(https://secure3.convio.net/ucs/images/content/pagebuilder/4-2011cartoon-large.jpg)
They say there is many a true word spoken in jest. Would you object to a wind turbine being built near you?
I don't mind the look of them, not sure if there's anything in the low frequencies effecting peoples noggins.
If there's room to put them away from people it's probably the best idea.
hahaha
I actually really like the look of them. I can imagine they would look quite annoying if it was directly in front of your house but when there in the hilly countryside (especially on wet foggy days) they look quite majestic, similar if there out to sea (im thinking of Formby Hills in Merseyside).
I don't mind the look and would like the energy offset. Only if it was close enough to hear the 'whoosh, whoosh, whoosh' would it be a problem.
There is a wind farm on the moors above Bradford and on a clear day they look quite impressive. As with the other people who have answered here I wouldn't be too keen if I could here them. It would be interesting to know what they sound like as they will get noisier as the wind blows harder, thus when there is no wind they don't move. So as the higher wind makes its own noise does the drown out the noise of the turbine?
There's a wind farm a bit north of us in So Cal - pretty neat to see, actually (in a mountain pass).
Plenty of good options that haven't been fully realized: wind, solar, geothermal, waves, etc.
Would be cool to see a device that could take advantage of wave power, solar and wind - put out on the open sea.
Of course, getting the power back to land, and the wear and tear of salt water would be issues...
Here's a wave power device that has just gone into service http://www.pelamiswave.com/our-technology/the-pelamis
I think that for urban areas it would be better to use a lot of smaller wind turbines in combination with solar panels. There are some rather nice looking turbine models which can be incorporated into the design of a contemporary house as if it were sculpture.
With the gigantic turbines I'd wonder about safety: 1) Could it fall over in very high winds, tornados, earthquakes etc. 2) Disease...apparently they kill birds sometimes; do we want a dead birds falling into people's back yards? (though I have my doubts that this is a frequent occurrence since they don't spin that fast)
I would not have a problem with them using park space to create wind farms since the base doesn't take up very much room and wouldn't disturb use of the park. Plus if it required setting aside more parks for wind farms it would help preserve natural lands.
Tank - exactly the kind of ocean device I was thinking of - looks like they've ironed out some of the problems.
Whit - I also heard about an urban project that suspends wind turbines between high downtown offices.