The potential of geothermal energy in the West is vast and offers significant advantages in the effort to expand renewable energy resources. Advances in technology and increased interest in developing domestic sources of low-cost, reliable, clean energy have brought greater attention to the energy potential of the heat beneath our feet.
As Chair of the Western Governors’ Association in 2023, Colorado Governor Jared Polis launched The Heat Beneath Our Feet initiative to examine opportunities for and barriers to the accelerated development and deployment of geothermal energy technologies.
Through a rigorous stakeholder process that included four workshops, six tours, a public survey, and a webinar series, the Heat Beneath Our Feet initiative generated recommendations for increasing the development and deployment of geothermal energy in the West.
In this episode of Out West, Governor Polis shares some of his experiences from the initiative and discusses the policy recommendations outlined in the initiative report. You’ll also hear from Amanda Kolker, the laboratory program manager for geothermal at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory; Dr. Joseph Moore and Dr. John Mclennan, the Managing Principal Investigator and Co-Principal Investigator at the Utah FORGE Laboratory; Nick Goodman, the CEO of Cyrq Energy, and Paul Thomsen, the Vice President of Business Development at Ormat Technologies Inc.
A Conversation with WGA Chair, Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon, and WGA Executive Director, Jack Waldorf
Founding Celebrate the West with Christine Ogsbury
Out West (#38): Meet the Winners of the 2023 Celebrate the West high school art competition
Out West (#37) Fostering the Next Generation of Western Leaders
Out West (#36): Meet the winners of the 2022 Celebrate the West regional art competition
Out West (#35): The Well of the Future: Repurposing Oil and Gas Wells for Geothermal Energy Production
Out West (#34): The Next Generation of Western Leaders
Out West (#33): Supporting Coal Communities
Out West (#32) Agricultural Workforce in the West
Out West (#31): Post-Fire Restoration Challenges
Out West (#30): Fixing America’s Forest
Out West (#29): Supporting Cross-Boundary Conservation
Out West (#28): On the Mind: Youth Behavioral Health Care Access
Out West (#27) Strengthening the State-Federal Relationship
Out West (#26) Moss Balls and Emergency Invasive Species Responses
Out West (#25): Diversifying the Cybersecurity Workforce
Out West (#24): The Western Governors’ Association 2021 Annual Report
Out West (#23): Meet the winners of the 2021 Celebrate the West regional art competition
Out West (#22): Electric Vehicles Roadmap Initiative Special Report with Oregon Governor Kate Brown
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