| 3,500 BC |
Egyptians made the earliest known sailboats, using the wind to propel boats. |
| 2,000 BC |
Windmills may have been used to pump water, according to historical estimates. |
| 200 BC |
Windmills are used to pump water in China. |
| 600 AD |
The Persians of present day Iran used windmills to grind grain into flour. |
| 1100 AD |
Wind power appears in Europe during the medieval period. Windmills were used to grind grain. |
| 1300 |
The first horizontal-axis windmills (like a pinwheel) appear in Western Europe to drain fields in the Netherlands and to move water for irrigation in France. Technological improvements allow for superior grinding and pumping.
|
| 1752 |
Benjamin Franklin conducts an experiment using a kite, a key, and an approaching thunderstorm to help us understand electricity. |
| 1800's |
American settlers use windmills to pump water along the western frontier. By the late 1880’s, six million windmills had sprung up across America. Steel blades for windmills improve efficiency. |
| 1888 |
Charles F. Brush invents a large windmill which creates electricity in Cleveland, Ohio. It can produce 12 Kilowatts of electricity. Windmills start to be called “wind turbines.”
|
| Early 1900's |
Electric wind turbines appear all over Europe and are used to power rural homes and farms in America. |
| 1920's |
French inventor G.J.M. Darrieus develops a vertical axis turbine, consisting of slender, curved blades attached to the top and bottom of a rotating vertical tube. This design is often called an “eggbeater” shape turbine.
|
| 1931 |
Russia constructs the first commercial power plant to use a wind turbine to produce electricity.
|
| 1941 |
Large wind turbine (1,250 kW) is constructed in Vermont in response to fuel shortages. This supplied power to the local community for several years during World War II.
|
| 1971 |
The world’s first offshore wind farm begins operating off the coast of Denmark. |
| 1973 |
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) begins an oil embargo, causing oil prices to rise dramatically. High oil prices increase interest in alternative energy sources.
|
| 1977-1981 |
The U.S. designs several two-bladed turbine prototypes. One prototype, called the MOD-1, had a 2 megawatt capacity.
|
| 1980 |
U.S. businesses are rewarded for using renewable energy with a tax credits. The federal tax credit for wind power was 25%.
|
| 1985 |
California wind capacity exceeds 1,000 megawatts, enough to power 250,000 homes. Wind turbines were still very inefficient at this time.
|
| 1989 |
Federal funding for wind power research has been declining through the 1980’s. The Department of Energy (DOE) funding for this research reaches a low point in 1989.
|
| 1990's |
Growing public concerns about environmental issues such as air pollution and global warming encourage interest in renewable energy.
|
| 2001 |
Wind energy capacity increases 37 percent, reaching 24,800 megawatts. The global wind power industry generates about $7 billion in business.
|
| 2003 |
Europe has 70% of the world’s wind energy, due in part to laws encouraging growth in Germany, Denmark, and Spain.
|
| 2005 |
An updated U.S. Energy Policy Act strengthens incentives for renewable energy sources. Global wind energy production continues to grow exponentially.
|
| 2006 |
Global wind energy production exceeds 74,000 megawatts. |
| 2007 |
US wind energy capacity increases by an incredible 45% |
| 2008 |
Global wind energy production exceeds 94,000 megawatts. |
