Wind Energy Reinvented

New Wind is a company founded by former film and television writer Jérôme Michaud-Larivière in 2011, and created its first prototype in 2013.

After working through several possible iterations, the company settled on a “seemingly chaotic” arrangement of leaf-turbines on each branch. The latest design is just under 30 feet tall and 23 feet wide, sporting a total of 54 leaf-turbines that can capture up to 5.4 kilowatts of energy at a time and produce around 2,400 kWh annually, said New Wind spokesperson Marine Bieliaeff.

The startup estimates this would meet half of the average French household’s annual energy needs; run a small, low-consumption office for 12 months; or charge an electric car for 10,000 miles each year. That’s the equivalent of about 160 gallons of fuel.

In January, New Wind installed its first tree for a private company, the Swiss bank Piguet Galland. They also have contracts to provide more trees to companies in France, Germany, Switzerland and Luxembourg in the year ahead, with plans to expand beyond Europe next year.