Device to harvest wind power first of its kind 'in a century'

Life's a breeze for two men developing a new form of wind-harvesting technology in Hong Kong.

Shawn Frayne, 27, and Jordan McRae, 25, are working on the 'Windbelt' - a taut piece of fabric-like material that, when struck by the wind, flutters and causes parts to move and generate electricity.

For their innovation, their firm Humdinger Wind Energy has been nominated as an Earth Champion - a title being awarded by the international Earth Champions Foundation to Hong Kong residents or groups trying to improve the environment.

'The Windbelt is the first new tool for harvesting wind in the last century,' said Mr Frayne, Humdinger's president and inventor of the device.

Mr Frayne - along with Mr McRae, the company's lead aeronautical engineer - said the product would be effective and cost-efficient in rural places, impoverished areas and gusty regions welcoming green technologies.

Humdinger is developing three different sizes of the Windbelt - a 12.7cm gadget that can run wireless data sensors, a medium-sized portable apparatus that can help juice a vaccine refrigerator and a 10-metre-long unit that can power a home.