This Thursday, we’ll dive back in right where we left off last week in our discussion of meat production and food systems.  While the first hour of this two-part series diagnosed some of the symptoms of our failing meat industry, the next hour will explore food on a broader level: How did we get here? What are the barriers that prevent meaningful reform? Does the world food economy suffer from the same flaws that plague us here in the U.S.? What can each of us do to provoke change?

Image attributed to Kevin Uhrmacher/NPR , “A Nation of Meat Eaters” (2012)

Make sure to tune in to KZSU 90.1FM on Thursday, 6-7PM PST, or stream the show live on kzsulive.stanford.edu. As always, the show will also be available shortly after on this site and our iTunes podcast.

A very wise person at Stanford once explained that changing food habits is a powerful way for an individual to reduce his or her environmental impact, because every single day, three times a day, we sit down to eat. So are there choices you can make every single day, that will make a difference? We sat down with people– a lot of people– students, scholars, and animal rights activists, folks at non-profits, nutritionists and professors from more than one institution, seeking insight into the food system (especially the meat industry) today. We present the results of our roller-coaster ride through the world of meat on Thursday.

Make sure to listen live at 90.1FM if you’re in the Bay Area or online at kzsulive.stanford.edu from 6-7PM PST. Shortly thereafter, we will post the podcast to this site and make it available via our iTunes podcast.

The next episode of Green Grid Radio formed out of the observation that many people in northern California are aware of energy and planetary challenges, as well as some solutions. But many young people simply do not fight for the social/environmental issues like college-aged Americans did once upon a time. We will debut the episode, “Is the Sustainability Movement an Activist Movement?” this Thursday evening, which dives into Stanford perspectives on sustainability and how to go about achieving social change in today’s world.

A group of Penn State students demonstrate in the 1960s (Attributed to Penn State University Libraries, “Years of Crises: The 1960s,” 2013).

As usual, you can listen live  on 90.1FM in the Bay Area or online at kzsulive.stanford.edu from 6-7PM PST Thursday. We will make the episode available for download from this site or from our iTunes podcast.

This week on Green Grid Radio we’re bringing you an hour dedicated to the back of your fridge and the bottom of your trash can. Americans eat only sixty percent of the food that we produce each year – the remainder gets tossed somewhere along the path from the field to your table. Food waste is the largest single contributor to our landfills – but it doesn’t have to be. There are so many other options for the food we do not eat.

Plum. Photograph by Diane Wu.

We’ll bring you ideas from our guests Nicole Gaetjens (Stanford student and all around waste warrior), Julie Muir (Community Relations Manager at Peninsula Sanitary Service, Inc and waste industry insider), Dana Gunders (Project Scientist at NRDC and author of this report on food waste), Elena Stamatakos and Mahta Baghoolizadeh (Stanford students and volunteers with the Stanford Project on Hunger).

In our show we’ll visit the kitchen of the Faculty Club and the commercial compost facility where Stanford recycles some of its food waste into compost. Join us on Thursday from 6-7 PM at 90.1 FM or online at kzsulive.stanford.edu to listen live. We’ll also have our episode available online right here shortly afterwards, or you can find it in our iTunes podcast.

This week we’ll have a very special broadcast of Green Grid Radio on Wednesday, April 17th from 12-1pm. Green Grid Radio will be broadcasting live from the Energy Showcase, which is the Stanford Energy Week kick-off event in White Plaza on the Stanford campus.

Attributed to Stanford Energy Club (2013).

Not only will we broadcast live, but our booth will be solar powered. We are utterly thrilled to bring our show to the middle of the action, and to demonstrate our environmental commitment at the same time.

Our guest this week is Ms. Debra Dunn of the Stanford d.school. We’ll be talking about sustainability, food, and energy broadly in our discussion. Student Sarah Triolo will also join us for the panel conversation. Green Grid Radio will air an encore edition of this special episode during the regular Thursday, April 18th from 6-7pm PST timeslot on KZSU.

Wind energy is a relatively mature renewable energy technology that is at the forefront in challenging conventional methods of power generation.  The image of a wind turbine is ubiquitous in representing clean tech (see the header of this very website), but have you ever wondered exactly how those great big turbines actually make electricity? Been curious about how efficient they are? Pondered what might happen when a bunch of bugs get stuck to these turbines?

We have! And so we sat down with Lawrence Livermore National Lab scientist Jeff Mirocha to ask him some questions about the fundamentals of wind energy production. He graciously explained the basics to us, and we’ll be sharing the interview with you on Thursday from 6-7 PM on 90.1 FM and at kzsu.stanford.edu. Aaron Burdick, a student in the Civil and Environmental Engineering department, will join us for a panel discussion afterwards.

Tweet us your questions about Wind Energy Basics @greengridradio or leave them in the comments section on this post and we’ll try to answer them during the show!

Image attributed to Energy Quest/California Energy Commission, 2013.

As the weather warms up, the vegetation turns green, and the days lengthen, we have reached the start of spring, and therefore, the end of winter. With the end of winter, also comes the end of Green Grid Radio’s second season.

This Thursday, we’ll wrap up the season with interview and panel highlights from throughout the second season. Joining us in the studio will be returning panelists, Andrew Ponec of Stanford GRID Alternatives, Rob Best of the Stanford Solar Decathlon team, Tim Burke of Engineers for a Sustainable World, and Megan Tsai of the Materials Science and Engineering Department. The roundtable recap in Season 1 was one of our best episodes, so make sure to tune in Thursday from 6-7 PM at 90.1FM or kzsulive.stanford.edu for a show filled with goodies!

As Green Grid Radio approaches the end of its second season, we will return to one of the big topics of the second season, energy efficiency. This week, Bill Brittan of  The Green Pro Network joins us to speak about how we might demonstrate the benefits of investing in energy efficiency for homeowners. There exists a wealth of resources and rebates out there, and Green Pro Network encourages folks to claim these rebates. We will also speak a little bit about energy efficiency policies and even indoor air quality. And while energy efficiency isn’t the primary goal of Students for a Sustainable Stanford, we will be joined by Hannah Rich and Hanni Hanson who will speak about varied projects directed toward a greener campus.

So join us on Thursday if you are in the Bay Area by tuning in to 90.1FM  from 6-7 PM (PST). If you want to listen online, you can at kzsulive.stanford.edu. Thanks for listening!

The eighth episode of Green Grid Radio’s second season will be “Reason for Hope: Fitting Biodiversity Conservation into Solar Development Plans,” and will feature Garry George, Renewable Energy Project Director at Audubon California. Garry reviews renewable energy development projects and acts as a voice for wildlife in order to mitigate the harm bird populations suffer as a result of the creation of wind and solar farms in desert lands. Garry will speak with us about solar energy technologies impacting birds, Audubon’s perspective on the Departments of Energy and Interior‘s 2012 plan for solar development on public lands in the west, and how we can create a future in which we don’t have to choose between biodiversity protection and a healthy climate. With the urgent need to transition to renewable energy sources, making sure that we move forward in a way that doesn’t step on the wings of endangered birds in the process is critical. You don’t want to miss this episode!c

Make sure to tune in Thursday to 90.1FM (in the Bay Area) from 6-7 PM (PST) or online at kzsulive.stanford.edu. Thanks for listening!

It’s easy to get caught up thinking about national energy and environmental policies and programs as the ultimate mechanisms for initiating change. We hyper-analyze every word in Obama’s State of the Union and different groups cry foul, while others proclaim victory. In this media-saturated world we live in, we sometimes forget about many of the promising local changes that are taking place. Volunteers, city governments, and local non-profits are out there making a difference, especially here in the Bay Area. On today’s show, we focus on effective sustainability initiatives  with Dr. Tanja Srebotnjak of the Ecologic Institute, and the episode is titled, “A Day in the Life of a Bay Area Environmental Think Tank”. We’ll also be joined by frequent contributor and panelist, Matt Chalmers.

Make sure to listen from 6-7 PM (PST) on Thursday! Our regular reminder: we’re on 90.1FM in the Bay Area, or online at kzsulive.stanford.edu. Thanks for listening!

The sixth episode of Green Grid Radio’s second season will be, “Ecovillages: Sustainable, Cooperative Lifestyles that Really Work,” and will feature Stanford University alum Tony Sirna. Tony lived in Synergy, a co-op house at Stanford, as an undergrad, and after graduating decided to take the principles of community living and implement them in the real world by founding Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage in northeastern Missouri. Dancing Rabbit, now a thriving intentional community of about 70 people, allows members to live ecologically sound lives and provides an example of an alternative way of living as a community. We will also welcome current Stanford students and co-op residents Hannah Rich and Aliza Gazek as panelists on the show, to discuss our interview with Tony and to comment on how cooperative living has impacted their views on sustainability and community.

So tune on in Thursday from 6-7 PM (PST) to 90.1FM in the Bay Area, or online at kzsulive.stanford.edu. Thanks for listening!

The fifth episode of Green Grid Radio’s second season will be, “Powerhouse: How Video Games Can Produce Serious Energy Efficiency,” and will feature Stanford University Department of Communication PhD candidates, James Scarborough and James J. Cummings. The two study how behavioral psychology and social motivations can influence behavioral change, with a specific focus on energy efficiency. Scarborough and Cummings have been involved in the Stanford ARPA-E Initiative project, specifically working on the video game Powerhouse, which is designed to help players and the broader population have fun while learning about energy efficient behaviors in their homes. This is Green Grid Radio’s first episode on energy efficiency, and the first to feature two long-form interviews!

Jim Cummings stopped by the studio to talk about the Powerhouse video game.

Make sure to tune in Thursday to 90.1FM (in the Bay Area) from 6-7 PM (PST) or online at kzsulive.stanford.edu. This will be another fantastic episode Thanks for listening!

This Thursday, make sure to tune in to our fourth episode this season. It is titled, “Grid Flexibility: Challenges and Opportunities with Bringing Renewables onto the Grid,” and will feature Professor Mark O’Malley from the Electricity Research Centre and University College Dublin. Electrical Engineering Professor O’Malley dropped by the studio before his Energy Seminar in January to speak about grid flexibility, what that even means in the first place, and some of the challenges and opportunities with increasing renewables from a grid perspective. We will also be joined by Larsen Plano, a student in Civil & Environmental Engineering who is transitioning into the utility world at Pacific Gas & Electric.

Join us from 6-7 PM (PST) at kzsulive.stanford.edu, or if you live in the SF Bay Area, 90.1FM on the dial. We hope you find it to be a great addition to our episode list. Thanks for listening!

On January 31st, Green Grid Radio shifts back to focusing on renewable energy and, specifically solar photovoltaics in Northern California. The upcoming episode is titled, “Commercial Solar: Communicating Long-Term Benefits in an Immediate World.” Our guest on the program is Vishvesh Jhaveri, Business Development Associate at local solar company, Silray Inc. We’ll discuss some upcoming Silray PV projects and even how solar policy incentives have made a lot of their work possible.

Silray project for US Coast Guard in Petaluma, CA.

So tune in from 6-7 PM (PST) at 90.1FM on the dial, or at kzsulive.stanford.edu on the tubes for another dense, thought-provoking addition to our catalog. Thanks for listening!

This Thursday, the second season of Green Grid Radio continues with another perspective on climate change in the United States following Superstorm Sandy. Dr. Jim Salinger, a New Zealand climate scientist and IPCC author is our guest on the program. Salinger will weigh in on the perception of climate change in the United States and the world at large, following the tremendously costly November storm, Sandy. Many topics about climate change will be discussed– such as ways climate change will impact food accessibility in developing countries, to how recent extreme weather events may spur new climate policies. Also returning as a panelist, UC Davis law student Matt Chalmers.

Woman stands in New York street after Sandy. Image attributed to (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Make sure that Green Grid Radio is a part of your Thursday routine! The show airs 6-7 PM (PST) at 90.1FM (in the Bay Area) or at kzsulive.stanford.edu on the internet.

On Thursday January 16th, we’re opening up the second season of Green Grid Radio with another spotlight on Stanford! The show will feature student guests Sara Orton, Alan Propp, and Sophie Harrison. Orton and Propp  have worked on developing a climate change education curriculum in local high schools. Harrison currently leads the Fossil Free Stanford movement to encourage the Board of Trustees to divest from fossil fuel investments.  The panelists are tied together by goals of behavioral change, using bottom-up and grassroots strategies to achieve these ends.

So tune in on Thursday from 6-7 PM (PST) at 90.1FM or kzsulive.stanford.edu for our exciting season 2 premier!

This week on Green Grid Radio we’ll hold an encore presentation of an earlier episode.

As usual it will air on Tuesday October 30th, 1-2 PM PST on 90.1FM or kzsulive.stanford.edu. Make sure to tune in Nov 6th for our next new episode, featuring Craig Lewis of the Clean Coalition. As always, you can listen to previous episodes here or in the Green Grid Radio Podcast on iTunes.