Gentlemen - The Queen is a bit windy

[Wizzo]

Her Majesty The Queen is all set to become the 'Ruler Of Turbines' by ordering the biggest one in the world.

Standing 574 feet tall, it towers over Big Ben and has the wingspan of two football pitches. The 10-megawatt giant will generate almost 5 times more than typical giant wind turbines and will, when operational, generate enough juice to power up to 3,700 UK homes.

According to the US makers, Clipper Windpower, it will displace 2 million barrels of oil as well as 724,000 tonnes of CO2 over its lifetime. Something this big bobbing in the ocean is either going to make eco-power fans jump with delight or reach for their placards and oars.

The prototype is the flagship for the company's Britannia Project, which hopes to dot the ocean - most of it around the UK owned by the Crown Estate - with massive megawatt turbines sitting on deep-sea floating platforms. This one is expected to be in place by 2012.

[cosworth151]

Fields of these have been popping up all over the U.S. It's become common to see pieces of them being trucked down the highway. They are impressive.

This is one blade for a standard sized turbine. I took the picture at a service plaza on the Kansas Turnpike.