Green Grid Radio

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

Tag Archives: wind energy


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S3E2: A Breezy Introduction to the Basics: Wind Energy 101

SWEPThe SWEP team working on installing a wind anemometer at the Berkeley Marina (Image attributed to SWEP, 2013)

This past Thursday, the Green Grid Radio team spoke with Dr. Jeff Mirocha, a scientist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. We were also joined by guest panelist Aaron Burdick, a graduate student in Stanford’s Civil and Environmental Engineering Department. We’ve explored a lot of issues related to wind energy technology on the show in previous episodes, but this time we went back to the basics to gain an understanding of some oft overlooked fundamentals. What are the mechanics of making electricity from wind? How efficient is wind energy? What kinds of engineering challenges are wind engineers currently working to overcome?

Aaron provided many insights about the topics discussed with Dr. Mirocha, and shared his experience working with the Stanford Solar and Wind Energy Project (SWEP).

Note: During the show, we mentioned that wind energy delivered about 6% of America’s electricity in 2012. After the show aired, we found that as of 2012, wind energy comprised 6% of American electricity generation capacity, but only delivered about 3% of American electricity that year. We apologize for the error!

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S1E10: Wildlife Challenges and Opportunities with Wind Energy

Justin Allegro, who manages National Wildlife Federation’s Renewable Energy and Wildlife Program, is the final featured guest of Green Grid Radio’s first season. Before the season came to an end, we talked about the tension between the ‘green’ conservation movement and the ‘green’ energy interests, species of conservation concern at wind sites, and what recent US Fish & Wildlife Service measures have been implemented to encourage stakeholders to work together. Your hosts: Sophia Vo, Kara Fong, Adam Pearson and Erik Olesund discussed the interview and wrapped season 1 up with a discussion on subsidies. “We need to stop subsidizing global warming” says Erik.

Green Grid Radio will be back on Thursday January 17 at 6-7PM PST at KZSU Stanford 90.1FM or kzsulive.stanford.edu. Please take note, the show is now airing on Thursdays between 6-7PM. As always, each new episode will be available in our free podcast “Green Grid Radio” that can be found in the iTunes store.

Thanks for tuning into Green Grid Radio this season. Happy holidays!

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