THE ANSWER IS BLOWIN' IN THE WIND

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One solution—which solves most of the friction problem and stops the oil leakage—is to mount the differential so that the drive shaft stub (with pulley and generator attached) points up instead of down (see Drawing No. 6). The New Alchemy Institute in Woods Hole, Massachusetts thought this idea up, and it seems to work. Their generator was down for repairs when I visited them, however, so I have no photograph of the unit. This solution, of course, requires that the generating unit be mounted at the top of the tower, and that means periodic forays "up there" for routine maintenance. (You may as well face it: If you plan on getting into wind generators, you'll have to get used to climbing towers!)

The New Alchemists are also experimenting with a wind pump made from 55-gallon drum halves (Photo No. 8). This is based on a desi that the Amish have used for years to pump water, and my feeling is that if the device were geared up properly it could be used to generate electricity.Complete plans for this machine are available for about $2.00 from:

Brace Research Institute MacDonald College of McGill University Ste. Anne de Bellevue 800 Quebec, Canada.

Ask for Do-It-Yourself Leaflet No. L-5, entitled: How To Construct a Cheap Wind Machine for Pumping Water. (I'm not absolutely certain of the price of this publication, but if you send them $2.00 you'll probably be OK.) The machine is most impressive to see in operation, and it could probably be easily geared up with a bicycle chain and sprockets for the production of electricity.

TO SUM UP THEN ...

To date,the above is the extent of what I've learned about generating electricity from the wind. I have not yet installed my own two wind generators, so I cannot offer any information about what that will entail. All signs, however, seem to indicate that wind generators are a very practical solution to the energy, pollution and self-sufficiency problems of individuals living on the land.

I don't hold much hope that wind-driven generators will ever be able to solve the power needs of New York, Chicago or Los Angeles ... but living as I have for the past three years I've come to feel that New York, Chicago and Los Angeles will get just about what they deserve. When the Red Cross is providing disaster relief to the denizens of Megalopolis, I'll be eating fresh-frozen peas from my garden ... peas which were preserved in a deepfreeze powered by the wind!

NOMENCLATURE

Although people still refer to wind generators and wind pumps as "windmills", the differences between windmills, wind pumps and wind generators are obvious when you think about them.

A windmill is technically a machine powered by the wind for the purpose of grinding grain into flour. The old Dutch windmills were generally used for this purpose.

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