Letter: Quixotic ideal

Sir: The problem of enormous windmills blotting the landscape and being dangerous to birds ("The wind of change", 23 October) would be solved if we realised that wind power is most effectively used not through large collections of giant generators but in small windmills spread more widely through the country.

If every new house was built with a small windmill/turbine designed to power the hot water system the need for expensively generated electricity would fall, and it might be possible to cut down the use of fossil fuels.

The power wasted in the transmission of electricity over distances would also be saved as there would be almost no distance for this power to travel.

The system could be linked to the national grid for occasions when there was little or no wind.

FRANCIS BESWICK

Manchester