Windmills!

[Kinoko]

Any speakers of dutch that can give me the gist of this?

http://www.bright.nl/bosjes-en-bergen-windmolens-sieren-landschap

I am -fascinated- with this:

[Mozesh]

The Statesadvisor(?) of landscape asked designers for a new generation of windmills. 100 MegaWatt mountains, a colaboration between One Architecture, Ton Matten and NL Architects found out that a single construction could hold up to 10 turbines. De millsdensity could be increased by changing(?) the height up to 120 meters. Then they could be placed in city's, so said landscapearchitect Paul van Beek. That's where we need the energy the most. For the first time wind becomes visible. It looks so gooood!

[Kinoko]

Hmm, does it say anything about whether these will actually be implimented?

[Stupot]

So what does that mean?... we're gonna start seeing windmills on the rooftops andskyscrapers in the cities?... I'm surprised it hasn't been done before.... I mean.. its the sky... thats where all the wind is, right?

If every building had a windmill on it connected to a generator, we wouldn' be able to live on it, but it would certainly help save on gas and coal bills.

[Mozesh]

Hmm, does it say anything about whether these will actually be implimented?

Not really no.

[radiowaves]

Hmm, but when storm comes and hits it, then ten mills fall instead of one

[Obi]

I like windmills, they are very useful for making sure grain is nicely ground up. I have been to several Windmills in this fair land and have marveled at them all. Some of the windmills had ceased operation but a few were still going. So next time you need something, look up into the sky and say "thanks windmill, thanks.".

[Stupot]

There's really no excuse for not having more windmills than we do...

It's free electricity for Christ's sake.

The reason why there aren't more windmills?

The government can't put a tax on wind.

[Kinoko]

It's ridiculous, isn't it? It's practically free energy. Like you said, it wouldn't be enough for ALL our electricty, but it'd -help- and it'd be clean energy.

[Nacho]

And kills thousand of birds...

[Akatosh]

And cats, as seen in a Simpsons episode!

[Haddas]

And kills thousand of birds...

You'd think birds would be able to avoid a spinning propeller. Especially one that's standing still.

[Nacho]

http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~insrisg/nature/nw04/0509Windmills.htm

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-01-04-windmills-usat_x.htm

Apparently not, Haddas... But there' s also some links de-mythifying the issue...

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/04/common_misconce.php

[Haddas]

http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~insrisg/nature/nw04/0509Windmills.htm

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-01-04-windmills-usat_x.htm

Apparently not, Haddas... But there' s also some links de-mythifying the issue...

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/04/common_misconce.php

Birds are so complicated. What ARE birds? We just don't know.

[RickJ]

There's really no excuse for not having more windmills than we do...

So then does anyone have one on top of their house or parent's house, and if not, why not? 

[blueskirt]

Another reason why companies and governments are reticent to implement windmills is because of the wind's capriciousness and the incertitude regarding the rentability.

That and the protests of angry citizens accusing them of "destroying the landscape with their ugly fans" everytime they actually get to implement some. :

[Tuomas]

So then does anyone have one on top of their house or parent's house, and if not, why not? 

We sure would, but for starters, it would be too big for a small house to support. Too heavy at that. And, umm, it wouldn't produce enough electricity because the whole landscape is surrounded by forests and hills, so it's not very windy either.

[RickJ]

We sure would, but for starters, it would be too big for a small house to support. Too heavy at that.

Sorry, I didn't necessarily mean literally "on top of the house". Windmills may be supported by a building or may be self supporting structures as seen in the photo in initial post.

And, umm, it wouldn't produce enough electricity because the whole landscape is surrounded by forests and hills, so it's not very windy either.

A small breeze 10-15 mph is enough to operate the windmill.  Although, it may not produce enough electricity to power a home 24-7 it would provide a noticeable percentage of the home's power requirements.   Surely in the case of home this percentage is much higher than in the case of a skyscraper where energy requirements are much greater and the surface area is severely limited.  Such systems are typically connected to the home's electrical system through "inverter electronics" that convert the windmill's DC power to AC power.  In localities where it is permitted excess electricity is sold back to the power company.

[Nikolas]

So then does anyone have one on top of their house or parent's house, and if not, why not? 

Thunders?

In all, it depends on the country, but keep in mind that while the UK seems to like the idea of ecological homes and houses, with green roof gardens, etc... things in Greece (for example) are 100% different:
i. Earthquakes. In the UK you know sh*t about earthquakes, in Greece we do get some pretty nice ones (not the huge ones happening in Asia, but still... lethal ones)
ii. Fires. Just started the other thread. Anything NOT by cement would be on fire immediately. We don't have gas over there in Greece, but we sure catch fire pretty easily
iii. Lack of material. We have plenty of rocks, plenty of marble, but NO wood. It's not dead easy to build a garden roof top in Greece, and especially in Athens, when we do, we have a cemented roof, with tables to sit overnight!
In short what I am sure that a windmill on top of a Greek home would be... let's say weird.

Actually, btw, there is an EU law that states that some percentage (15-20% or something) of the generated power for a state needs to be created by non harmful facilities (cant' remember which law or what), but in Greece, where winds are lots higher than 10-15 mph (especially over the sea and the 1000s of islands) we are at 3% or probably less. Some windmills in Evia, got burned couple of nights ago! Way to go Greece!

[Kinoko]

I don't think windmills necessarilly need to be -everywhere-. Each place needs to have an energy source that's appropriate for that area.

For Greece, off the top of my head what comes to mind is solar or hydro power.