Join Terra.do instructor and clean energy professional Zach Birnholz as he discusses how demand response (a voluntary shift in electricity use) works, how it can play a major role in supporting a clean electrical grid, and why it is an important part of our broad toolkit for decarbonizing the energy sector.

Meet the speaker:

Zach Birnholz, Energy Expert

Zach Birnholz is dedicated to moving the needle on climate change by directly addressing its #1 contributor: our emissions from energy use. In his work in the distributed energy resources (DER) sector, he has enabled clean, demand-side assets to displace hundreds of megawatts of fossil fuel-generated power by enrolling large energy users such as Walmart into grid operators’ demand response programs. He holds a Master’s in Environmental Science and Engineering from Stanford University and, early in the COVID-19 pandemic, was on the team that turned Stanford’s introductory computer science class into a free online Python course for over 10,000 students (and 1,000 small-group instructors). Zach is also an instructor for Terra.do’s Learning for Action course.

Related course: Energy Decarbonization Pathways and Tools

Gain an understanding of the foundational principles of clean energy transitions and build quantitative skills to analyze the opportunities, costs, and impacts of these transitions. Learn more about our four-week online Energy Decarbonization Pathways and Tools course.