I said earlier that I thought wind turbines could look like elegant kinetic sculptures, well interestingly, Philippe Starck, better know for his juicers, plastic chairs and other coveted homewares, has recently produced a designer wind turbine.

Apparently one of these can supply 20-60% of the average households needs, and it will cost about $AU700 (I imagine you would need to shell out for installation and grid link-up and other bit's and pieces, which could push the price up considerably). The design was on display in March as part of Milan Design Week and according to inhabitat is due to go on sale next month.

I don't know how noisy it is, but it's 'invisible' (or transparent anyway), so you won't have the flickering-shadow issues, it's small, and it's pretty - so maybe the neighbors won't mind looking at it.

And good on Starck for showing us that sustainability doesn't have to be all lentils, woolly jumpers and brown bread - it can be sexy too.