Small Wind Turbines Become Popular, But Experts Question Their Value

"Fascination with wind turbines small enough to mount on a roof is spreading from coast to coast. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York last month proposed dotting the city with them. Small turbines have already appeared at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, atop an office building at Logan International Airport in Boston, and even on a utility pole in the small New Hampshire town of Hampton.

These tiny turbines generate so little electricity that some energy experts are not sure the economics will ever make sense.

By contrast, the turbines being installed at wind farms are getting ever larger and more powerful, lowering the unit cost of electricity to the point that they are becoming competitive with electricity generated from natural gas."

In some cases, the energy generated by small wind turbines is so minimal that it is unlikely they will ever pay for themselves. More alarmingly, "British studies have recently suggested that making and transporting turbines for cities may lead to more carbon dioxide emissions than the turbines save."