Wind Turbines Making Headway

It's been quite the windy day here today - so it was interesting to come across these two articles about Wind Turbines - one for home use and the other for use on commercial buildings. I have long thought that it makes far more sense to install wind turbines where the energy is actually being used - like on or near buildings - instead of far out in the water or on top of remote hills.

Home wind turbines turn fashionable in Britain

A mere breath of a breeze disturbs the quiet of autumn in south London and the wind turbine on the gable of Donnachadh McCarthy's home turns lazily....

"I have exported 20 percent more electricity than I've imported this year," he said. "The average carbon footprint is 8.5 (metric) tons in the (European Union), whereas mine is less than half a ton."

McCarthy has long tried to stay at the forefront of British green power generation.

Last November, he made a small media splash as the first Londoner to gain permission to put a turbine on a house that already boasted an array of renewable energy devices.



The UK company Windsave is selling these online for home-use at Do-it-yourself stores.

From their website - the UK Government is offering these incentives:

Grants are available for renewable energy projects (up to 30% of the installed cost of a wind turbine or solar water heating panels). You can find out more about these at www.lowcarbonbuildings.org.uk.

There are also Governmentfunded schemes providing up to £2,700 to households on certain benefits to improve their heating and energy efficiency. The scheme is known as ‘Warm Front’ in England, ‘Warm Homes’ in Northern Ireland, ‘Warm Deal’ in Scotland and ‘Home Energy Efficiency Scheme’ in Wales (see www.direct.gov.uk for more information).
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'Micro' wind turbines are coming to town

Rather than build farms of towering wind turbines in rural areas, some companies are designing "micro," or small-scale, turbines that fit on top of buildings. The idea is to generate electricity from wind in urban or suburban settings.

"We want to integrate these small wind turbines on buildings in plain sight," said Paul Glenney, director of energy initiatives at Monrovia, Calif.-based AeroVironment. "We think this can really communicate the generation of clean electricity."