Netherlands, September 3, 2007—In Europe, it's not just waste dumps and prisons that rouse cries of "not in my backyard."
Complaints about noise pollution, aesthetics, and the use of scarce land have pushed government officials to develop modern wind farms far from residential neighborhoods—even in the Netherlands, a country famed for its picturesque windmills.
Here, a ship passes a wind turbine installation some 14 miles (23 kilometers) off the coast of IJmuiden. The installation is one of more than a dozen projects already bringing renewable energy to European residents from offshore, and many more are in the works.