TIL about the electric grid

The electric grid are networks that carry electricity from central power plants to our homes. But how exactly is electricity generated and brought to our door? And what needs to change if we’re going to transition to generating “clean” electricity? In this episode of TILclimate (Today I Learned: Climate), Harvey Michaels, lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management, joins host Laur Hesse Fisher to explain the history and perhaps surprising features of the electric grid, and what changes are in store for the future.

This episode launches a new season of TILclimate that will explain our global energy system, its relationship to climate change, and what our options are for keeping the lights on while creating a clean energy future. For this season, TILclimate is partnering with the MIT Energy Initiative, which will air longer interviews with each guest to take a deeper dive into these topics.

Harvey Michaels, an MIT alumnus now lecturing at the MIT Sloan School of Management, researches energy management and efficiency and smart-grid-related opportunities to mitigate climate change. He is a member of Future of the Grid at the MIT Energy Initiative, Efficiency Forward at the Sloan Sustainability Initiative, and Project Faculty for Energy Democracy at the MIT Media Lab. Prior to joining MIT, Harvey Michaels worked at energy efficiency companies Xenergy and Aclara Software.

For more episodes of TILclimate, visit: tilclimate.mit.edu

To listen to the MIT Energy Initiative podcast, visit: energy.mit.edu/podcast

For in-depth analyses on energy technologies, check out the MIT Energy’s “Future of” report series: energy.mit.edu/research-type/future-of/

Credits

· Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer

· David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

· Rachel Fritts, Graduate Student Writer

· Olivia Burek, Student Production Assistant

· Music by Blue Dot Sessions

· Artwork by Aaron Krol

Produced by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology