When we think about wind energy we usually imagine giant turbines in the rolling hills and expansive plains of rural America. But what about building turbines into our cities?Instead of creating urban wind power by just placing a few desultory turbines on the top of a skyscraper, a new, more exciting experiment in urban wind-energy is about to commence in San Francisco. When the new headquarters building for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission opens in the fall of 2012, it will have a unique feature: a column of wind turbines stretching up one side of the 13-story structure behind a glass-paneled face. This wind-energy “wing”—the first of its kind—will house three to five energy-generating turbines, providing at least 7% of the building’s energy needs. The curvature of the building’s side is designed to enhance the speed of the wind.
Apple Needs to Make it in America
