US Environment: Plan to Turn New York Into the Windy City

Within 10 years New Yorkers may be walking over the Brooklyn Bridge beneath gently whirring turbines, and gazing up at the Empire State Building topped by a giant windmill.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg is calling for the city to become a major generator of renewable energy. He wants to see New York wean itself from dependency on the conventional power grid by massive investment in wind, solar and wave energy and opened the prospect of wind turbines being placed on bridges and skyscrapers, in a way that could transform the city's skyline.

As a symbol of the change he had in mind, he conjured up the vision of the Statue of Liberty "powered by an ocean wind farm". That would be a "thing of beauty", he said.

Bloomberg unveiled his radical plans at an alternative energy conference in Las Vegas. His ambition is to use a combination of renewable power sources, focusing on the natural qualities of the city.

The high-rise nature of Manhattan made wind turbines atop skyscrapers an obvious thought, though Bloomberg conceded there would be aesthetic concerns: "There's a lot of logistical as well as aesthetic considerations. If there is a large ape that starts climbing the Empire State Building, it might get in his way."

The plans also focus on the possibility of turbines scattered along the windy coastlines of Queens, Brooklyn and Long Island that could generate 10% of the city's power needs within a decade.

Wind farms are also mooted far out to sea, possibly up to 25 miles offshore where they would rest beyond sight, as well as solar panels across public and private rooftops.

The mayor has invited private companies to submit innovative ideas and designs that would meet his brief. As part of his search for new thinking he has met with T. Boone Pickens, the oil tycoon who is building the world's largest wind farm in the Texan panhandle.

The plans form part of Bloomberg's ambition to keep New York's energy consumption at today's levels despite projections of substantial population growth. He has set a target to cut the city's emissions of greenhouse gases by a third by 2030.

However, the mayor is in a race against the clock and has only until January 2010, when his term ends, to turn his dreams into a reality. "When it comes to producing clean power, we're determined to make New York the No 1 city in the nation," Bloomberg said.