Could this be the best answer to creating a renewable energy source? Quite possibly.

Forget de-salination plants, tapping underground aquifers or recycling human effluent. There may be an invention that is soon to hit the world that is capable of producing more water than we could ever require from a source that's as close as walking outside your comfortable home.

Max Whisson, a Perth inventor, may have created the answer to our water shortage problems. His "Whisson windmill", as it's colloquially tagged, is still residing behind a 'commercial in confidence' venture but it seems it's gaining in public momentum as the idea slowly catches on.

The invention is part wind turbine and part refrigeration which cools and condenses the air until water is extracted. But it doesn't require vast wind speeds to generate water. In fact;

It can get water in wind as light as 2km/h. - Sunday Times 11/02/2007

The most exciting part of this planned technology is that while wind farms have sprung up around the nation consuming vast areas of land, these windmills may be efficient enough to reside in your own backyard. A small unit can produce 6000 litres per day, far more than the average household uses.

Another exciting point to mention is hot air holds more water than cold. Therefore, in the months when we use the most water there is more available.

And just when you thought this invention couldn't get any better consider that it also produces its own energy to extract the wind's water.

You can read more about this amazing invention here or here.

The downside of Max's windmill is that the WA Government is still not willing to bring it to the table while interest has been generated from the US, Russia and the Middle East. Instead, our state government is too busy trying to tap into our local aquifer to resource Perth's water needs.