S4E14: The Forgotten Father of Modern Wind Power: The William Heronemus Story
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Youtube Music Today, wind power is a mainstream part of the global energy system. But in the early 1970s, it was widely dismissed as outdated, impractical and incapable of producing electricity at scale.
One man saw a very different future.
William Heronemus was a decorated U.S. Navy engineer who helped design and build nuclear submarines before becoming one of the earliest champions of modern wind power. In 1972, he was already imagining vast offshore wind farms, floating platforms, multirotor turbines and wind-powered electrolysers producing hydrogen for use when the wind stopped blowing.
In this episode of Sustainability Forward, award-winning science journalist Peter Fairley joins Wrishi and Carmine to tell the remarkable and largely forgotten story of Heronemus.
They explore the early history of wind energy, Denmark’s experiments with wind-produced hydrogen, the rise of the California wind industry, and why consistent policy helped Europe move ahead while the United States repeatedly lost momentum.
The conversation also looks forward to floating offshore wind, offshore hydrogen production, multirotor turbines and the climate technologies that may appear unrealistic today—but obvious in the future.
A story about engineering, energy policy, persistence and the people who see industries before they exist.
Senior Journalist
Peter Fairley is a freelance science journalist tracking the clean energy story, from the coal mines and solar farms of Inner Mongolia to the offgrid villages of Bolivia’s Cordillera Real and the tarsands of Alberta. His coverage of renewable energy, electric vehicles and power grids has earned top awards from Covering Climate Now, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Society of Environmental Journalists, and the American Society of Business Publication Editors, among others. Fairley's byline appears in a wide range of publications including The Atlantic, Nature, The New York Times, MIT Technology Review and IEEE Spectrum, as well as regional and specialized publications.