Residential Wind Power
The world of today is faced with environmental issues as well as economic ones. With global warming looming over the planet, more and more governments are getting serious in finding alternative means of energy. And since the cost of fuel continues to rise, alternatives to this power source are also being researched.
Currently, wind power is being looked into as a viable energy source in the near future. Some countries are already taking bold steps into making this a reality. Take the United Kingdom, for example. One of the UK Parliament’s MP, John Hutton, said that all of the homes in the country could be powered by wind farms by 2020.
Aside from having an alternative power source, wind power can also help in reducing electricity costs in households. By having residential wind turbines, homes can reduce the amount of electricity that they source from their local power grids which translates to saving money. And if they exceed their power production using their turbines, they can sell the excess power to their local providers, albeit at a much cheaper price.
But the use of wind power has several downsides which may hinder its acceptance by the general public. First, there’s the initial cost of installing a wind turbine. The cheapest is already at $6000 and could be costlier depending on the size of the turbine.
Aside from the cost, there’s also the factor of location. Homes that want to have residential wind turbines should have at least an acre of open area. It is also important that the location of a home has at least 10mph of winds in order to have a reasonable use of the turbine.
Finally, there’s the change in how the coastlines look for those countries who will install wind farms around their coastlines. This was admitted by Hutton but said that it is a good compromise if the benefits of wind power were taken into consideration.
