For the world to meet its growing need for low-cost clean energy and achieve ambitious decarbonization targets, land-based onshore wind energy must be an increasingly large part of the electricity generation mix—potentially as much as 20-41% by 2050, according to BloombergNEF and the International Energy Agency (IEA). But there is a challenge: the most efficient and cost-effective wind turbines, currently applied only in offshore wind farms, have enormous blades—some longer than a football field. That makes them extremely difficult, if not impossible, to deliver and deploy, as bridges, tunnels, and road curves literally get in the way. To explore how the onshore wind industry can overcome these obstacles and drive further growth for the sector, Gil Jenkins spoke with Mark Lundstrom, Founder and CEO of Radia. Mark is a serial cross-industry entrepreneur and MIT aerospace engineer who has co-founded companies over the course of his career that seek to bring aerospace solutions to new sectors, including biotech, telecommunications, and materials science. With Radia, Mark is focused on applying these technologies to the low-carbon energy transition. Radia is in the process of building the world’s largest aircraft, which will enable the deployment of the industry's biggest and best wind turbines to locations they could never reach before—creating more clean power at a lower cost.

Links:

• Radia Website
• Mark Lundstrom on LinkedIn
• Radia on LinkedIn
• Press Release:Radia to Provide Low-Cost Clean Energy with the World’s Biggest Wind Turbines Enabled by the World’s Largest Aircraft (March 17, 2024)
• Press Release: Aerospace Leaders Aernnova, Leonardo and AFuzion Will Partner With Radia to Build WindRunner™, World’s Largest Aircraft (July 16, 2024)
• Whitepaper: DeSolve Study: GigaWind has enormous economic and environmental impact (Princeton University researchers Dr. Jesse Jenkins and Dr. Nestor Sepulveda - September 1, 2023)

Episode recorded August 22, 2024 

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