Briefs: Refrigerated windmill provides drinking water

A windmill equipped with a small cooling system produces up to 200 litres of drinking water/day. Collecting moisture from wind was already applied in Chile for instance, but by adding the small cooling device, it was possible for Marc Parent, the founder of Eole Water, a company based in the South of France, to increase the output to up to 200 litres daily according to wind speed and temperature. The windmill simply uses collectors situated in the blades to collect the moisture contained in the air which is then condensed thanks to the cooling device. The system is a small prototype but a larger mill would be expected to provide up to 1000 litres of drinking water/day, enough for a 25-person community. Like all windmills, it also produces electricity, i.e. 25% more than the amount it needs to operate; it exerts virtually no environmental impact and the water collecting system may also be operated using solar energy, a generator or the power grid if the wind drops. A portable kit model could provide power and water to disaster victims.