[hardwired]

Good write ups and projects BuildItSolar: Solar energy projects for Do It Yourselfers to save money and reduce pollution was able to reduce home energy needs by 50% and has projects broken down by pay back and a ton of other links to good info.

Enjoy!

[peachy]

Thanks hardwired! I really liked the kids section. Maybe I can build something to amuse my kids!

[Saul]

Cool, but i was wondering, how can a site endorse Wind Power.

The wind generators are usualy extremely noisy and harmful to the feathered population. They generally force the birds to change their migration patterns. It is quite irrational to say that wind-energy is worth it when such a huge amount of natural way is destroyed.

Solar power seems to be the general best thing to go for.

[hardwired]

Sorry Saul you are misinformed, windpower has no negative effect on feathered friends, actually windows have a more profound effect on their life span. If your talking about old farm wind pumps yes they are noisy, new wind turbines do create noise but are easily drowned out by traffic. Bats how ever are effected by wind generators depending on the velocity of the blades the bats sonar will not pick them up and this can end badly for the bat.

[Saul]

last i heard, yes the old style was worse, but these new kinds still disrupt the rhythm of birds. If you can find me a viable source that argues your point that they do nothing to harm the birds then please, go ahead and supply it for me.



-saul-

[hardwired]

From source - As Natural Life: Are Wind Turbines Dangerous? - Natural Life Magazine July/August 2007

"In other parts of the world, where the wind industry is better developed, the research is relatively positive. Danish radar research, for instance, shows that most birds tend to change their flight route some 100 to 200 meters (109 to 219 yards) before they arrive at a turbine, passing above at a safe distance, research that has been confirmed at several Australian wind farms. One of the more comprehensive pieces of research is the eight-year Danish Offshore Wind Study on Key Environmental Issues, which looked at pre-construction and post-construction data on the effects of off-shore wind farms on birds, marine mammals, fish and the people living in neighboring coastal communities. It found that there were virtually no negative impacts of the offshore wind farms to birds, and noted that tagged birds altered their flight paths around the turbines.

In the U.K., the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds supports wind farms, concluding that, “The available evidence suggests that appropriately positioned wind farms do not pose a significant hazard for birds.”

A new report, issued this past May, by the National Academy of Sciences in the U.S., suggests that bats have far more to fear from wind generators than birds do. The scientists suggested that the wind-power turbines generate sounds and, possibly, electromagnetic fields that lure the acoustically sensitive creatures into the spinning blades. A reduction in bird and bat impacts is expected to evolve as research results in improvements in turbine design and wind farm location. "


And a study on sound by the Canadian Wind Energy Association
http://www.canwea.ca/images/uploads/...dy_-_Final.pdf

[Redofthelost]

They actually have begun to put windfarms out in the middle of the ocean where it does not affect civilization and also has no negative effect on water life.

[peachy]

Windfarms out in the ocean...are those the turbine thingies in the water? (I'm so technical.) If so, I wonder if there may be some negative effects on water life. But I've seen mixed reviews. However, as mentioned, I'm thinking the ones in the water...are there ones above?!