Houses could have own wind-turbine on roof

Some householders could generate about a third of their electricity requirements by fitting a small wind turbine to the roof of their home, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment said today.

Commissioner Morgan Williams said rooftop-mountable wind turbines with an output of 1.5kW could provide between 2000 and 3000kW-hours of electricity a year.

"This is equivalent to one third of the total electricity requirement for the average New Zealand household," he said.

Dr Williams used his report, Electricity, Energy and the Environment, to be tabled in Parliament today, to promote a Scottish rooftop turbine which he said could be connected to the electricity supply, or linked to a hot-water cylinder.

He said the award-winning Swift turbines were being installed across Britain. Some UK city councils have called for homes in new subdivisions to be required to generate 10 per cent of their energy-needs on-site from renewable resources.

Dr Williams made a strong call for New Zealanders to take more control over their own energy needs, particularly in terms of electricity services.

The potential to harness "Kiwi innovation" was enormous, and Dr Williams said he was "increasingly convinced that the potential for innovative energy solutions is greatest at the small or micro scale".

He drew attention to a Christchurch company, WhisperGen -- recently taken over by State electricity generator Meridian -- which had led the development of micro-scale gas-fired water cylinders for thousands of homes in Europe.

The cylinders also generated electricity from waste heat so that it could either be used in the home or sold to the local electricity company.

Dr Williams said there were also about 3500 solar water heaters being sold monthly in 2005, 45 per cent more than in 2004.

- NZPA