Or, if you prefer your energy to come from the wind...

I've had two friends tell me that they are considering getting wind generators for their properties.

As an aside, I have to say that I hate the term "wind generators": pedantically speaking, "wind generator" is no more correct than "windmill" - these things no more generate wind than they (necessarily) mill anything. I suppose the correct term is something like "wind-driven electrical generator" or "wind turbine."

Anyhoo, for those thinking of getting your own backyard wind turbine - well, check with any local codes and restrictions first. But next, check out this post from Anne's Almost Quintessence:

Is That A Turbine In Your Yard Or Are You Just Happy To See Me? A Tale Of Independence

Once again, Anne has gone where others will surely follow. Personally, I've never found wind turbines to be as exciting as solar panels as ways of getting electricity from the environment. But I don't hate them. Yet there are vast areas of the world where wind turbines are looked upon with the sort of disgust, hatred and loathing usually reserved for people named "Clinton." Inefficiencies, noise, and bird and bat deaths aside, there are lots of folks who object to wind turbines for aesthetic reasons.

Let me tell you something. I live in one of the most beautiful parts of the world, where homes nestle in valleys formed by gentle, rolling mountains, with a river running through everything, and creeks and streams and cliffs and forests, forests as far as the eye can see. I live in one of the ugliest places in the world, with culm banks and mine fires and mine subsidences destroying homes and massive deforestation and runaway river pollution and creeks that run orange-brown with sulphur and iron leached from old mines, where waste chemicals are dumped down boreholes and mountains of garbage provide a very large income for at least one Legitimate Area Businessman. I live less than twenty miles northeast of the nuclear power plant in Berwick. I drive past the turbines of the Bear Creek Wind Farm twice a day, and I get within spotting distance of a much larger wind farm as I go to work north of Scranton each day. I think I know a thing or two about the aesthetic impact of wind turbines.

The greatest negative aesthetic impact the wind turbines have is on the drivers who stare at them with rapt fascination as they drive by, potentially endangering themselves and everyone else on the road. I wouldn't be surprised if developers pick locations for future hotels, businesses, and housing developments based on how good a view they have of the turbines. They are an imperfect solution to the problems that we face, but they are a step forward. And they sure are pretty to look at.