How Wind Turbines Work

A study in PNAS in October 2026, led by the US Geological Survey, estimated that about 18.7 million bats were killed at US onshore wind farms from 1981 to 2024. This film explains the fundamentals behind that number: where wind comes from, why the power in the wind grows with the cube of its speed, the Betz limit of 59.3%, how airfoil blades make lift and why they twist, what is inside the nacelle, the power curve and capacity factor, wind shear and offshore wind, the history from Persian windmills to today's giants, and how pausing turbines on calm nights protects bats.

A wing on a tower

How turbines turn wind into electricity, and what it costs the bats.

Power in the wind

Wind is sunlight, moved.

The blade

Not a paddle: a wing.

The machine

From a slow shaft to the grid.

Taller and bigger

Why towers grow, and why turbines go to sea.

Bats and blades

Bigger rotors, more power, more risk: what the estimate says, and what it does not.

Read the full story as text · อ่านภาษาไทย

This interactive 3D film needs JavaScript. PlanetPast home