They join a rainwater recovery system and LEDs

Feb 26, 2015 15:22 GMT  ·  By

The Eiffel Tower is one of the official wonders of the Earth, man-made wonders in any case, so it has understandably been under significant watch over the decades.

Naturally, this means that the official authorities of Paris and France as a whole are leery about any modifications to it.

Some allowances can be made, however, like additions that can make the tower more eco-friendly and profitable without any impact on aesthetics.

After all, if the authorities were willing to install an antenna at the top, there should be room for other things as well.

Now, a design company called UGE and based in New York has installed two wind turbines on the Eiffel Tower, above the second level of the tower.

These turbines will harness wind energy and will generate 10,000 kW per year, which isn't all that much but still enough to, say, power a home. Could still power at least some of the tower lights though, now that incandescent bulbs have been changed for LEDs.

Still, the move is in the end more of a symbol than anything, for the plan to cut Paris' greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2020 and 75% by 2050. Lofty goals, to be sure, but it's good to have something to strive for.