Windy Old Weather Appendix 2: Rooftop wind turbines on the urban horizon

The Scottish executive is to force through new planning rules to allow residents to put wind turbines on their roofs.

The generators, about the size of a television satellite dish, are expected to become a common urban sight. They will cut electricity bills and also help the executive to meet its ambitious renewable energy target.

Ministers are to issue new planning guidelines, telling local authorities to approve the turbines. Costing about £1,000 if a government grant is obtained, these can produce enough electricity to run most domestic appliances and provide up to a third of all power needs. Among their supporters is Brian Wilson, the former Labour energy minister, who has one at his home in Glasgow. Charlie Silverton, a director of Renewable Devices, the Edinburgh-based firm that manufactures the silent rooftop turbines, said they had been designed like spinning wagon wheels to be easy on the eye.

Each turbine has five rotor blades encased in an outer rim and sits just above the house, producing up to 1.5kw of power. "The technology has arrived to provide proper silent rooftop turbines for the domestic market. If people can generate electricity on their roof they will require less from the national grid," Silverton said. "It is helping to save a lot of money for schools in Fife and planning applications are being considered in Eyemouth, Shetland, Edinburgh and quite a few places up north. But it would streamline the process if the Scottish executive could produce guidelines for councils, because applications are being held up for a disproportionate amount of time by individuals or planning authorities."

Environmental pressure groups, including Friends of the Earth, have described the devices as a breakthrough in the fight to reduce greenhouse emissions. However, critics say the number of turbines is unlikely to be big enough to discourage the executive from continuing to approve plans for big wind farms on sensitive countryside areas.

Gillian Bishop, a spokesman for Views of Scotland, an umbrella organisation representing wind farm protesters, said the devices would achieve little and could be more controversial than satellite dishes. "It seems so much effort for so little power ," she said. "They are just twiddling around the edges and I think if these things are spinning around all over the place it could drive neighbours crazy."

A spokesman for the executive said: "The executive is committed to meeting its ambitious target of 40% of electricity generated in Scotland from renewable sources by 2020 - tackling climate change and creating new green jobs. We will do this by the development of a mix of renewable energy sources including marine, tidal, biomass and wind. These will be delivered through both large and small-scale projects."