The historic Paris skyline is in for a bit of a makeover according to a Reuters news report. At least for Paris,  windmills on rooftops will be the look of the future. With Parisians always keen to preserve the beauty of their city, these windmills will be built to blend in.

Windmills, of course, are nothing new in Paris. In its early history, there were hundreds of windmills scattered around the city. Unfortunately, only one or two managed to survive, the most well-known being the Moulin de la Galette in Montmarte. This windmill, now privately owned, was at one stage the location of an open-air cabaret by made famous in a painting by Renoir.

Now it looks like it’s about to have company in the form of small wind turbines installed on the flat roofs of buildings. Montmartre and three other neighbourhoods around Paris have been chosen as locations for these new windmills that will harness electricity from the strong winds that blow through the city.

Any electricity produced by this windmills will either be used directly in the buildings where they are installed or sold off to the state-owned utility EDF. No doubt other windy cities around the world will be watching with interest.

Image: Marilane Borges