Tomorrow is Today

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney once famously said that “you can’t drive a car with a windmill on it,” but he might want to take a trip to Spain before he fully commits to the position that wind-powered vehicles are beyond the realm of the possible.

The city of Barcelona happens to be the site of the world’s first electric vehicle charging station attached to a wind turbine, courtesy of a partnership between wind industry leader GE and a company called Urban Green Energy.

GE and Urban Green Energy announced the launch of their wind-powered charging station about a year ago with plans to start in Barcelona, New York, and Bejing.

Dubbed the Sanya Skypump, the charging station combines the technology behind GE’s WattStation™ and UGE’s Sanya hybrid wind/solar street lamp. The Skypump is designed as a freestanding drive-through station suitable for installation at commercial sites.

The first installation in Barcelona went to Cespa, a subsidiary of the transportation infrastructure investment company Ferrovial Servicios. To ice the green cake, the Barcelona installation includes a green roof to shield vehicles from the elements while charging.

(ht Big Think)