In Iceland, which has vast geothermal resources, Syntholene Energy, with support from Idaho National Laboratory, is testing synfuel production that combines geothermal heat with high-temperature electrolysis. The company says its synfuel is 70% less expensive than synfuels produced using other clean energy options and could reach price parity with fossil fuels in about 10 years.

While Iceland has plenty of water resources, the company says water management will be critical as it rolls out its product commercially to other, less water-rich regions.

About the guest:

Dan Sutton, co-founder and CEO at Syntholene Energy.

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Email host Lisa Cohn with episode ideas at Lisa@CleanEnergyWriters.com

Learn about Lisa's energy writing at CleanEnergyWriters.com

In December 2023, a winter storm hit Highland Park, Michigan, and the ensuing power outage lasted four days – a common occurrence in the community, which has a high poverty rate.

Partially in response to the outages, Juan Shannon created Parker Village, with plans to provide clean, low-cost local energy to the residents, including net zero homes, two solar microgrids and an electric transportation loop.

Another goal is to keep wealth in Highland Park, which covers three square miles close to Detroit and ranks in the 94th percentile for low-income status in the U.S., with 45% of the population living at or below the poverty line.

About the Guest:

Juan Shannon, executive director, Parker Village Foundation

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Learn about host Lisa Cohn's energy writing at CleanEnergyWriters.com

Under the first-of-a-kind Oregon Power Act, data centers served by the state's two investor-owned utilities can't drive up utility bills or undermine Oregon's clean energy goals. The law has attracted interest from other states considering similar measures.

While Portland General Electric and PacifiCorp are required to follow the provisions of the law, the state's public utilities do not, and in Umatilla Electric Cooperative territory--home to many data centers--emissions have increased by about 570% over the last 15 years, said Joshua Basofin, Oregon clean energy program director at Climate Solutions.

Oregon is attracting data center development because it has relatively low energy costs, access to undersea data cables and offers incentives to draw businesses to the state. Data centers hae been a major factor in driving up utility rattes by 50% since 2021, said Charlotte Shuff, communications director at the Oregon Citizens' Utility Board.

Ideas for helping Oregon meet clean energy goals include asking data centers to deploy energy storage during peak hours. Another proposal offered by Rewiring America: Require data centers to pay for residential customers' heat pumps and rooftop solar to free up capacity on the grid for data centers.

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Send podcast episode ideas to Lisa@CleanEnergyWriters.com

Learn about host Lisa Cohn's energy writing at CleanEnergyWriters.com