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Wind Energy
Wind energy has been used since the dawn of civilization. The first took the form of sails on boats which were used to travel around the world. No fuel is required on a sailboat, but they were often stranded in the sea on calm days. Even then it was known that the wind was powerful and it could be harnessed for good and bad, but extra wind power could not be preserved.
The next form of harnessing wind energy came with the introduction of windmills. They were constructed on land instead of sea this time, and were used to turn heavy millstones that grind wheat and other grains. Again these only worked on windy days, a mule would have to turn the millstone on calm days. Very windy days could make the millstone turn faster potentially allow more grains to be ground, but energy still could not be preserved.
Wind energy was revived recently because of the high and ever rising costs of fossil fuels. Now it is not directly used to push a boat, or turn a millstone, but to generate electricity. The great advantage that generating electricity has over those older methods is that the power can be preserved and sent across thousands of miles without losing its effectiveness.