Congressional Digest

Excerpt

From the earliest days of civilization, humans have been harnessing the energy of wind. Wind propelled boats along the Nile River as early as 5000 B.C., and by 200 B.C., windmills were being used to pump water in China and grind grain in the Middle East.

The Dutch refined windmill technology in the eighth century, using it to pump water from lakes and swamps to prevent floods. In early twentieth century America, windmills generated electricity in rural areas until power lines took their place — the beginning of a wind energy boom-and-bust cycle that has continued ever since. Wind-based electricity is generat…