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Backyard Wind Power

For the nation that loves do-it-yourself kits and suburban chic, we now have a product akin to Clean Energy for Dummies – the backyard wind turbine.

Southwest Windpower, a company based out of Flagstaff, AZ, has designed a tower less than 35-feet tall that can be installed on property as small as half an acre and can cut household energy bills up to $800 per year. Depending upon local wind speeds, the backyard turbine can deliver as much as 1.8 kilowatts of electricity, or as much as 80 percent of the average household’s power needs.

So suburban families who want to be the first on the block to Go Green and save money by providing their own power source can now do so – provided they’re willing and able to plunk down about $12,000 for the tower and can get approval from their local homeowner’s association.

Some state governments are willing to ease the burden on homeowners by offering tax credits of as much as 30 percent of the initial cost. Backyard wind producers can also help to recoup their start-up costs by selling excess power back to local utilities on windy days.

And you thought solar was chic!

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To read more about this and other environmental health issues, go to: www.environmentalhealthnews.org, www.ourstolenfuture.org, or www.healthandenvironment.org