More Than a Windy City

Many parts of the world use wind power to provide energy for homes and businesses. The top producers include Germany, the United States, Spain, Denmark and India. In the US, 1.6 million households are powered annually by wind turbines. However, even smaller countries like the UK use wind turbines to power approximately 495,000 homes annually.

While wind turbine farms are generally located in rural areas, planners and architects are finding ways to incorporate them into the infrastructure of large cities. One great example of this idea is the plan for the Freedom Tower in New York City, which would include turbines to help power the new building. Above, at right, take a look at Toronto's urban wind turbine. Combining beauty and utility, it  sends juice to 250 homes annually. See also urbanturbines.com for more projects.

[Graphic via]

Comments

[scruss]

Please note that the WindShare/Toronto Hydro turbine has nothing to do with urbanturbines.com, which seems to be a sales site for a small vertical-axis wind turbine manufacturer.

The photo should also be credited to WindShare -- http://windshare.ca/

[gaela]

Thanks Scruss! Fixed. Yes, Windshare has nothing to do with urbanturbines.com. The Toronto Turbine is my favorite turbine, and the project just fascinated me. The graphic was too beautiful to pass up. Additionally, I added urbanturbines.com to show other examples of how other, smaller turbines can be used on a smaller scale. I would love to see any turbines, large and small, (or maybe such a beauty as the Toronto Turbine) introduced into the architecture where I live.

[scruss]

Thanks, Gaela. If you've got any questions about WindShare, I'm a director of the project