Good morning. It's Tuesday, Aug. 26, and today we're covering wind power. Since we launched this newsletter, it has been one of the most asked-about topics, and we hope this exploration serves as a fascinating expansion to our existing pages on Solar Power and Nuclear Power, with more energy sources to come in the future.
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—Marco Machado, 1440 Science and Technology Editor |
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Background
Wind power is a renewable energy source that transforms the energy of the wind’s motion into electricity.
In 2024, wind power accounted for 8.1% of global electricity generation through land-based, offshore, and distributed wind turbines (overview of wind turbine types).
As of May 2025, there are 76,051 wind turbines in the US, with the average turbine installed since 2020 producing enough electricity in 46 minutes to power a US home for a month.
History
The earliest record of using wind energy is from depictions of sailboats in Egyptian art over 7,000 years ago (see example).
Around 4,000 years later, windmills in Mesopotamia were used to grind grains and pump water for irrigation. In the Middle Ages, windmills were used to extract salt from seawater, cut wood in sawmills, and, in the Netherlands, drain water from flooded terrain to create farmland (watch explainer).
Austrian engineer Josef Friedländer installed the first electricity-generating windmill in 1883 at the Vienna International Electrical Exhibition, but its prohibitive cost limited adoption to isolated residences and laboratories.
The 1973 oil crisis drove government investments in alternative energy sources, accelerating the development of new wind power technology and the manufacturing of commercial wind turbines.
The world’s first wind farm was installed in New Hampshire in 1980, followed by the first offshore wind farm in Denmark in 1991. The first floating offshore wind farm began operating off the coast of Scotland in 2017.
Since the 1990s, wind turbines have become larger and taller (see data). As of 2023, land-based wind power is less expensive per kilowatt-hour than solar power (1440 Topics: Solar Power).
How It Works
Wind turbines generate electricity through electromagnetic induction, where an electric current is created from the changing magnetic field of a rotating magnet (watch explainer).
The blades of a wind turbine resemble the wings of a plane. When air passes across them, a region of low air pressure forms on one side, producing lift (watch how airplanes fly).
This force pushes the blades, which rotate a shaft connected to a gearbox. The gearbox increases the rotation speed of magnets inside a generator to a frequency that matches the alternating current of the power grid (see overview).
A vane measures wind direction and sends data to the yaw drive, which can turn the turbine for improved efficiency. An anemometer measures wind speed for the controller, which ensures the turbine only runs at safe speeds: 6 to 50 mph (or 10 to 80 kph).
A pitch system changes the angle of the blades to precisely control the shaft's rotation speed, and a brake can park the turbine for maintenance or emergencies. Explore an interactive of these components here.
Wind power is limited to windy environments, often far from energy-hungry cities. Wind turbines produce noise equivalent to a refrigerator and are known to kill birds, though at lower rates than cats and window collisions (learn more).
Future
The US Department of Energy projects that 35% of electricity generated in the country will come from wind power by 2050, amid the ongoing installation rate of 3,000 wind turbines yearly since 2005.
Wind turbines are expected to continue increasing in size and improving their energy generation capacity. This will lower turbine rotation speeds and the number of turbines needed in each new wind farm to produce the same energy, reducing cost, wildlife impact, and noise (learn more).
While energy transmission and storage improvements are expected, some startups are exploring placing data centers inside hollow wind turbine towers to take advantage of their excess power or generating even more power through airborne wind turbines. |
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Maintenance, congestion, and wind speed can park a wind turbine |
Wind turbines are optimized to operate within a range of wind speeds to prevent damage and minimize unnecessary wear. An internal brake also prevents the blades from rotating if energy is not needed within the power grid or if routine preventive maintenance or cleaning is taking place. Learn more about why turbines park here. |
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Wind turbines are limited to capturing 59.3% of incoming wind energy |
Despite worries about turbines draining the world of wind, German physicist Albert Betz applied the laws of conservation of mass and momentum in 1919 to show that there is an absolute limit to how much energy can be harnessed by a turbine. Learn more about how he determined what is called the Betz limit here. |
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Wind is the movement of air caused by the sun's uneven heating of Earth |
The tilt, curvature, and variations in Earth's surface composition across the globe cause different regions to receive different amounts of solar radiation. As the Earth spins and tries to achieve thermal equilibrium, air masses move and interact, creating wind. Learn more about where wind and weather come from here. |
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Selection of wind farm sites considers wildlife impacts and wind potential |
Environmental impact studies, wind energy maps, anemometer data, and local, state, and federal regulations factor into where wind turbines are built, including offshore farms. Wind projects on public lands require additional permitting and are often open to community input. Learn more about the selection process here. |
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Offshore wind turbines are built like giant modular puzzles at sea |
Due to their enormous size, turbines are assembled in parts on-site using prefab components, advanced cranes, and vibration-dampening systems to manage the dynamic ocean environment. Three-blade turbines became the norm because even-numbered blades create damaging vibrations. Watch the ocean construction here. |
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See technicians use rappelling gear repair wind turbine from 35+ stories up |
Due to their enormous size, turbines are assembled in parts on-site using prefab components, advanced cranes, and vibration-dampening systems to manage the dynamic ocean environment. Three-blade turbines became the norm because even-numbered blades create damaging vibrations. Watch the ocean construction here. |
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Like all great scientists, we love spending time researching the latest scientific breakthroughs, tech releases, engaging explainers, and the connections between science and society that are making headlines. Here's what we found this week.
> International discussions on the world's first plastic treaty collapse
CNN | Laura Paddison. After 11 days of negotiations between 180 nations at the UN headquarters, a divide remained between oil- and gas-producing nations focused on recycling and over 100 countries looking to place caps on plastic production. The negotiations committee said talks will resume at an unknown future date. (Read)
> Researchers find wildfire smoke far deadlier than previously thought
The Guardian | Ajit Niranjan. Using models that incorporate lag in deaths after initial exposure, European scientists found wildfire deaths from fine particulates to have been underestimated by 93%. Toxic pollution from wildfires affects more than 1 billion people a year, a number that is expected to rise due to climate change. (Read)
> Doctors may be becoming too reliant on AI to screen and diagnose patients
NPR | Geoff Brumfiel. After using AI-assisted systems, gastroenterologists in Poland appeared to be about 20% worse at identifying abnormalities. Similar studies into what has been described as the "safety-net effect" may help shed light on how an overreliance on AI tools may contribute to worsening medical outcomes. (Read)
> The global effort to map the entire ocean floor by 2030
Short Wave Podcast | Regina Barber and Emily Kwong. As of June 2025, only about 27% of the ocean floor has been mapped, despite its value in understanding tsunamis and supporting underwater internet cable infrastructure. On this episode, an ocean geographer discusses what it will take to map the remaining 73%. (Listen)
> Bloom patterns: the new class of origami for folding future spacecraft
The New York Times | Kenneth Chang. These idealized flower patterns can be folded flat and infinitely generated using a newly discovered mathematical framework. The discovery increases the variety of designs available to scientists, engineers, and designers looking to send telescopes larger than existing rockets into space. (Read)
> Wind Power: Where do conspiracy theories about wind farms come from? (Read) |
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New in 1440 Science & Technology |
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With curiosity leading the way, our team went out looking for wonders, oddities, and insights in the natural and tech worlds. Here's what we discovered.
—Marco Machado, 1440 Science and Technology Editor
> Why rechargeable batteries lose their ability to store energy.
> The history of the world's first laptop.
> What would happen if you replaced the sun with a black hole?
> A super-sized look at superconductivity.
> How scientists define sea level.
> Explore how close we are to Earth's climate tipping points.
> What happened to a person's eyes during mummification?
> Why water bears are so indestructible.
> How psychedelic drugs cause hallucinations.
> The theory that says everything is conscious.
Thank you to James S. and Ron E. for inspiring us with their questions! If you have any involving science and technology and would like them answered, tell us here. |
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Iowa is the state with the greatest share of its electricity coming from wind power, at 60.84%, while Texas generates the most overall wind energy. |
See your state's wind energy data here. |
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