How has the traditional use of wind and water energy been modified for convenience ?

Before in the earlier decades,wind and water energy were used for serving several purposes but were not efficient.For e.g. windmills were only used to power smaller mills like flour mills or saw mills and the flow of water was used for transporting wooden logs.But now-a-days windmill farms are constructed to produce electricity and also the traditional use of energy of flowing water has been modified by establishing hydro-power plants which means a better and more efficient use of these forms of energy.