Wind Energy Basics

REGISTER: www.gallatinvalleyearthday.org
Wind Energy is one of the world's fastest growing sources of energy, and one that directly affects the state of Montana, the northern Rocky Mountain and Pacific Northwest regions, and the nation. Implementation of Wind into our energy portfolio involves many factors including transmission capacity, land usage, environmental issues, social and political topics, and a significant amount of technical engineering work.

In this session Larson will discuss many of these wind energy-related topics to give a broad and balanced understanding of how wind energy works - including pros and cons. He'll focus on the wind resource, turbine design considerations, wind power generation and usage, and touch on some of the many factors driving the increasing implementation of this renewable energy source.
Robb Larson is an associate professor in the Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Department at Montana State University. His research interests include: Wind Energy, Renewable Energy Technologies, Snow and Avalanche Science, Composite Materials, and Instrumentation. Robb serves as the director of Montana State's Wind and Renewables Center and has taught courses in Wind and Renewable Energy at MSU for the past 14 years.

Terry Weickum is the current mayor of Rawlins, WY where they are in the process of installing one of the largest wind farms in the United States. Terry was appointed chairman of the Wind Task Force committee for the Wyoming County Commissioners Association. He was Chairman of the Carbon County commissioners where he was instrumental in bringing a large wind energy project to Rawlins. Terry is a past Chairman of the Republican party for Carbon County where he served for 2 years.

Category: Attractions | Talks & Lectures