History of

• Sailors have used wind power for almost 6,000 years. Additionally, wind has been used in building and farming for many centuries. The ancient Greek civilizations built their homes to utilize the natural force of wind to create ventilation. The first windmills, built in Afghanistan in the 7th century, used drive shafts and long blades to garner the power of wind for grinding corn, collecting water and chopping sugarcane. Gristmills used a wind-driven grinding mechanism to turn grain into flour.
  
  

Evolution

• The first windmills were vertical axle mills. The more efficient horizontal axle windmills developed in 12th century Europe. Also called the post mill, these mills stood on a post and used larger sails to capture the wind. Professor James Blyth of Scotland invented the first electricity-producing windmill in 1887. This was the first step toward modern wind power. The same year in Cleveland, Ohio, Charles F. Brush designed the first wind turbines. From his invention came the Darrieus wind turbine and smaller two-bladed wind generators.
  
  

The Facts

• The efficiency of wind power generators is dependent on wind speed. Since the speed is dependent on factors such as energy received from the sun, temperature, time of day, humidity and the overall global atmospheric convection system, it is hard to predict. However, storing the energy that wind produces has been perfected in recent years and has allowed the wind power movement to gain momentum as a realistic energy solution. In 2008, billionaire oilman T. Boone Pickens announced that he plans to build a wind farm that will cost more than a billion dollars and is expected to provide power to more than a million homes.
  
  

Benefits

• The benefits of investing in wind power exceed any perceived or actual stumbling blocks. Wind power provides renewable, storable and environmentally safe energy. As more communities and corporations invest in wind technologies the costs will drop. For example, wind energy costs have already fallen to one-fifth of what they were in 1980. A recent study claimed that the earth's atmosphere can supply enough renewable wind energy to power the entire world.
  
  

Misconceptions

• While large wind turbines are needed to capture wind and turn it into energy, homes that rely on wind will not need to have a turbine. In fact, energy from the turbines can be sent hundreds of miles without the loss of much power. An additional misconception is that a home which relies on wind power stops getting electricity if bad weather disrupts the local wind farm. That simply is not true, because each farm will have ample amounts of backup energy supplies.