Most of this post will address their website
MagTurbine not the article.
(normal turbines) operates at around 1% efficiency in terms of the power it harvests from the wind, due to the deflective blade design and friction losses.
Wrong, modern utility scale turbines are approaching the
betz limit. Which is 100% of the capturable wind energy. Also note that the aerodynamic drag of a spinning rotor is comparable to the drag of a solid disk of the same diameter.
As for frictional losses, it is a non issue. I can spin a twenty foot windmill around with my index finger. I am referring to below cut in speeds, or with the generator running open circuited so their is no load from it. These where axial flux gens without an iron core so there was not any cogging either. I have seen many homebuilts from several inches to nearly thirty feet in diameter, most never stop spinning no matter how calm the air gets. Many can also produce energy from five mile an hour winds thanks to buck/boost converters.
As for bigger utility scale turbine drive trains (not counting generator electrical inefficiency), they can lose more than a few percent in some cases, but many of the losses can't be fixed with magnetic bearings. The loss is biggest at low speeds, and magnetic bearings don't work well at slow speeds.
One innovative possible use could be to harvest wind energy from passing cars on freeways to power the roadside lighting.
Cars don't move enough air along the roadside to power lights even if it could be captured 100% effectively. Also the roadside power generating scam has already been done a few times already, they should try something new.
So far almost every vertical access wind turbine business has been a scam. They are often done by the same people over and over again. Note that almost none of them have ever produced any hardware, have any engineers or production capabilities, or have contracted or even contacted anyone with engineering or production capabilities. Many of the founders of these companies are facing legal action or have in the past. Buyer beware. Also
www.otherpower.com as well as many other sites have good info on past and present enviro or alt energy scams. This industry is absolutely full of crackpots and unscrupulous businesses taking advantage of people's ignorance and good intentions.
They did not give any sizes that I saw but I can bet that their claims go way over unity. Almost every VAWT generator claim in the past has been a scam, and claimed performance way over unity to the point where you would want to leave it indoors with a fan blowing on it 24/7 get the most power out of it.