arms cannot compete with the low prices for fossil fuels (14). However, a new design in wind turbines has been developed that will improve efficiency of wind turbines. Popular Science discusses the latest wind turbine prototype and its possibilities:Weisbrichs modular Wind Amplified Rotor Platform (WARP) looks like a stack of wheel rims laid on their sides, with a pair of turbines mounted to each of the rims concave surfaces. Wind-tunnel tests at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, suggest that the WARP design can amplify wind speeds by 50 percent or more, because the curved surfaces channel wind toward the turbines. (14)This new design in wind turbines will make wind farms competitive with todays super cheap fossil fuels. Electricity can also be produced by harnessing the power of water in motion. Clean and safe, hydroelectric power is the electrical energy produced by harnessing the energy of falling water says hydroelectric power (1). Fogel tells us that hydropower is one of the cheapest sources of power in the country. In fact twenty percent of New York States electric power comes from hydropower and costs one-tenth the cost of oil burning methods (67). New York is utilizing hydroelectric energy that is cheaper and cleaner than energy from fossil fuels. If New York can benefit this much from hydroelectricity, then the entire nation could do the same or better while lowering costs and reducing damage to the environment. Existing dams could be used for the production of hydroelectricity. The web site Hydroelectric Power explains that only 2,400 of the United States 80,000 dams are currently being used for hydropower. Therefore, creating new hydroelectric projects does not necessarily require building new dams. Many existing dams can be retrofitted with hydropower equipment so that those dams can produce electricity (Hydroelectric 3). Creating more hydroelectric projects will produce more clean and cost ef...
