Why can’t we build more wind farms?| Listen on Anghami

Yesterday

Are we ready for a super El Niño?

When a powerful El Niño strikes, it can devastate harvests, flood communities and kill thousands of people. Scientists have been warning for months that this one could become the strongest on record. The question is: are we ready? In this episode of The Climate Question, hosts Gr ... Show More

22m 58s

Oct 4

The battery revolution

From Mongolia to Texas, record numbers of lithium-ion batteries are being added to the world's electricity grids - helping to provide more reliable power and speeding up the transition to renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.China is installing over half of these new b ... Show More

26m 28s

Sep 27

Climate overshoot: The world beyond 1.5°C

The United Nations says the world will pass its most important climate target within a few years. So can we bring the planet's temperature back down quickly? Or will the damage be irreversible?In 2015, world leaders agreed in Paris to try to keep the global temperature below 1.5 ... Show More

28m 47s

Oct 2025

The Business of Breathing Life Into Old Wind Turbines

The first generation of wind turbines is now approaching retirement. Developers across Europe, the US and China thus find themselves at a crossroads: should they refurbish and extend the life of existing wind fleets, or dismantle them and build new projects from scratch? Wind tec ... Show More

37m 14s

Dec 2021

Wind of change in Germany

Can the ambitious renewable energy plans of the incoming government overcome domestic nimbyism and Russian gas politics?Ed Butler hears from one member of the new left-liberal-green coalition, Social Democrat MP Jens Zimmermann, about their plans to phase out coal entirely by 203 ... Show More

18m 30s

Jun 2025

Bill Gates-backed AirLoom begins building its first power plant

Wind power has run into some headwinds, and not the kind that spin its turbines. Recently, President Trump has decided to wage war against the technology, an unwelcome bit of friction that coincides with rising costs in recent years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcas ... Show More

3m 38s

Aug 2021

Can we run the world on electricity?

The target for many countries around the world is to reach net zero emissions within the next few decades. That means a dramatic move away from fossil fuels like oil, coal and gas. For some the answer to the problem is to boost “green” electricity production, so that we can run o ... Show More

23m 36s

Feb 2025

Global Wind Market Shifts as Chinese Exports Expand

Chinese wind turbine makers are expanding their global footprint at an impressive rate. Leading manufacturers like Goldwind, Envision, Mingyang and Windey are exporting their turbines at a significant discount to Western incumbents, undercutting their rivals and establishing them ... Show More

30m 45s

Oct 2023

Bottles or balsa: What should wind turbine blades be made from?

For years, balsa wood has been a key component in the giant rotor blades on the top of wind turbines. Most of it comes from the rain forests of South America and, in particular, from Ecuador. As the world transitions to green energy, lots of countries – particularly China – have ... Show More

18m 19s

Oct 2021

Zero Carbon Future 2: How to Store Renewable Energy For a Rainy Day

One of the challenges of clean energy like wind or solar is that they fluctuate. And they're unreliable. So finding a better way to store this energy for dark seasons and doldrum days is the next hurdle to reaching goals for decarbonization. In this episode, we explore options th ... Show More

22m 37s

Jan 2024

Enough red tape — we need to say yes to clean energy | Rich Powell

Climate innovation leader Rich Powell dives into the bureaucracy, bottlenecks and not-in-my-backyard attitude preventing the US from achieving its green energy goals, warning that we need about 10,000 new clean energy projects to be built in the US this decade if we're to reach n ... Show More

12 m