STEM Café: Harvesting the Power of Wind Energy

For millions of years, fossil fuels collected sunlight and were compressed underground, creating fuels dense with energy. However, humans are consuming this energy at a rate that far exceeds its multi-million-year reserve. If we can learn to harness and immediately use lower energy density forms such as wind energy, we can increase sustainability and decrease impact on climate change. However, pivoting to wind energy requires some changes in our thinking and behavior.

Join NIU Associate Professor of Engineering Nicholas Pohlman at the next NIU STEM Café to learn more about what’s involved in the change to wind energy. He’ll discuss the kinetic energy of wind, the fluid mechanics involved in harvesting wind power, the distribution of wind farm energy to urban areas and the possibility of incorporating wind energy collection into urban architecture.

Dr. Pohlman will be joined by Derek Hiland, DeKalb County Community Development Director, who will address questions related to growth, zoning and land-use changes in the county.

For more details and free registration, please see here.