Windmills might soon be going up all over San Francisco, as a a task force is recommending that the city start putting up the turbines at places like Treasure Island, the San Francisco Zoo, city parks, and the city airport as demonstration sites for how urban wind farms could help power the city.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the recommendations come after a year-long study of the potential of wind power in the city:
“We should absolutely harness the wind,” said Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, who as a city supervisor in July 2008 joined Mayor Gavin Newsom in convening the urban wind power task force, which is publishing the report.
“Now if we could just harness the hot air that comes out of City Hall and the Capitol, we’ll have an answer to global warming,” Ammiano quipped.
The ideas proposed in the San Francisco study are intended to help the city reach its goal of being carbon neutral by 2030. While turbines are typically associated with farms and rural areas, cities like San Francisco are increasingly interested in using what is considered a cleaner energy generator.
City hall itself might even sport its own urban wind farm one day.