The History of the Wind Turbine

Wind Turbine Jet

Humans have been developing wind turbines for more than 2000 years. According to D.J. De Renzo in his book Wind Power: Recent Developments, the first wind turbines were most likely simple vertical-axis mills used to grind grain in Persia around 200 B.C. By the 11th century A.D., windmills had spread throughout the Middle East, and by the 13th century, returning Crusaders introduced the technology to Europe. By the 14th century, the Dutch had the leading windmill technology. The Dutch used windmills extensively to drain the marshes and lakes of the Rhine River delta. In the 16th century, Holland began building wind-powered paper mills, oil mills, and sawmills. By the early 20th century, windmills were used extensively throughout the world to pump water in rural areas. This mode of water pumping is still important today for those in developing countries and for those living beyond the reach of power lines.

In the early 1980s, wind energy development in modern countries focused on generating electricity from centralized arrays of wind turbines called wind farms. The high oil prices resulting from the U.S. oil crises in the late 1970s made wind farms feasible. As a result, the U.S. wind industry grew at an unprecedented rate. However, at the end of that decade, the oil crises eased and U.S. tax exemptions expired, causing the wind turbine boom to subside. Recently, the wind industry has begun to boom again, and wind energy has become the fastest-growing energy source. In 1996, more than 25,000 wind turbines worldwide generated more than 7 terawatt-hours (TWh), or roughly 1% of the world’s annual electricity demand. By the year 2000, wind energy generation is expected to increase 60% to 11 TWh. New engineering technologies have decreased the installed price of wind energy from 35 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in 1980 to less than 5 cents per kWh today. Although gas-fired turbines can produce electricity for roughly 2.5 cents per kWh, the future of wind energy remains bright. New manufacturing techniques, materials, and improved engineering technologies continue to decrease the cost of wind energy. In addition, large developing countries such as India and China have made commitments to renewable energy sources that hold great promise for the future of wind energy.

Wind Turbine Jet