The World in 2030

The World in 2030 211
electricity used by an average household. The most
likely contribution micro wind will make to your energy
problem is to infuriate everyone.
It will annoy people who have been fooled by the
claims of some of the companies selling them (that
they will supply half or even more of their annual
electricity needs). It will enrage the people who discover
that their turbines have caused serious structural
damage to their homes. It will turn mild-mannered
neighbours, suffering from the noise of a yawing and
stalling windmill, into axe murders. If you wished to
destroy people’s enthusiasm for renewable energy, it
is hard to think of a better method. 403
But even if George Monbiot’s vision of a suburban hell
created by mushrooming, ineffective wind turbines, small
domestic wind power units (mostly made of lightweight
durable plastics) will succeed in providing power in rural
areas which enjoy plentiful wind. And the future for industrial
production of energy from wind power is very bright. As
The Economist reported in May 2007:
The wind business is growing by more than 30 per
cent a year worldwide, with America leading the
way. And when a solar incentive scheme took hold
in Germany in 2004-05, demand in Europe roughly
doubled, says Ron Kenedi of Sharp, the biggest solarcell
maker.
Supply shortages will not ease quickly in either case.
Wind turbines are giant machines that require lots