Episode description

Hosts Taylor Mankle and Kerrin Jeromin discuss four recent stories from NREL:  

• Ukraine Fights To Build More Resilient, Renewable Energy System in Midst of War: In partnership with USAID, NREL is supporting deployment of renewable-generation-based microgrids that will enable Ukraine to increase its energy independence and resilience by integrating more renewables into its energy mix. 
• NREL Partners With Black Farmers' Collaborative To Plan Solar Panels for Florida Farms and Churches: The Clean Energy to Communities (C2C) Expert Match program is a U.S. Department of Energy initiative that pairs communities with researchers from national laboratories to provide short-term technical assistance to address clean energy goals. NREL is working with Bealsville and the Black Farmers' Collaborative in Florida to incorporate clean-energy technology on farms and in communities. 
• Guidebook Explores Regulatory Barriers and Potential Solutions for Tribal Solar Projects: In a three-year project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Energy Technologies Office, NREL and the Midwest Tribal Energy Resources Association (MTERA) set out to learn more about the regulatory barriers that often prevent tribes from implementing solar projects and explore potential solutions through a guidebook. 
• Saving the Planet, One Internship at a Time: With more than 400 individuals, NREL welcomed its largest cohort of interns to the laboratory this summer. The NREL internship programs offer a variety of opportunities to talented, diverse undergraduate and graduate students interested in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

This episode was hosted by Kerrin Jeromin and Taylor Mankle, written and produced by Allison Montroy and Kaitlyn Stottler, and edited by James Wilcox, Joe DelNero, and Brittany Falch. Graphics are by Brittnee Gayet. Our title music is written and performed by Ted Vaca and episode music by Chuck Kurnik, Jim Riley, and Mark Sanseverino of Drift BC. Transforming Energy: The NREL Podcast is created by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado. We express our gratitude and acknowledge that the land we are on is the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute peoples. Email us at podcast@nrel.gov. Follow NREL on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Threads, and Facebook.