Shows
Closing the Gap with Gwen Holdmann17. Harnessing the MaelstromWater is 800 times denser than air and when large volumes start moving in a single direction with force and purpose, it becomes virtually unstoppable—whether at sea or on land. And that force represents an opportunity—to harness the power of water in a way that’s different from conventional hydropower. Instead of relying on elevation and gravity, we can capture energy directly from the flow itself. Afterall, the tides are pulled by the moon, creating a rhythm that has been in motion since long before fossil fuels were even imaginable. It’s not just renewable—it’s perpetual. Today on the...2025-07-1929 minClosing the Gap with Gwen Holdmann16. Big Dam, Little DamHydropower comes in many forms, though most people still associate it with big dams. In the heyday of dam building, projects like Grand Coulee Dam and Boulder Dam in the American West were monumental efforts. These were some of the most ambitious and costly construction projects ever undertaken. Back then, we didn’t fully understand how dams could disrupt ecosystems—blocking fish passage, altering sediment flow, and changing entire river systems. But now we do, and as a result, large dams have fallen out of favor in many places. And where the U.S. was once the leader in larg...2025-06-2326 minClosing the Gap with Gwen Holdmann15. Concentrated Solar Power...Can Save the World?We started our series on solar energy at a small scale. This time, we are going big. The Al Kharsaah Solar Plant in Qatar is one of the largest solar farms in the world—capable, at least in theory, of producing enough power to meet the entire demand of the Railbelt electrical grid in Alaska, which serves about half a million residents. But even though Al Kharsaah is large, it’s far from the largest. When Gwen was there last year, it was in the top 20 largest projects in the world. Today, it doesn’t even make the top 30 anymor...2025-06-1330 minClosing the Gap with Gwen Holdmann14. Balcony SolarThis is the first episode in a series about solar energy, and we're starting really small. In Germany, Gwen learned about these compact personal solar kits you can install yourself -- right out of the box. There, they call it balkonkraftwerk, or balcony solar. Of course she had to buy one when she got back from Europe and try it out on her roof in Fairbanks. But is the grid ready for this kind of DIY power generation? Closing the Gap is hosted by Gwen Holdmann and edited by Jennifer Pemberton. This episode was produced by...2025-04-2929 minClosing the Gap with Gwen Holdmann13. The Heat Beneath Our Feet You don’t need super high temperatures to harness geothermal energy. Under the right circumstances, a much smaller thermal gradient can be used as well. If we start digging, we’re guaranteed to find heat. It’s getting that heat to the surface where we can use it without spending more energy than we can actually get out of it -- that's the tricky part. We visit South Africa, Denmark, and upstate New York to learn about the not-so-hot geothermal resource that's beneath our feet all over the world. Closing the Gap is hosted by Gwen Holdmann and ed...2025-01-1824 minClosing the Gap with Gwen Holdmann11. A Geothermal Primer, Straight from the SourceWe cover the basics of geothermal energy before diving in to the more extreme versions of the technology in the next few episodes. And where better to kick off an episode on geothermal than with a mini-tour of Iceland — a country that has arguably made better use of geothermal than anywhere else on earth? In this episode, we’ll visit three sites in the southwest near the capital of Reykjavik before winding up in my own backyard in Alaska. Closing the Gap is hosted by Gwen Holdmann and edited by Jennifer Pemberton. This episode was produced by Tony...2024-12-2924 minClosing the Gap with Gwen Holdmann12. Touching MagmaA look at the extreme edges of geothermal energy. We'll start with the super hot -- actual liquid magma -- chatting with a couple of visionary Icelanders that have some big ideas about the future of geothermal. Closing the Gap is hosted by Gwen Holdmann and edited by Jennifer Pemberton. This episode was produced by Tony Williams. Music is from Blue Dot Sessions.2024-12-2928 minClosing the Gap with Gwen Holdmann10. A Brighter History with Town Gas Before our towns and homes were lit by electricity, we relied on something called town gas for everything from reading lights to cooking. Eventually, town gas in most places was replaced by natural gas, which burned cleaner. But the switch from town gas to natural gas was not a one to one replacement, and it was not trivial. Because town gas, unlike natural gas, is mostly hydrogen. Closing the Gap is hosted by Gwen Holdmann and produced by Jennifer Pemberton. Music is from Blue Dot Sessions.2024-12-2926 minClosing the Gap with Gwen Holdmann8. Geology Plus: Carbon Capture and Enhanced Weathering We explore two carbon capture technologies that are exploiting natural geologic processes. But the companies working on these solutions are taking those natural processes and speeding them up a bit -- giving mother nature a little extra push in order to try and slow down climate change.2024-12-2925 minClosing the Gap with Gwen Holdmann9. Hydrogen: Too good to be true? Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe and is the energy source powering our sun. The idea of a hydrogen economy has been promoted for decades. So what’s holding us back? Closing the Gap is hosted by Gwen Holdmann and produced by Jennifer Pemberton. Music is from Blue Dot Sessions. 2024-12-2928 minClosing the Gap with Gwen Holdmann6. A Small Town in Alaska Considers Going Nuclear Like much of rural Alaska, the town of Nome relies heavily on imported fuels for heating and power. The cost of heating oil here is well over $7/gallon. That’s what incentivizes a lot of Alaska communities to pursue new energy technologies, often well before they are part of the mainstream. Closing the Gap is hosted by Gwen Holdmann and produced by Jennifer Pemberton. Music is from Blue Dot Sessions. 2024-12-2925 minClosing the Gap with Gwen Holdmann7. Deep Under the Corn: Carbon Capture in North Dakota Not every place has the right geologic settings for long-term carbon storage. But Alaska is one – in fact, Cook Inlet is the best tidewater location for storage on the entire west coast of North America. North Dakota is another. And for North Dakota this isn’t necessarily so much about mitigating climate change, it’s about building a new niche market to offer a service that others are willing to pay them for.2024-12-2923 minClosing the Gap with Gwen Holdmann5. Nuclear Energy 2.0 is Upon UsThe U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission expects to receive 25 licensing applications in the next five years for a new generation of advanced reactors. But getting any of these designs from the drawing board to reality is going to require overcoming a lot of hurdles and uncertainties. Getting any new technology to market is challenging, but that challenge is even more acute for nuclear because of the complexities and costs that it entails. In this episode we’ll look at how two U.S. nuclear projects are navigating a complicated government licensing process to develop a first-of-its-kind technology that...2024-12-2921 minClosing the Gap with Gwen Holdmann4. Nuclear Energy: How Safe is Safe Enough? Nuclear power is different from other energy sources. When we talk about new nuclear projects, it can still bring up strong and sometimes emotional reactions for people -- more so than with other sources of energy, and those opinions are much more divided across the political spectrum than any other technology. How did public perception change as nuclear moved from a technology of war to the energy solution of the future? And when it comes to energy technologies, or really any technology, how safe is safe enough? Closing the Gap is hosted by Gw...2024-12-2929 minClosing the Gap with Gwen Holdmann2. Iceland's recipe for cheap electricity Iceland is widely regarded as a global leader in clean energy. Not only is their energy sustainable, it’s cheap, too. They have some of the most affordable heat and power in the world. But it was literally one of the poorest countries in Europe two generations ago. So, how did Iceland get here? What would they say are the most important choices and investments they made along the way? They share their secret recipe with us on this episode of Closing the Gap. Closing the Gap is hosted by Gwen Holdmann and produced by Jen...2024-12-2922 minClosing the Gap with Gwen Holdmann3. Everything goes around the world: Geothermal technology from Idaho to Iceland Iceland is a powerhouse when it comes to harnessing the heat and the energy that’s pouring up through the tectonic crack that runs diagonally across the island. Icelanders originally got the idea for geothermal district heating from turn-of-the-century Idaho. But since then, the small nation managed to gather best practices from places like Boise, and then improve on them. And now they have the most concentrated know-how of geothermal energy in the world, and they market and export that expertise globally. Closing the Gap is hosted by Gwen Holdmann and produced by Jennifer Pemberton. Music is fr...2024-12-2923 minClosing the Gap with Gwen Holdmann1. Bam! a TransitionWe can start exploring the current energy transition by first stepping back in time to look at the last big one – the one that gave millions of people around the world widespread access to electric power. Rural electrification remains an ongoing process today, particularly in rural and remote areas of the developing world. Getting electricity monumentally changed people’s lives. We'll go back to experience that transformation through the words and voices of those that were part of that struggle in rural Alaska. Closing the Gap is hosted by Gwen Holdmann and produced by Jennifer Pemberton. Music is fr...2024-12-2920 minClosing the Gap with Gwen HoldmannBonus Episode: Why Saskatchewan? In this episode, tag along with Gwen to visit the Saskatchewan Research Council in Saskatoon -- on track to become the owner and operator of one of the very first commercial nuclear microreactors in the world.2024-06-1725 minClosing the Gap with Gwen HoldmannIntroducing Closing the Gap: Stories from the front lines of the global energy transition I'm Gwen Holdmann, an energy researcher in Alaska. This podcast is where I share stories from the people I've met and the places I've visited around the world that are at the leading edge of the global energy transition: Geothermal beaches in Iceland, hydrogen-fueled tiki torches in Hawaii, solar-powered villages above the Arctic Circle, and power plants that are capturing their own greenhouse gas emissions and turning them into stone underground.2024-02-1406 min
Alaska PowerlineLearning from Iceland’s Successes in Its Energy TransitionThe similarities between Iceland’s and Alaska’s power grids are striking. What can Alaska learn from Iceland’s successful energy transition to renewables? Gwen Holdmann, associate vice chancellor for research at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, shares her thoughts and reminds our listeners to look at not just the end results, but also the journey Iceland took to reach a 100% renewable energy market.2023-12-0635 min
Planet BeyondEpisode 11: Alaska – North to the Future
One fifth the size of the continental US, Alaska stands as America’s only Arctic state. And when it was founded, Alaska was given a special deal. Too remote for full Federal infrastructure funding, Alaska would have to pay for its own needs from the wealth locked away below its frozen soil.
For many years this worked well, and revenue from mineral resources and hydrocarbons covered up to 90% of the funding needed for government services, but there was a catch. Fluctuating oil revenues made for years of feast and famine for Alaska’s finances. A petroleum company can d...2022-03-3043 min
Hometown, Alaska - Alaska Public MediaIs Alaska ready to go nuclear? Is nuclear ready for Alaska?
The nuclear-generated power industry is taking off. Among the latest developments are microreactors that might have advantages for remote communities in Alaska struggling with high energy costs, or military bases, or remote mining operations. It’s time to find out more. (Image courtesy of Office of Nuclear Energy, US Department of Energy.)
It’s probably time for everyday Alaskans to learn more about new developments in nuclear technology that may have potential benefits for Alaska—an energy-producing state that still faces rural high energy costs and challenging geography. The time is right because the industry is making fast progress on siz...2021-04-0858 min
AUTM on the AirGwen Holdmann“They put me in charge of making the resort as self-sufficient as possible, in terms of electricity, heat, transportation, and food. It was a fantastic opportunity to push the envelope.” As Lisa and her guest, Gwen Holdmann, discuss her work with fossil and renewable/alternative energy, her work at Chena’s geothermal power plant, how she got started in technology transfer, and much more in this episode of Tech Transfer IP.Gwen is the director of both the University of Alaska Fairbanks Technology Transfer office and the Alaska Center for Energy and Power, also known as ACEP. ACEP i...2020-06-2442 min
#ThinkArcticEpisode 008: Gwen Holdmann, Alaska Center for Energy and PowerIn this episode of #ThinkArctic, we speak with Gwen Holdmann, director of the Alaska Center for Energy and Power, about energy challenges and living off the power grid in Alaska.2017-08-1508 min
Sled Dog PodcastEpisode 19 – “The Trail Less Traveled” – Interview with Ken Anderson & Gwen HoldmannEpisode 19 This interview is with Ken Anderson and Gwen Holdmann- If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to live in the middle of no-where, have 85 dogs, and race with your best friend, then you have got to listen to this interview. Listen as Ken and Gwen share heart felt stories and … Continue reading "Episode 19 – “The Trail Less Traveled” – Interview with Ken Anderson & Gwen Holdmann"2008-09-071h 18