Levi Kilcher’s Post

Transition proceeding #energytransition

It's National Science Week - the perfect time to shine a light on our Principal Wind Engineer, David Osmond, who has been with us from the start. 🔬🧪💡 David unashamedly loves science. He loves the curiosity it sparks - coming up with a hypothesis of how or why something happens, developing the theory with maths and physics, and then seeing if the data supports it. And while he initially gravitated toward mathematics, he would go on to discover a love of physics in senior school thanks to some amazing teachers who he credits as his science heroes. David studied a Bachelor of Science in Physics and Mathematics followed by a PhD in Geophysical Fluid Dynamics at ANU and established a graduate-level course in Wind Energy which evolved from a two-week intensive program he helped create.  “𝘕𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘩𝘋, 𝘐 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘚𝘐𝘙𝘖 𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘪𝘥 𝘥𝘺𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘳𝘮 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘴. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘪𝘥 𝘥𝘺𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭-𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘷𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵-𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘗𝘩𝘋.” The truth is, we are the fortunate ones. Windlab was born out of the CSIRO in 2003, where our co-founders developed and commercialised cutting-edge renewable energy mapping technology unmatched to this day. From the outset, David has played an instrumental role in optimising turbine layouts of proposed wind farms and the development of more than 1GW of wind projects.  “𝘖𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱 𝘢 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘳𝘮. W𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦." 𝗗𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗱’𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺! #NationalScienceWeek

This article sprung from meeting Mr. Lubnau, who was involved with the founding of University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources, at the Energy Capital Economic Development annual meeting. Thank you so much for your insight!

In natural resource industries, geology comes first, then geography: how do you get the commodity from the hole in the ground to the consumer? But politics also plays a pivotal role, as governments decide how to deal with the new opportunities the resource brings. #ICIS #GIF #gas #oil #LNG #carbon #emissions https://bit.ly/47T3PNq

Thrilled to share that I will help manage the eclipse festivities in Dunn Meadow, as part of my practicum in the IUB Student Involvement & Leadership Center! So excited to work with great folks like Teresa Weimann Ed.D, Edward Dallis-Comentale, and Patricia Riveire Stumpf to make this an unforgettable day. Also: please join me in NOT posting any images of the eclipse directly on the timeline where people might stumble across them. Some folks, such as many people of the Navajo (Diné) Nation, avoid viewing the eclipse, even in images. If this is new information to you, please start your research here: https://lnkd.in/gXP8FZ23 (This page contains actual and simulated images of a solar eclipse without further warning.)

I would like to share a three-minute report of my activities in the first year of my PhD which is focused on concentrating solar receivers.

NREL is integrating renewable energy into the high school science Curriculum.This is scientific and strategic move to create green skill occupational in the renewable energy value chain and bolster green jobs for 21ST century

Economic and energy transitions, no matter the potential benefits, cannot be imposed on communities. Residents, leadership, and local companies can either facilitate or fight such transitions. Despite the benefits of a low carbon economy, transitioning from traditional oil and gas works against enormous sunk costs and established community identity. Framing energy transitions with communities as active participants in the change process encourages residents to work “with” the transition rather than reject it. Claas Digmayer and I analyzed the energy and governance values from three Texas communities while Claas was a Visiting Scholar at the IC2 Institute at The University of Texas at Austin in 2023. Our newly published paper - https://lnkd.in/gAfZKasD - details how community values can inform successful narratives assisting community members to understand and support energy transitions. Further, the research pointed to the importance of tangible, demonstrator projects to help citizens visualize what is possible in a new energy economy. These insights form foundational strategies for the National Science Foundation (NSF) Engines grant to assist the Texas Permian Basin transition their economy by adding clean, green, and circular technologies to its traditional energy mix. The project is led by the Permian Energy Development Lab, Energy Institute, The University of Texas at Austin, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, New Mexico State University, The University of Texas at El Paso, The University of Texas Permian Basin, Odessa College, Midland College, and other leading regional institutions. #energy #energytransition #communityvoices #values #governance #proofofconcept

A specialized field of study but with implications of life elsewhere in our solar system and the larger universe. https://lnkd.in/gY2KB-K2

The second issue of The Environmentalist covers PFAS, the cannabis industry, and more. I had the please of writing a profile on Caleb Boyd, an inspiring UC Berkeley alumni. Be sure to give it a read!