Ep. 551: Tilting at Windmills
Guests: Dan Woynillowicz (Polaris Strategy + Insight)
“Tilting at windmills” is an idiom which means “attacking imaginary enemies.” Windmills are, however, real and they have real detractors and attackers – detractors who portray wind turbines as being an environmental blight that produces little power.
There was a modicum of truth to the knock on windmills in the 1980s when thousands of them appeared in the San Gorgonio Pass in California. By 1987, there were more than 4,200 wind turbines in the Pass leading into Palm Springs that generated between 50 to 100 kilowatts of power. Today, the total number of wind turbines in the San Gorgonio Pass is 666, generating 628 MW or enough to power close to 800,000 homes.
Advances in design, construction, power generation and operation have seen the overall growth of wind generated power improve. The nine new wind farms in British Columbia will be home to 292 next-generation windmills that will produce enough energy to power approximately 500,000 homes, a substantial increase in power generation over California’s wind turbines.
We invited Dan Woynillowicz of Polaris Strategy to join us for a Conversation That Matters about the truth behind wind turbines and the increasing role they are playing in renewable energy in British Columbia and elsewhere.
Want to learn more about our guest?
Check out their profile on our partnered program, Careers That Matter!
