Mankind has been harnessing the wind, with sails and windmills, for thousands of years. But in recent decades this ancient technology has been given a new twist, as wind power has become an important and fastgrowing source of renewable energy around the world.

Also in this Technnology Quarterly report:

Rational consumer: Small is beautiful - How to choose a netbook

Space solar power: Let the sun shine in - A sci-fi scheme edges closer

Cyberwarfare: Botnets, attack! - Do cyberattacks count as war?

Case history: Winds of change - A brief history of wind power

Internet overload: Surviving the exaflood - Will video crash the internet

Clean technology: Masdar plan - Abu Dhabi's ambitious ecocity

Brain scan: Enlightenment man - A profile of Sergey Brin, who believes in sharing information