Think you have to spend a bunch of money to buy contraption to be a member of the wind turbine club? Think again. Rooftop wind turbines are becoming more and more popular. Rooftop turbines send the electricity they generate straight on to the homeowner’s circuit box, thus reducing their utility bills while using a renewable resource.

For example, the Swift Wind Turbine is both compact and quiet. By installing a wind turbine, users can reduce their carbon emissions as well as lower their electricity bills. When the wind is blows at 30 miles an hour or more, it will generate 1.5 kilowatts of electrical power However, these turbines can still run between $10 – $12,000 but state and federal incentives will help buyers supplement the cost.

The English wind farm that had allegedly suffered a UFO attack that led to the destruction of a £1 million wind turbine several weeks ago has now announced that the cause was actually quite terrestrial after all.

Dale Vince, owner of Ecotricity, the wind power facility in question, originally reported that he had seen glowing spheres with octopus-like “tentacles” on the night that the wind turbine was destroyed. This led to speculation that the turbine’s destruction was a result of alien craft.

Now the wind turbine’s manufacturer, Enercon, has done an assessment of the damage and come to the conclusion that it was not caused by low-flying craft, alien or otherwise. Instead, material fatigue is being cited as the cause for the wind turbine losing one of its blades.

“To be honest I’m not surprised. But there was part of me that did hope it was a UFO as it was a lovely story,” Vince said.

Fraser McLachlan of GCube, a wind turbine insurer, had released an immediate statement that downplayed the UFO theory. “You get three or four cases of things like this a year. They are machines and machines are going to break,” he said.

One thing we haven’t seen explained is where the remains of the massive blade went. As we wrote in a previous report on the  UFO wind turbine incident earlier, the massive 20-meter was no where to be found after the incident.

With the wind industry booming, many owners of wind farms built during California’s wind boom of the 1980s are thinking about upgrading their wind turbines. However, with everyone thinking greener these days, many are finding alternatives to sending their worn-out wind turbines to the junk yard.

An increasing number of new companies are buying up the old turbines on the cheap, overhauling them and reselling them at cheaper prices. Portland-based Nexion DG, for example, offers recycled wind turbines that the company salvaged from California wind farms.

“To go out and build a new turbine of the size we’re working with, it would end up costing twice as much,” said Matt Stein, director of operations for Nexion DG. “And anybody building components for new wind turbines is focusing on the 1 megawatt-plus turbines because that’s where the action is.”

Perks for customers of recycled wind turbines include cheaper prices as well as shorter waiting times, around two months for a rebuilt machine, rather than a year for a new one.

Barack Obama spoke at Cardinal Fastener, a Bedord, Ohio factory that produces parts for wind turbines.

Obama vowed to put a half million people to work, building wind turbines and solar panels, creating more jobs in the renewable energy industry.

“Renewable energy isn’t something pie-in-the-sky,” Obama said. “It’s not part of a far-off future. It’s happening all across America right now. With all the bad news going on out there, with all the news of jobs lost and businesses shuttered, jobs were created right here.”

It’s official: The next big thing is looking to be wind power, folks. Can we get a hoo raah? Amongst the grim economic news comes the silver lining that one million people will be employed worldwide by the wind-power industry by the end of the decade, despite the impact of the financial crisis.

“It has been another record year for the industry. People say these growth rates can’t go on forever, but they keep on going on,” said Steve Sawyer, secretary general of the Global Wind Energy Council.

Although wind and solar power companies have faced financial difficulties caused by the continuing economic crisis due to the lack of available financing for wind and solar projects, it is unclear how profoundly it would reduce or delay demand and profitability. However, grid connections remain key to the future of wind energy in all parts of the world and newly elected U.S. president Barack Obama is looking to the current financial crisis to invest in this area.

“Renewable energy isn’t something pie-in-the-sky,” Obama told workers at an Ohio plant that produces wind turbine parts. “It’s not part of a far-off future. It’s happening all across America right now. With all the bad news going on out there, with all the news of jobs lost and businesses shuttered, jobs were created right here.”

Barack Obama spoke at an Ohio plant that manufactures small parts used in wind turbines, to build support for his economic stimulus plan. He told the small company of about 65 workers that the U.S. is in the middle of crisis unlike any “in our lifetime.”

“Renewable energy isn’t something pie-in-the-sky,” Obama said. “It’s not part of a far-off future. It’s happening all across America right now. With all the bad news going on out there, with all the news of jobs lost and businesses shuttered, jobs were created right here.”

Obama toured Cardinal Fastener, who began building wind turbine parts just two years ago and was chosen to highlight two aspects of his policy: creating U.S.-based manufacturing jobs and investing in alternative energy sources.

“It’s not too late to change course, but only if we take dramatic action as soon as possible,” Obama said. “We’re looking to create good jobs that pay well and won’t be shipped overseas.”

The proposed 130-turbine wind farm off the coast of Nantucket Sound in Massachusetts, earned a victory today when the federal agency that oversees it released a favorable environmental impact statement. Cape Wind, which has been under review since 2001, has faced some resistance from opponents who say it may cause radar interference to boats and planes, hurt wildlife and hinder the ocean views from Cape Cod. Opponents including Senator Edward Kennedy have sued to stop the project.

However, today was a big step for Cape Wind, whose plan is to place the towers about five miles off the shore and  provide three-quarters of the Cape and Islands’ electricity.

“We are going through the document now, and it does appear to be a favorable document,” said Mark Rodgers, communications director for Cape Wind.

Jim Gordon, Cape Wind’s president, said that construction could begin late this year, and that the wind farm could be producing electricity by the end of 2011.

Gordon said, “We think this wind farm is going to be embraced by the Cape Cod community, it’s going to be embraced by the nation and, most important, it has already encouraged other states to look at developing their own coastal wind resources.”

Wind power capital expenditures are also expected to suffer during these difficult economic times and market researcher Emerging Energy Research, is predicting wind capacity will increase by only 14 percent globally this year.

There used to be an abundance of funding to finance wind power projects, however with the sharp downturn in the economy, lenders have become tighter with their cash, pushing lots of independent energy producers out of the market. Moreover, the demand for wind turbines has dropped, forcing wind turbine producers to drastically reduce their prices or go out of business.

Although President-elect Barack Obama recently revealed a stimulus package for the clean technology sector that includes wind power, investors are reluctant to put money into the wind energy sector until more details are given.

As we reported, a UFO is believed to have struck a giant wind turbine in South Lincolnshire, England. Locals reported seeing lights rushing towards the 290-foot wind generator in the early hours of the morning, while a motorist reported seeing a UFO strike the turbine. Strangely, the missing blade that was torn off by the impact, has yet to be recovered.

A 20-meter blade of a wind turbine in Conisholme, England was torn off after it was reportedly hit by an unidentified flying object. Curiously, the blade has been missing and not been found. Locals reported seeing strange lights roaring towards the 290-foot wind generator at 4 a.m., while a motorist reported that she saw a UFO zoom towards the wind farm and strike the turbine.

Ecotricity, the company who owns the 800-kilowatt generator, has links to over a dozen news stories on its Web site, which displays a turbine next to a cow being beamed up by an alien spacecraft. Managing Director Dale Vince, who was interviewed by the BBC about the incident, said the company is still investigating.

“We have been crawling all over it and have sent bits off for analysis to see if we can work out what caused it,” Vince said on the company’s Web site. “To make one of these blades fall off, or to bend it, takes a lot.”

Community police chiefs are also reportedly investigating.

Other British media are reporting residents saw a “massive ball of light” with “tentacles going right down to the ground” the night before the incident.