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DOE Announces Site Selection for Energy Infrastructure and AI Data Centers on Federal Lands

LCG, July 24, 2025--The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the next steps in the Trump administration’s plan to accelerate the development of AI infrastructure by using Federal lands to lower energy costs and help power the global AI race, as previously outlined in President Trump’s Executive Orders on Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Center Infrastructure, Deploying Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for National Security, and Unleashing American Energy.

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Enbridge Announces 600-MW Solar Project in Texas to Power Meta Data Center Operations

LCG, July 22, 2025--Enbridge Inc. (Enbridge) today announced that it has reached a final investment decision on the Clear Fork solar project located near San Antonio, Texas. Meta Platforms, Inc. (Meta), has signed a long-term contract for all of the renewable power generated from the 600-MW project.

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Industry News

LBL Scientists Complete Fuel Cell

LCG, November 21, 2002-Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley Labs (LBL) have developed a fuel cell that they say can operate as cheaply as gas turbines.

Steve Visco, Craig Jacobson, and Lutgard De Jonghe, of the Materials Science division of LBL, designed the fuel cell from ceramic materials with metal electrodes.

The Solid Oxide Fuel cells operate by reacting oxygen and hydrocarbons, such as methane, within the ceramic cell. The process differs from burning hydrocarbons in that energy is extracted from the movement of ions through an electrolytic membrane and supports several reactions. Oxygen ions react with hydrogen from the fuel gas, forming water. The water then reacts with the fuel to form carbon dioxide and hydrogen. The cell, operating at about 800 degrees Celsius, has an anodic-cathodic configuration, causing electrons produced by the reactions to flow from anode to cathode via an external load.

Fuel cells can be kept small while retaining an efficiency rating of 50 percent, making them a viable alternative to mass electricity production and transmission. They also produce much cleaner electricity than does the burning fuels. However, carbon dioxide is still produced, and the cells do require some type of fuel to operate.

Raw materials for the cells cost $37 per kilowatt. The researchers estimate that other costs, such as insulation and DC-AC converters, will limit the cost of the cell to $130 per kilowatt if they want to stay within the target cost set by the Department of Energy of $400 per kilowatt.

As yet unaccounted for costs apply to creating a stack of fuel cells, which researchers are confident can be made within their allowance. The stacked configuration will maximize voltage output and form a small generator.

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