The vertical windmill appeared in Europe in the 12th to 13th century, and routinely helped power villages and farms through the early 20th century.
But it wasn’t until the 1970s that surging oil prices prompted countries such as the United States, Germany, Denmark and Spain to begin developing wind energy in earnest to avoid dependence on fossil fuels.
In the following decades, increasing awareness of the climate impacts of coal, oil and gas bolstered wind energy’s appeal, both as a way to cut greenhouse gas emissions and as an industrial niche that could generate economic growth and jobs, particularly in rural areas.
Investment in wind projects is now set to surpass $3 trillion by 2030, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency. Falling costs have fueled stunning growth: The Global Wind Energy Council reports that the total wind power installed today is 25 times what it was nearly two decades ago.
“We’ve moved away from the time when you had to appeal to people to do wind energy because it would help save the planet,” says Giles Dickson, C.E.O. of the trade group WindEurope. “Now you say, Look, this is a no-brainer economically.”
The average price per megawatt hour of onshore wind energy has dropped by nearly half since 2010, according to research by BloombergNEF, driven primarily by improved technology making wind turbines more reliable and efficient.
We’ve moved away from the time when you had to appeal to people to do wind energy because it would help save the planet. Now you say, Look, this is a no-brainer economically.
— Giles Dickson, C.E.O. of the trade group WindEurope
