Wind power -- what a beautiful thing! I'm fascinated by renewable energy sources, particularly sun and wind. I think the newest windmills are beautiful, graceful, and an amazing way of meeting our energy needs. I do understand that some controversy exists about windmills in the paths of migratory birds, and agree that we need to be sensitive to the placement of windmill farms.
Did you know that some windmills now are residential-sized? Basically you need at least 1/2 acre of unobstructed property, wind speeds which average 10 mph, a cooperative zoning board, and an interconnection agreement with your local power authority. Install a windmill, and you can power your house! You can even sell back your extra electricity! I find it absolutely amazing that we have potential energy resources which don't injure the environment, and yet we're not using them! We need a windmill on every house! I'd love to put one here -- we have the property, but apparently we don't have enough wind -- but it would make such a statement and then others would see it and want their own windmill. . . . next thing you know . . . . we'd have residential windmills all over suburbia . . . .! (Okay, so is someone working on the next generation of residential windmills which can run with less wind?)
Southwest Windpower makes Skystream 3.7 which is a residential wind generator. Andy Kruse and David Calley, who co-founded Southwest Windpower, shares my dream of windmills in backyards everywhere. I subscribe to their e-mail, and you can too by visiting their website. Right now they're trying to encourage people to write to their US Respresentative, to help encourage the addition of a tax credit for wind power -- thereby reducing the break-even time for homeowners which will encourage more purchases of wind turbines.
A windmill in every yard -- a beautiful thing!
