The wind turbine for your backyard

26ft 'Wind Tree' uses tiny silent blades to generate electricity from light breezes

The 'Wind Tree' uses tiny blades housed in the 'leaves' that turn in breezes 

A French firm is installing the first model at  Place de la Concorde in Paris 

'Aeroleaves' generate electricity in wind speeds as low as 4.5mph (7km/h) 

This can provide enough power to supply 15 street lamps or one electrical car for 10,168 miles (1,360km) over the course of a year

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Monstrous, noisy conventional wind turbines may soon be a thing of the past thanks to tree-shaped wind turbines being installed in Paris.

What started out as a concept is now being turned into reality, with several being planned for the French capital.

French company 'New Wind' is installing the first at Place de la Concorde in Paris and is hoping to expand throughout the country and abroad.

The 26ft (8 metre) trees are fitted with 63 aeroleaves. 

Each one uses tiny blades inside the 'leaves' and can generate electricity in wind speeds as low as 4.5mph (7km/h), and regardless of the wind's direction.

A light breeze is classified as having a wind speed of between 4mph and 7mph on the Beaufort Scale.

The company's founder, Jérôme Michaud-Larivière, hopes the trees can be used to exploit small air currents flowing along buildings and streets, and could eventually be installed in people's backgardens and urban centres.

The power output of the tree is 3.1 kilowatts a year depending on the wind. 

The trees are also silent, so sound pollution would not be an issue - a major improvement from past designs.

The trees currently retail at £23,500 ($33,670). 

'The idea came to me in a square where I saw the leaves tremble when there was not a breath of air,' said Jérôme Michaud-Larivière, the founder of the Parisian start-up. 

Last year, after three years of research, the team of engineers developed a prototype and installed it in the Pleumeur-Bodou commune in Brittany in northwestern France

Mr Michaud-Lariviere said the tree is profitable after winds of 7.8mph (12.5km/h) on average over one year.

He admits there are more consistent winds 160ft in the air but they require 'monstrous machines', far from where energy is consumed, he added. 

In the future Mr Michaud-Larivière hopes to develop a 'perfect tree that has leaves with natural fibres, roots that could generate geothermal energy and 'bark' covered with photosensitive cells.

However, Robert Bellini an engineering expert at the Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME), said the potential of small wind turbines in the city remains 'quite low'.

 

WIND TREES' POWER OUTPUT

The 26ft  trees are fitted with aeroleaves. 

Tiny blades inside the 'leaves' can generate electricity in wind speeds as low as 4.5mph (7km/h), and regardless of the wind's direction.

A light breeze is classified as having a wind speed of between 4mph and 7mph on the Beaufort Scale. 

The power output of the tree is 3.1 kilowatts with the potential to generate 3,500 kWh to 13,500 kWh a year depending on the wind speed and the location of the tree.  

This could provide enough power to supply 15 street lamps, 83 per cent of the electrical consumption of a typical family household or one electrical car for 10,168 miles (1,360km) over the course of a year. 

An average onshore wind turbine with a capacity can produce more than 6 million kWh in a year - enough to supply 1,500 average EU households with electricity.