the operating costs. Using stored resources in this manner is suited to locations where it is not feasible to operate wind turbines such as in dense urban localities. A specific embodiment of a wind powered system will now be descried with reference to the figures. Referring to now Figures 1 and 2, a wind powered system for the direct mechanical powering of systems comprising energy stores is shown and is generally identified by reference numeral 10. As can be seen, wind powered system 10 comprises a wind turbine 12 mechanically coupled to a plurality of systems generally identified by reference numeral 14.

In this embodiment, wind turbine 12 comprises a plurality of blades 20 mounted on a hub 22. The leading edges of the blades 20 may be conventional or employ tubercles as described in International PCT Application No.

PCT/CA2005/001596 filed on October 18, 2005, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference. The hub 22 is affixed to one end of a rotor shaft 24. The other end of the rotor shaft 24 is coupled to one end of a vertical drive shaft 26 extending through a support tower 28 via a transmission 30 comprising a drive gear 32 and pinion 34. The rotor shaft 24 and transmission 30 are mounted on a rotating support 36 at the top of the support tower 28. A motor 38 is coupled to the rotating support 36 via a pinion yaw gear 40. The other end of the vertical drive shaft 26 is coupled a ring gear 42 or other suitable gearing arrangement. A transmission 44 acts between each system 14 and the ring gear 42 to deliver mechanical energy developed by the wind turbine 12 to the associated system 14. The transmissions 44 may comprise suitable mechanical, magnetic, pneumatic and/or hydraulic linkages to translate rotation of the ring gear 42 to the systems 14.

As is well known, during operation, wind directed at the wind turbine 12 causes the blades 20 to rotate the hub 22 which in turn imparts rotation of the rotor shaft 24. Rotation of the rotor shaft 24 is translated to rotation of the vertical drive shaft 26 via the drive gear 32 and pinion 34 of transmission 30. Rotation of the vertical drive shaft 26 in turn rotates the ring gear 42. Rotation of the ring gear 42 is translated to the systems 14 by the transmissions 44 thereby allowing the wind turbine 12 to power the systems 14 through direct mechanical coupling. While this occurs, the motor 38 via the pinion yaw gear 40 rotates the support 36 to orient the blades 20 relative to the wind so that the blades 20 of the wind turbine 12 better engage the wind.

In this embodiment, systems 14 include but are not limited to the compressor 50 of an HVAC heat pump, a mechanical heater 52, an air compressor 54 and a small electrical generator 56, all of which are operated in parallel as required to perform functions including operation of control circuits, electromechanical devices and servo systems. The HVAC heat pump compressor 50 is connected to a suitable storage tank 60 via gas connections 62. In this embodiment, the closed refrigerant gas cycle is supplied with a significantly larger quantity of refrigerant gas for circulation than would be available in a conventional heat pump. Operation of the heat pump compressor 50 through powering by the wind turbine 12 provides for an extra quantity of compressed refrigerant gas that is stored in the storage tank 60 for use during normal heating or cooling operations of the HVAC heat pump. The gas represents, in effect, a form of stored energy because it has been produced by the heat pump compressor 50 and has the particular advantage that it can be stored in the storage tank 60 and used when required with virtually no additional required energy expenditure. This is particularly advantageous when wind power, which is inherently intermittent, is not available. Whether there is wind or not, requisite quantities of compressed refrigerant gas can be released from the storage tank 60 under the control of electromechanical or electromechanical/pneumatic means (not shown) and allowed to pass through the connections 62 in the closed refrigerant gas cycle to an expansion valve (not shown) and then into a heat exchanger 64 where it can be used for cooling in the normal manner. In effect, the HVAC heat pump operates in its air conditioning mode in a normal fashion when wind energy is available and uses gas which has been previously compressed when wind energy is not available, hi the heating mode, the HVAC heat pump releases heat during the compression operation, hi this case, a connection to a heat store in the form of an insulated storage tank 66 filled with water is provided to allow the heat to be stored for later use. As will be appreciated, for ease of illustration the connections between the heat pump and the storage tank 66 are not shown. The mechanical heater 52 is of the turbulence type and converts mechanical energy into heat by heating water when powered by the wind turbine 12 to a temperature of up to 38O°F. The mechanical heater 52 is connected to the insulated storage tank 66 via suitable connections 72 so that the hot water can be stored until it is supplied to the heat exchanger 64 as a supplemental source of heat. When the heat pump is operating in reverse to provide air conditioning, the heated water is exchanged via the heat pump. In this manner, sufficient energy can be available for heat exchange even when sufficient heat is not available from the air. Just as in the case of the stored compressed refrigerant gas, the hot water may be generated during those periods when wind energy is available and stored in the storage tank 66 for later use when there is a decline or absence of wind.

If desired, the heated water in the storage tank 66 can be applied to an expander (not shown) in order to generate steam which can then be used to power a steam turbine in order to generate electricity. While steam derived from water at this temperature is typically not suitable for powering steam turbines, if the blades of the steam turbine employ tubercles as described in the above-incorporated PCT application, the steam turbine can be effectively powered by the steam. This is due to the fact that the tubercles on the steam turbine blades allow for the extraction of energy from low speed fluid flows with greater efficiency.

The air compressor 54 is connected to a suitable storage tank 80 by pneumatic connections 82 in such a manner that when powered by the wind turbine 12 quantities of compressed air can be accumulated in the storage tank 80 and distributed via an electromechanical control device 84 to compressed air lines in order to pneumatically power various devices forming part of the HVAC heat pump, parts of the wind turbine itself, including but not limited to pumps, fans, and vents (not shown), or the motor 40 and pinion yaw gear 42 which controls the orientation of the wind turbine blades 20 relative to the wind. The electrical generator 56 when powered by the wind turbine 12 converts the mechanical energy into electricity. Provided with suitable electrical connections (not shown) the output of the generator 56 provides electricity for operation of pumps, fans, lights, etc. and may be supplied with connections to storage batteries (not shown) in the manner well known to the art. The various systems 14 can be configured in different ways for different applications and thus, tailored to operation in cold climates, remote locations distant from an electrical grid or for HVAC applications in large urban buildings. For example, suitable connections might be made in a remote location so that the electrical generator 56 can be pneumatically powered by compressed air when wind is not available, while such means might be deemed too expensive in an urban setting where access to the electrical grid is readily available. Alternatively, in cases where the market cost of electricity is very high, it may be advantageous to operate devices such as the fans and pumps required to operate the HVAC heat pump air handler and ventilation system (not shown) with electricity from the electrical generator 56 or by compressed air from the air compressor 54 and/or its associated storage tank 80.

The wind turbine 12 is preferably scaled relative to the demand so that it will produce a sufficient oversupply of mechanical energy when wind is available to serve all of the stored energy requirements. To that end, each individual site at which the system 10 is to be installed, should be evaluated with respect to prevailing winds, mean wind speed and a detailed estimation of the availability of wind in terms of seasons, days and even hours of the day. This assessment should also account for the specific turbine efficiency, the height of the support tower 28 etc. so that a sufficient amount of surplus energy is available from the systems 14 during times when inadequate wind power must be supplemented. The systems 14 should have a capacity to store enough energy to continue uninterrupted operations for a period of approximately 30% longer than the projected longest period of interruption. The wind turbine 12 may also be scaled to provide a surplus of mechanical energy to one or more compressors such that each compressor can produce all of the compressed gas required for air conditioning or for pneumatic power plus an appropriate surplus of compressed gas which can be stored for use when winds either fall or fail. While small scale deployment is discussed, it should be noted that it can be readily scaled up (either directly or in parallel) to serve larger systems. It should be noted that the compression and storage of surplus quantities of air conditioning gas provides an alternative means of energy storage. Indeed, in technical terms, it is not so much an energy storage device as a stored resource. It is well known in the art that heat pumps, whether employed for heating or cooling, do not generate heat or cooling except as an incidental byproduct, hi particular, compressing the gas forces the gas to give off heat. Conversely, when that gas is allowed to expand it absorbs heat. Carrying on these functions in two separate locations allows heat to be collected at one location and released at another location. It takes significantly less energy to compress and decompress the gas in such a system than it does to generate the same amount of energy by burning fuel to produce heat. This process is especially efficient when the installation is connected to a location with a large energetic capacity such as an underground heat exchanger or ground water supply. In the most advantageous applications, the energy consumed by the pump heat is in the order of one quarter of that required to produce an equivalent amount of heat. The HVAC heat pump may be employed to heat or cool buildings as desired by either pumping heat out of a building and releasing it into the air or the ground for cooling, or by collecting heat from the air or ground and releasing it as heat inside the building. It is also well known that in some locations the available heat in the air may be insufficient to serve as a heat exchange source during different seasons and that the amount of heat in the air varies substantially within seasons for days or even weeks at a time, and, that this variability extends to different parts of the day. In cases where ambient air temperatures are inadequate it is possible to resort to an underground heat exchanger employing ground water.

As will be appreciated, the wind powered system 10 discussed above uses low grade energy to power work directly and then stores the product of that work whether as hot water or compressed gas, in a form which can be employed directly to accomplish work. In effect, the wind powered mechanical system 10 efficiently uses low grade mechanical energy to do work directly and stores the surplus work product as low grade energy (mechanically heated hot water) or compressed gases (such as Freon or compressed air) for use when the mechanical energy from the wind is insufficient.

It is useful to contrast the subject energy storage approach with the conventional storage approaches discussed previously. In effect, both approaches capture comparatively low grade mechanical energy from the wind. The conventional storage systems discussed in the background section of the subject application however use that mechanical energy to drive electrical generators thus converting low grade mechanical energy into high grade electrical energy. This electricity may then be stored in batteries or other similarly high grade energy storage means until needed, at which time the stored high level energy is used to regenerate high grade energy again in the form of electricity. Even when intermediate products are employed as storage means, such systems generate surplus electricity which is then used to produce the stored intermediate resources. Indeed, the inescapable inefficiencies during the conversion of mechanical energy into electricity and the equally inescapable inefficiencies during the conversion of that electricity back into mechanical work result in a significant loss of energy. These inherent efficiencies are further exacerbated by inadequate and inefficient energy storage systems. This overall approach renders such energy generation and storage systems inherently inefficient. This inefficiency arises because low grade energy is converted into high grade energy inefficiently, and the expensive high grade energy is stored using inefficient and expensive storage means which inevitably reduces the quantity of the stored high grade energy. Although embodiments have been described above, those of skill in the art will also appreciate that variations and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

Wh at is claimed is:

1. A wind powered system comprising: at least one wind turbine; and at least one system mechanically coupled to and powered by said wind turbine, said at least one system storing the product of mechanical energy developed by said wind turbine and using stored energy in the absence of sufficient wind.

2. The system of claim 1 comprising a plurality of systems mechanically coupled to and powered by said wind turbine.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein said plurality of systems is selected from the group comprising (i) a heat pump, (ii) a mechanical heater, (iii) an air compressor, an (iv) and electrical generator.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein each system is coupled to said wind turbine via a transmission.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein each transmission comprises at least one of mechanical, magnetic, pneumatic and hydraulic linkages.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein said wind turbine comprises a ring gear- like arrangement to drive each of said transmission simultaneously.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein said at least one system is a heat pump and wherein mechanical energy developed by said wind turbine is used to power a compressor of said heat pump.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein said compressor compresses refrigerant gas that is stored in a storage tank.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein said at least one system is a mechanical heater and wherein mechanical energy developed by said wind turbine is used by said heater to heat fluid in a storage tank.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein said storage tank is coupled to said heat pump.

11. The system of claim 9 wherein said storage tank is coupled to a steam turbine via an expander.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein said at least one system is an air compressor and wherein mechanical energy developed by said wind turbine is used to compress air stored in a storage tank.

13. The system of claim 1 wherein said at least one system is an electrical generator that converts mechanical energy developed by said wind turbine into electrical energy.

14. The system of claim 3 wherein mechanical energy developed by said wind turbine is used to power a compressor of said heat pump.

15. The system of claim 3 or 14 wherein mechanical energy developed by said wind turbine is used by said heater to heat fluid in a storage tank.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein heated fluid in said storage tank is fed to an expander and converted to stream, said steam being used to power a steam turbine.

17. The system of claim 3, 14, 15 or 16 wherein mechanical energy developed by said wind turbine is used to compress air stored in a storage tank.