The stretch of Interstate 84 that runs along the Columbia River from Idaho to Portland, Oregon, looks, on the map, like it should be a scenic, peaceful drive. But it's not, because the wind, funneled between the basalt bluffs of the Columbia River gorge, blows hard and continuously, moving your car (or, for a real thrill, your boxy minivan) a few feet to either side with each gust. Since the same thing is happening to the other nearby cars, the scenery tends to take a back seat to accident avoidance. And when you stop at a roadside rest to give your white knuckles a break, the wind either yanks the door out of your hand and slams it against the car next to you (personal experience talking) or shoves it back, mousetrap-like, onto your extended leg as you're trying to get out.

There's a town along I-84 called Hood River that once must have been a truly disturbing place to live, with the wind an ever-present poltergeist. But a few years ago, the residents-mostly fruit farmers-had an epiphany: The combination of a wide, slow-moving river and nonstop wind is something that extreme sports enthusiasts might pay to experience. So Hood River became a mecca for the tiny subset of the population that craves the "perfect wind" capable of propelling a kiteboard 40 feet into the air. They fill hotels and restaurants, and occasionally they settle down and buy houses. The locals, in short, have turned the wind into a valuable asset.

A breeze that can levitate a parasail can also turn a windmill. And the epiphany that led Hood River to embrace windsurfing has led hundreds of other breezy places around the world to embrace wind power. Turbines, their blades spinning night and day, are now a common sight off the coast of Europe and on the Texas plains and the Russian steppes. In the right place with the right equipment, wind is the cheapest form of alternative energy, and it is now, after solar, the world's fastest-growing renewable energy source.

Read about How Wind Power Works