The Eiffel Tower now generates its own power with new wind turbines
France's most recognisable landmark, the iron Eiffel Tower erected in 1889, has seen its iconic frame festooned with many different decorations and objects over the years for various celebrations. Its latest addition is a little more subtle -- and maybe a little more in keeping with the tower's original purpose as a monument to human ingenuity and artistry.
turbine2.jpg
Turbine installation.
UGE
As part of a major renovation and upgrade to the tower's first floor, the Société d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel will be adding a variety of sustainability features -- the first of which is a pair of VisionAIR5 wind turbines designed by renewable energy specialist Urban Green Energy.
The two vertical-axis turbines have been installed on the tower's second level, about 122 metres (400ft) from the ground -- a position that maximises wind capture. The turbines have been specially painted so as to blend in with the tower, and produce virtually no sound. They can also capture wind from any direction, producing, between them, a total of 10,000kWh per year -- enough to power the tower's first floor.
http://www.cnet.com/news/the-eiffel-tower-now-generates-its-own-power-with-new-wind-turbines/
= new reply since forum marked as read
I love stories like this. 
If the French (a very image- & culture-oriented nation) can find a solution that allows
their most famous landmark to move towards self-powering with renewables then the
old pro-fossil-fuel canard of "But they look all ugly-like" is shot down in flames.
I agree that some really serious posts do slip by with few recs (hell, for some, even
the view count is only in double digits) and I suspect that part of the reason for the
lack of recs on more than a few of them is simply concern exhaustion: the subject has
been shouted about here for literally YEARS with absolutely no progress in the real world.
At times it hits people that just what is the point of recommending the 985th post showing
how the US government is fucking up the ocean for money or how is India burning shit-tons
more coal each year or which toxic compound is currently top of China's atmospheric output
or how many more previously unknown species have gone extinct today or how insulated
from the effects of their exploitation are the 0.1%ers in London/New York/Zurich/Rome
or just how fucking dumb are the voters in Florida or how corrupt is the Harper government
or how many different IDs can a fossil fuel troll have before getting banned again or ... or ...
It is usually the E/E "regulars" (probably the same "double digit viewers" from the above)
that do the initial recs to a post, so, every now & then - when they have seen precisely how
little DUers in general (much less the wider world) actually cares about any of the things that
hit them so hard - there is an unavoidable "Fuck it" moment that means that you realise just
how futile your attempts to rec a repeat of the same critically important issues up for wider
viewing truly are: you are attempting to overpower the overwhelming ignorance, stupidity and
suicidal selfishness that surrounds us with a mouse-click, to claim the attention of couch
potatoes & facebook failures possessing the attention-span of a drunken gnat with a "+1"
to the rec count of something so far down the list of the so-called "Greatest Page" that they'd
never have scrolled down to find it, much preferring to rush off to post more "Awww!!! n/t" replies
to a photo of yet another kitten.
I rec'd this post in the hope that a post having an eye-catching thread title, a simple text
explanation & a few meaningful photos might break through that morass of triviality and put
to rest just one of the many lies about renewable energy that are thrown at us - that it is ugly
and visually damaging. YMMV.
A large turbine is a thing of breathtaking grace and power, and these ones fit in so well with the aesthetics of the Eiffel tower that I was astonished. I guess I was just having a bit of a surly day.
I was chatting on FB yesterday about the phenomenon of outrage fatigue, and that many activists seem to be feeling it these days. One can only hear so much evidence of our collective, relentless, unrelieved shuffle towards the cliff-edge before it all becomes too much, and one is forced to withdraw in order to save the remaining shreds of one's sanity and compassion.
I do miss the days when in-depth engagement was the norm on this board, but even I have lost the urge to stir up dissension that once gave me so much malignant glee.
Part of early childhood socialization involves learning how to accommodate the insurmountable frustrations of living in an uncontrollable world. Perhaps this is a continuation of that process. It's easy to see us as powerless, idealistic children facing a world of powerful, pragmatic adults whose desires have nothing to do with our own. For better or worse, we're growing up. 
