Data confirm that truly high-energy winds are found at altitudes miles above us -not just a few hundred feet, where they can be tapped by conventional wind turbines. Many support the theory that tremendous energy can be captured from these temperate zone winds, enough to supply all the world's energy needs very economically. Australian professor Brian Roberts has designed a floating set of wind turbines rated at 240 Kwh, with four rotors, each one approximately 35 ft (10 m.) in diameter –more or less the size of two Mustangs in a row. Roberts claims that this generator should be able to produce energy at a price of less than 2 cents per Kwh. In the United States, the cost of electricity varies by region, from around 6 cents per Kwh in Idaho, to 30 cents per Kwh in Hawaii. According to the Department of Energy, in 2006 the average US household used 920 kwh per month. The actual status quo in the US is this: more than 50% of the electrical energy is produced by coal-powered plants, with less than 2% of it produced by wind and other renewable energy sources: even if the FEG were a truly revolutionary invention, its implantation in society would be, to say the least, problematic and painfully slow. The most promising possibility for FEGs would be that of an off-the grid, on-site generation scenario, with locally produced electrical energy capable of satisfying the demand of small communities.
