Wind turbines achieved their modern form in the 1980's. Generally, they are mounted on towers with three blades that point into the wind.
Wind power has the highest rate of growth of any electrical energy producer.
Coal flattened out about 1990 as a way to produce electrical energy world-wide, and has not shown any growth in this eight year span. Wind power can be produced with many turbines hooked up together to produce electricity, or they can be used individually or in small groups. In the US the wind farms are more generally used while in Europe, the smaller or individual units are the norm. At the beginning of the modern use of wind power, the turbines were mostly of the 50 kilowatt capacity, but they have been growing larger. Now the more common turbine unit is rated for 600 to 1000 kilowatts in generating capacity.