With global warming becoming an increasingly hot topic, the Government is looking at several initiatives for how the UK can reduce its carbon emissions (a major contributor to global warming).
As homes are responsible for around a quarter of the UK’s carbon emissions, houses are understandably one of the Government’s main focus areas.
One way in which householders can reduce their impact on carbon emissions is by installing wind turbines to generate a portion of their electricity needs.
The amount of energy these wind turbines can generate depends on obvious factors such as average wind speeds: for example, a house in a coastal town in Cornwall could have as much as a third of their electricity generated by a wind turbine, whereas in inland cities performance is likely to be lower.
Sounds good in principle, and with the UK set to become a world leader in small wind energy technologies (according to the British Wind Energy Association), these wind turbines are likely to become more and more efficient, offering householders greater savings on electricity bills.
So what’s the downside?
The downside is that when attached to a house, wind turbines are not only noisy, but also create vibrations which can in time cause structural damage to the property.
This said, a number of providers claim to have developed turbines with both sound and shock absorbers, so it may not be too long until you see a wind turbine on your street.