Watt It Takes: How to Fly a Solar Airplane Around the World
Energy Gang
Wood Mackenzie
4.6 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 25 September 2018
⏱️ 49 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
For all our East Coast fans of The Energy Gang: make sure to get your tickets for our live show on October 4 in New York City! Find them here.
This week on Watt It Takes: Why one man spent 15 years of his life obsessed with flying a solar airplane around the world.
We’re going to hear from Bertrand Piccard, a Swiss-balloonist-turned-futurist who co-piloted Solar Impulse, the first solar-electric airplane to navigate the globe.
Piccard is a very inspiring person. His entire mission was to do the impossible so that he could prove what is possible with renewable energy.
“We gave a new understanding of the level of complexity that renewable energies can solve. If you can fly around the world in a solar airplane, you can do everything,” says Piccard.
Powerhouse CEO Emily Kirsch sat down with Piccard to hear more about the 15 years of work that went into his historic flight – and about the deep family history that influenced him.
Buy tickets to future Watt It Takes events here.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey folks, we've got a live show coming up for you next week in New York City on October 4th. |
| 0:06.5 | We are taking over the WNYC performance space in Lower Manhattan for an evening of banter, debate, |
| 0:12.0 | and discussion, and of course your questions. |
| 0:15.0 | So I'm looking at our stats right here, and New York State is the second biggest market for us in terms of listenership. |
| 0:21.0 | That means there are tens of thousands of you out there right now |
| 0:24.6 | with a chance to get the last of our seats at this live show. So pull out your phone, |
| 0:28.8 | click the link at the top of our show notes, and get your tickets today. We can't wait to see you there and hopefully hear |
| 0:35.1 | your questions and maybe have a cocktail together. |
| 0:41.1 | This week we've got another edition of What It Takes, why one man spent 15 years of his life obsessed with flying a solar airplane around the world. |
| 0:52.0 | We gave a new understanding of the level of complexity that renewable energies can solve. |
| 1:01.0 | You can do everything if you can fly around the world in a solar |
| 1:04.1 | airplane, you can do everything. We're going to hear from Bertrand Picard. He's a |
| 1:09.3 | Swiss balloonist turned futurist and he co-piloted solar impulse, the first solar electric plane to navigate the globe. |
| 1:16.3 | Picard is a super inspiring guy, and I don't say that lightly because I think we feature a lot of very inspiring people on this show, but Picard stands out. |
| 1:26.0 | His entire mission was to do the impossible, risking his life and his co-pilots life so he could help everyone see what is possible with renewable energy. |
| 1:35.2 | And it's definitely in his blood. Picard's father was an oceanographer who pioneered deep sea |
| 1:40.0 | exploration. His grandfather developed the first pressurized cabin so he could travel |
| 1:44.5 | up into the upper atmosphere. Oh and his grandfather also wrote about the need to build solar energy |
| 1:49.4 | in the 1940s. Powerhouse CEO Emilysch sat down with Picard and they talked about the 15 years of work that went into this historic flight and also about the deep family history that influenced him. |
| 2:01.0 | Normally these interviews are recorded in front of a live |
| 2:03.8 | studio audience at powerhouse. This one is a straight up one-on-one. If you're in the |
| 2:08.7 | Bay Area though you can always find out more about live events at powerhouse |
... |
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