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As a sometime film technician, for me the most noticeable impact of climate change in Ireland has been the increasing wind speeds – in the past 18 months I’ve been on two commercials that were closed down because it was too windy to shoot; that had never happened to me in the previous 15 years. However, there are may be some positive side effects to this new phenomena, energy independence being chief among them.  The creators of Spirit of Ireland view Ireland as infinitely rich in the sustainable and ecological power of wind.  The group’s idea is clever because it addresses the issue of wind’s intermittent nature by storing the energy in the form of reservoirs, which then create hydroelectricity on demand.  It’s pretty neat. And for proof that energy independence is not just possible but profitable, Elizabeth Kolbert’s New Yorker article is a must-read: she describes how the residents of a Danish island went from impoverished to wealthy in a matter of a few years, simply by using the wind that was already rushing across their land every day.

Besides capturing the wind itself, the future of wind power technology in Ireland is promising as well, as last week’s announcement of 250 new jobs in Mayo testifies.

So if you agree that the future of wind is mighty, you can start using it yourself today: Airtricity gets at least 70% of their electricity from Irish wind farms, it’s cheaper than the ESB and it only takes 5 minutes to switch: isn’t that as refreshing as a cool breeze?