• The oldest mill in the Netherlands dates back to the eight century.

• Today, there are between 1,000 and 1,150 windmills in Holland. Some are still actively used to grind grain or for water drainage.

• Holland celebrates “National Mills Day” every second Saturday in May.

• Earliest mills were not made only to process grain, but also to be used as automated stations that can route water from flooded areas or pump water from the depths to water agricultural areas.

• During the peak of windmill popularity in 18th and 19th century, Europe housed around 200 thousand of them.

• First windmill in America was created in 1888 by Charles Brush in Cleveland, Ohio.

• Early windmills used fan shaped objects made from wood. Modern windmills are using metal or other modern composite material.

• World’s largest wind turbine that is 20 stories high and has rotors that have length of entire football field. It is built and stationed in Hawaii.

• One megawatt of wind energy can prevent creation of 2,600 tonnes of carbon dioxide that is made by fossil-powered engines.

• The popularity of wind power turbines quadrupled between the years 2000 and 2006.

• Modern wind turbine is a complicated machine with over 8,000 parts.

• Modern wind turbines strive to place their blades at highest altitude possible so that they could access to stronger winds.

• United Kingdom is home to over 130 windmill energy farms.

• The average size of a wind turbine rotor reached a diameter of 97 metres in 2013.

• The country that has most wind turbines is not USA, it is China.

• Twenty percent of the energy production in Portugal and Denmark comes from wind turbines.

• In 2012 there were 45,100 active wind turbines in the world.

• The strongest windmill operating at its peak speed can power up to 500 homes.

Courtesy: www.historyofwindmills.com

Published in Dawn, Young World, January 20th, 2024