You could soon power your gadgets with a 3D-printed wind turbine

3D printers are a technology with tons of potential applications, we just have to dream them up. Polish 3D printer manufacturer Omni3D decided to dream big with its wind power project. The team hopes to create an easily portable wind turbine that can pump out up to 300 watts of energy. Not enough power to keep your home running, but more than enough to power laptops, smartphones, and other gadgets.

For the most part, portable energy generators are intended for modest uses. They cancharge your phone, but they won’t drive high-powered laptops or small appliances. That might change if Omni3D gets its crowdfunded AirEnergy 3D off the ground. The 3D-printed wind turbine should fit into a backpack, yet produce up to 300W of power — enough that you can keep a whole slew of devices running, including those that wouldn’t run at all on solar or thermoelectric systems. It will be open source, too, since part of the goal is to let those in Africa and other developing regions create their own reliable, renewable power sources.