Hold on to your hats, folks. This wind energy idea might blow you away. 

Picture this: You've just boarded an airplane in Dallas. The pilots are doing their pre-flight mechanical checks. You hear the roar of the engines fire up and the powerful blades start spinning at thousands of rotations per minute. They run like this for 5-10 minutes and get the “all systems go” sign, and then you're on your way to the friendly skies. 

What you may not have noticed while those engines were revved-up at the gate was the little pod contraption placed behind the engines that was harnessing the power of this man-made wind energy, soon to be transferred into electricity and stored in a battery located at the airport. 

That's correct, a company called JetWind has developed these pods (and implemented them at Dallas Love Field Airport) to harness the wind power generated by jet engines. They capture the intense airflow while the planes are on the ground, doing what they already have to do before take-off, and converting that energy into renewable electricity. 

Installed beneath boarding gates, each set of pods can generate approximately 30 kilowatt-hours of energy. While a single unit's output is fairly modest compared to the airport's total energy needs, deploying multiple pods and capturing every plane's “wasted energy” can significantly reduce the facility's carbon footprint. 

The success of this project has garnered international attention, inspiring other airports worldwide to consider similar eco-friendly technologies.

While I love a good environmentally-friendly outcome, I'm far more impressed by the genius idea of capturing the energy that was to be created and lost forever. Kudos to the clever team at JetWind, and to the people at Dallas Love Field for being open to try this new technology.

_{Image credit: JetWind Corporation}