Green Grid Radio

Engaging and transformative reporting on the environment, energy, and sustainability

Tag Archives: clean energy


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S4E6: Biofuels, or How GGR Learned about Popcorn-smelling Exhaust

A typical ethanol plant in West Burlington, Iowa (Big River Resources, LLC). Photo by Steven Vaughn/Agricultural Research Service. ID D802-2.

A typical ethanol plant in West Burlington, Iowa (Big River Resources, LLC). Photo by Steven Vaughn/Agricultural Research Service. ID D802-2.

Biofuels, mainly ethanol, now account for one-tenth of car fuel consumed in the United States and that number is set to rise. But are biofuels the silver bullet for the looming energy crisis? This week, Citlalli and Lindsay tackle that question head-on. They start their journey following the life cycle of fats, oil and grease in San Francisco and end up with a startling conclusion about the future of fuel in America. Along the way, they reveal a number of ethanol’s secrets. Like, did you know that if you convert all of the world’s main grains (corn, wheat, rice) into ethanol, you would only be able to supply half of all petrol consumption? Yup, and there’s more where that came from. Listen below for the full story.

Produced by Citlalli Sandoval and Lingzhi Jin. Guests include: Dogpatch Biofuels, San Francisco’s only biodiesel gas station; Karl Knapp, Associate Professor for Stanford’s Department of Civil Engineering; David Lobell, Associate Director of the Center for Food Security and the Environment at Stanford; and Eric McAfee, entrepreneur, VC and philanthropist in the renewables field. Music is “Tony Dubshot 04-Beta Stability” from the Free Music Archive.

 

 

 


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S1E5: Clean Local Energy Accessible Now

Craig Lewis, founder and Executive Director of the Clean Coalition, joins us to speak about smart grids, legislation for clean, local, accessible energy, and regulation in favor of distributed generation.

Student panelists Erik Olesund and Shankhayan Dutta from the department of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University discuss some of the policy proposals made by Lewis and provide listeners with their personal favorites for increasing the penetration of renewables on the grid in the future.

Hosted by Adam Pearson and Kara Fong.

Shan and Erik

Craig Lewis, Shankhayan Dutta and Erik Olesund in the studio at KZSU.

Listen here:

To listen to the full interview with Craig Lewis, head over to our archive of recordings.


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Coming up in S1E5: Clean Local Energy Accessible Now

In the upcoming episode of Green Grid Radio Craig Lewis, founder and Executive Director of the Clean Coalition, joins us to speak about smart grids, legislation for clean, local, accessible energy, and regulation in favor of distributed generation. The Clean Coalition’s mission is to accelerate the transition to local energy systems through innovative policies and programs that deliver cost-effective renewable energy, strengthen local economies, foster environmental sustainability, and enhance energy security. Active at local, state, and national level, the non-profit influences and promotes policies that can result in a timely transition to clean energy and yielding economic benefits.

As always the episode will feature a summary of the latest Energy in the News as well as some comments from a panel of Stanford students. Tune in on Tuesday November 6, 1-2PM PST at 90.1FM or at kzsulive.stanford.edu. The episode will be made available here at greengridradio.org or via our iTunes podcast shortly after the airing.


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Coming up in S1E4: Clean Energy in the State of California (Oct 23rd, 2012: 1-2pm PST)

This week on Green Grid Radio, Laura Wisland, a Senior Energy Analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists stops by the show. Laura analyzes data and public policy to provide state and regulatory agencies with information to implement clean energy laws, including California’s Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS). Laura wrote a recent report – “The Clean Energy Race: How do California’s Public Utilities Measure Up?” – which investigates how clean energy resources have been developed and supported by California’s publicly-owned utilities.

Wisland is optimistic that California will meet its aggressive greenhouse gas reduction goals designed in the state’s Renewables Portfolio Standard. But in order to reach these goals, we need to improve storage and increase demand response programs, among other strategies. Tune in for more on Tuesday, Oct 23rd at 1pm PST for the fourth episode of Green Grid Radio. And if you haven’t done so yet, follow us on twitter (@greengridradio).

Adam