We capture wind energy with sails or windmills. People have been using sails for 5,000 years and windmills for nearly 3,000 years. We still use only those two methods to capture wind energy today. We convert the movement of wind, which we cannot control, into movement that we can control. Wind pushes against sails and moves a vessel.
Wind turns the vanes of a windmill, which turn an attached shaft.
People attach different devices to the rotating shaft to do work. Windmills were first used to pump water for irrigation and later to grind grain. They are still used around the world for both purposes. Today, new kinds of windmills, called wind turbines, generate electricity. The vanes turn a generator, which produces electricity.