The question, which represents this article was proposed by Brenda Sprankle at Rodeo Realty in California. I believe we should explore this question and consider all the reasons behind the answers.

Do you like Windmills? Well, I like them too and you are not about to see me swing my sword at those windmill blades, in fact, I would like to go on record here and say that we should be using more wind power. There are a couple of issues with wind power however, the larger wind turbines that make electricity need approximately 11-12 mph to remain cost effective. Remember it takes capital to make them, deliver them, and install them, additionally they need on-going maintenance too.

To achieve sustainable winds you need a suitable location where the wind is constantly blowing, such as a mountain pass or valley sandwiched between mountains for the "Bernoulli Principle" such land formation cause a lot of air to feed through a small area and therefore it has to speed up to make it thru. Aerospace engineers call this the "Venturi Effect" and it sure helps make wind power. On shore breeze can also work, or on top of a hill where the air is forced against the air above because of a mountain, perfect place to put a wind turbine on a hill.

The wind turbines of 1970s and 1980s are far inferior to today's wind turbines using lighter materials. Sometimes wind turbines projects cause lawsuits due to the fact they kill birds stopping the EIR from reaching groundbreaking and approval. Also for instance in Cape Cod, the wind turbines were considered to be an eye sore and they were not built, even when MIT figured out a way to make them invisible to the shore line by way of bending light.

Personally, I think they are cool to look at and if you travel a lot you will see them around the nation, California has a bunch out there by Palm Springs in fact. Now then if you want to buy a home wind turbine, you can get a lightweight small one if you have even 5 mph average wind and it will give you some juice and pay for itself, charging up batteries or hooked to the system selling left over back to the grid.

The Discovery Channel has a couple of really great shows on this. I am pro Solar and pro Wind and if you check out the Bush Administration's "Alternative Energy Initiatives" you will find more R and D being spent here and the DOE is helping entrepreneurs, inventors and companies come up with just the solutions that you are looking for. Something to contemplate in 2008.