Get Blown Away

Episode 6: Will Toor Interview

Hosts Elyse Debarros and Dane Robinson interview Colorado Energy Office Director, Will Toor! Listen in to learn more about Colorado's progress towards reaching some ambitious climate goals!

Episode 5: Austin Spafford Interview

Hosts Elyse Debarros and Aria Mundy interview Austin Spafford about his path to a career in wind energy working for Siemens Gamesa and his insights on the future of wind energy.

Episode 4: The One About Birds

Hosts Elyse Debarros and Dane Robinson discuss how wind energy impacts bird populations and how to make wind turbines more bird friendly. Links * Research into the effect of black blade in wind turbine - Vattenfall [https://group.vattenfall.com/press-and-media/newsroom/2022/black-turbine-blades-reduce-bird-collisions] * Do wind turbines kill birds? | MIT Climate Portal [https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/do-wind-turbines-kill-birds] * Wind farm will need to shut down five months a year to protect parrots (cnbc.com) [https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/16/wind-farm-will-need-to-shut-down-five-months-a-year-to-protect-parrots.html] * Wind Risk Assessment Map (abcbirds.org) [https://abcbirds.org/program/wind-energy-and-birds/wind-risk-assessment-map/] * Wind Turbine Bird Mortality: How Many Birds Do Turbines Kill? (energymonitor.ai) [https://www.energymonitor.ai/tech/renewables/weekly-data-how-many-birds-are-really-killed-by-wind-turbines/] *

Episode 3: Frozen Blades

Listen in as Elyse Debarros and Dane Robinson discuss the myth that renewable energy caused the 2021 ERCOT Blackout in Texas because wind turbines can't generate power in cold weather. We also how ice impacts wind turbines and the technologies that allow wind turbines to operate in extreme cold weather environments. References: * Examination of the Extreme Cold Weather Event Affecting the Power System in Texas - February 2021 (nrel.gov) [https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy21osti/80071.pdf] * GEA35089 Cold Weather Solutions Brochure [https://www.ge.com/renewableenergy/sites/default/files/related_documents/GEA35089-Cold-Weather-Solutions-Brochure_R3.pdf] * State-of-the-art of wind energy in cold climates (vtt.fi) [https://publications.vtt.fi/pdf/workingpapers/2010/W152.pdf] * Is it true that wind turbines don’t work in the winter? | MIT Climate Portal [https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/it-true-wind-turbines-dont-work-winter#:~:text=International%20design%20standards%20actually%20require,down%20to%20%2D22%C2%B0%20Fahrenheit.]

Episode 2: Senator Hansen Interview

Thanks to Colorado State Senator Chris Hansen for joining Megan Finnigan and Julia Gentile for episode 2 of the podcast! Listen in to learn more about the overlap between engineering and politics and energy policy.