On a clear day, if you look toward Oliver Springs, you can see the windmills atop Buffalo Mountain. The 18 TVA-operated turbines are massive and high-tech: they’re up to 260 feet tall, with blades up to 135 feet long and the capacity to power about 3,780 homes.
Pellissippi State Community College is bringing Rick Carson, TVA’s renewable operations manager, on campus to speak about wind energy Monday, Sept. 26, 11:50 a.m.-12:45 p.m. The presentation is in the Goins Building Auditorium on the Pellissippi Campus, 10915 Hardin Valley Road. The community is invited to the free event.
Carson’s visit is in conjunction with the college’s 2011-12 Common Book discussions and activities, which revolve around the New York Times bestseller “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope,” by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer. The book is required reading for select courses.
Kamkwamba was the keynote speaker at Pellissippi State’s President’s Convocation Sept. 1. As a teenager, he built a 15-foot-tall windmill in his Malawian village that powered a radio and lights in his parents’ home.
Carson will talk about wind power and its potential for cleaner energy.
For more information about this event, contact Ann Kronk, associate professor in Natural and Behavioral Sciences, at (865) 539-7162. To learn more about other Common Book activities, call (865) 694-6400 or visit www.pstcc.edu/library.
To request accommodations for a disability, contact the executive director of Human Resources and Affirmative Action at (865) 694-6607 or humanresources@pstcc.edu.