I live in an apartment building. I have a balcony, build in a corridor between my building and the next. It is extremely windy on my balcony. Naturally, that made me think about what it would take to put an ‘Urban’ Wind Turbine on my balcony. Would it be worth it? Can I even do it or are there rules preventing me from doing so, because it may interfere with the view of my neighbours?
Those of you who have seen “The Age of Stupid” will remember the endless struggle one of the people in the movie faced, trying to build a wind park in one of the most windy sites of the UK. At the end of the movie, the anti-wind movement won because of the argument it would do too much damage to the view… When one of the leaders of the anti-wind movement was asked whether she thought a switch to more renewable energy was needed, she said: “Off course that is needed, but it cannot ruin our view”.
There are smaller wind turbines on the market available that you could build. Maybe a balcony is still not the best location but if you had a home with a garden, it would work. Take a look at this product from Home Energy, the Energy Ball V100. It even comes with a battery so you would not have to worry about connecting your turbine to the grid which is still very difficult in most places. There are plenty of suppliers on the market today – visit http://www.urbanwind.net/wineur.html for a good (although a little dated) overview. The problem lies more in the permits needed to place an Urban Wind Turbine (UWT). In the Netherlands, the government does not believe in UWT’s as a good strategy on the way to a sustainable energy infrastructure. Because of this, there is no special regulation for placing an UWT, which means it will take a very long time before you get a permit (if you get one).
At this moment in time, it is far from clear which sustainable energy sources will be key in truly enabling a sustainable society. Take cars for instance, hybrid technology will probably be a transitional technology, and the technology (or technologies) that will truly enable CO2-free cars is unknown. Will it be hydrogen or electric cars? We don’t know and that is why we should support the development of both technologies. That is why I do not understand why governments don’t allow for a more flexible approach around UWT’s. There are numerous suppliers on the market who believe this can be an additional source of realizing a sustainable city – let’s give them a chance and make it easier for consumers or housing corporations to purchase them.
And if buying one is too expensive, you can always experiment to build one yourself 
Who has experience with UWT’s?
