Results: Calendar of Events
September 24, 2009
From Todd Woody at Grist: He(Vinod Khosla) is something of a Valley legend: Co-founder of Sun Microsystems, then a longtime tech investor with marquee venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and now head of Khosla Ventures, which he started in 2004 to invest in green tech startups. Khosla and his partners had been investing their own money, but earlier this month the firm announced it had raised $1.1 billion for two funds—one of which is the largest first-time fund in a decade. It’s not the size of Khosla’s fund but what he intends to do with it that should command your attention. In short, he wants to take the green out of green investing and globalize the bottom line. Khosla is funding at least five startups focusing on mechanical efficiency, developing everything from circuit boards to more efficiently control a car’s systems to better fuel injection systems. Another 10 companies—with names like Kaai, Ramu and Sakti3—are working on electrical efficiency. Read more
October 16, 2009 to October 18, 2009
ANCHORAGE – The 6TH ANNUAL BIONEERS IN ALASKA: CREATING SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES CONFERENCE will be held at UAA. Registration is available at www.sustainak.org. This year we have invited two great speakers – LADONNA REDMOND and ROSEMARY AHTUANGARUAK. LaDonna Redmond is a community food security activist working on Chicago’s west side. She is the President and CEO of The Institute for Community Resource Development (ICRD), a non-profit, community based organization that assists residents of urban communities obtain access to safe, healthy food through the development of alternative food systems. Rosemary Ahtuangaruak is a Community Health Practitioner and Physician Assistant from the village of Nuiqsut. She is an Inupiat Community of the Arctic Slope Regional Tribal Council Member, the Alaska Inter-Tribal Council Executive Council Secretary, former Mayor of the City of Nuiqsut, and a graduate of Univ. of Washington Medex Northwest Physician Assistant Program. Rosemary will be presenting on concerns from Nuiqsut on the impacts of oil and gas development on traditional and cultural uses and health. To see the 2009 satellite (plenary) speakers, go to http://www.bioneers.org/conference. For more information, contact Geran Tarr, Conference Coordinator, Bioneers in Alaska, at 907-360-4047 or email geran@chugach.net.
September 23, 2009
RenewableEnergyWorld.com reports on the growing wind industry: For years the renewable energy industry has struggled to convince government officials in the United States that they should embrace wind power. Now the roles are reversed; it is government that’s chasing the wind industry. The new balance of power was unmistakable at the annual American Wind Energy Association conference in May, which drew a record 23,000 people to Chicago, Illinois. Among them were governors, economic development officials and public relations agents from 19 states or regions, there to make the case that they offer the land of opportunity for turbine, tower, component and other manufacturers of the approximate 8000 parts that comprise a utility-scale turbine. Read more
September 22, 2009
U.S. DOE is giving $3 million dollars in energy efficiency and conservation grants to Alaska communities. The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), provides funds to units of local and state government, Indian tribes, and territories to develop and implement projects to improve energy efficiency and reduce energy use and fossil fuel emissions in their communities. Five Alaska communities will receive the grants, including nearly $2.7 million for Anchorage. The other communities are:
Aleutians East Borough: $50,000
Fairbanks: $164,100
Kenai: $50,000
Ketchikan Gateway Borough: $100,000
For more information on the program, go here
September 22, 2009
From Anne Sutton with KTOO: A $20 million expansion and renovation of the Juneau International Airport terminal is underway. Another $40 million is being spent on the runway safety areas. The $20 million renovation includes a modern heating system that will replace oil fired boilers with clean energy. The electrically-powered ground source heat pump system taps geothermal energy, that is, energy extracted from heat stored in the earth. Read more
REAP Communications Director Stephanie Nowers also recently talked with Airport Architect Catherine Fritz about the details of the project: Crews at the Juneau International Airport are finishing up work installing a ground source heat pump system that is expected to reduce energy costs by up to $85,000 a year. The $1 million project is part of a bigger upgrade at the airport, and is one of the first such projects of its kind in Alaska. It is also one of a few – although not the only – such project at an airport. Nantucket Memorial Airport in Massachusetts recently installed a similar geothermal system and owners of Orly Airport in Paris have announced plans to tap geothermal power for heating and cooling.
In addition to the Juneau airport, a similar ground source heat pump project is also underway at Juneau’s Dimond Park Aquatic Center. Both Juneau projects received funding through the state’s Renewable Energy Grant Fund ($513,000 for the airport and $1.3 million for the aquatic center). Unlike projects that tap into hot spots in the Earth’s crust, both Juneau projects work by simply taking advantage of the fact that underground temperatures stay constant year round. In the case of the airport, that temperature is about 42 degrees. For the project, crews drilled pipes 360 feet into the ground. An anti-freeze solution is pumped through the pipes, which brings the heat from underground to the surface where it is then used to warm the air. Electric heat pumps are still needed to heat the air up to room temperature of about 65 degrees, but it takes much less energy because the starting point of the air is 42 degrees not zero degrees as can be the case during the winter. The airport project was designed by Doug Murray of Murray and Associates in consultation with Jim Rehfeldt, of Alaska Energy Engineering LLC. For more information, contact Airport Architect Catherine Fritz at 586-0452.
Curious to know more about how the geothermal heat pump systems work, check out the U.S. Department of Energy website at http://www1.eere.energy.gov/geothermal/heatpumps.html or this graphic at http://www.solarpowerwindenergy.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/geothermalpump.jpg
September 22, 2009
Thanks to KRBD and Ed Schoenfeld for this report on a recent legislative hearing on energy issues.
HAINES, ALASKA- Southeast Alaska leaders told lawmakers about their energy problems and solutions during the Southeast Conference’s annual meeting in Haines. The House and Senate Energy Committees held a hearing Sept. 16 to help develop a statewide energy policy. Community leaders, business-owners and alternative energy advocates gave their views. One was Angoon mayor Albert Howard who told the committee that residents last winter paid $6 a gallon for diesel and $.62 a kWh for electric, nearly five times what Anchorage residents pay. Some had to make the choice between heat and power, he said. Hear more
September 22, 2009
This morning, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Energy Secretary Steven Chu hosted a group of clean energy developers and manufacturers at the White House to discuss how the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) is creating jobs and helping expand the development of clean, renewable domestic energy. At the meeting, Secretaries Geithner and Chu announced $550 million in new awards(to 25 projects) through the Recovery Act’s 1603 program, bringing the total to more than $1 billion awarded to date to companies committed to investing in domestic renewable energy production. The projects do not include any in Alaska, but are spread throughout the country, including Hawaii, New Jersey, Texas and California. Read more
September 21, 2009
From KTUU’s Maria Downey:
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A program to make Alaska more energy efficient is proving to be a success. The Energy Rebate Program has already serviced thousands of Alaskans with thousands more on the list. About 12,000 homeowners all across Alaska — including Anchorage School District superintendent Carol Comeau – participated in the Energy Rebate Program through the Alaska Housing Finance Corp. (AHFC). The program allows for up to $7,000 $10,000 in rebates for energy efficient improvements. Read more
September 21, 2009
From a story by New York Times Green Inc. blog reporter Leora Broydo Vestel:
The same economic downturn that wreaked havoc on home manufacturers appears to be creating opportunities for Zeta Communities, a hopeful purveyor of ultra-efficient multifamily housing. To date, the company has built just one 1,540-square-foot demonstration home in Oakland to support its thesis that high-efficiency can also be affordable. Now flush with orders arising from the demonstration home, Zeta tells Green Inc. that it is poised to cut the ribbon on a 91,000-square-foot factory for building modular homes in Sacramento County. Read more
September 20, 2009
New York Times reporters JAD MOUAWAD and KATE GALBRAITH look at the growing electrical demand from consumer electronics.
Electricity use from power-hungry gadgets is rising fast all over the world. The fancy new flat-panel televisions everyone has been buying in recent years have turned out to be bigger power hogs than some refrigerators. The proliferation of personal computers, iPods, cellphones, game consoles and all the rest amounts to the fastest-growing source of power demand in the world. Americans now have about 25 consumer electronic products in every household, compared with just three in 1980.
Worldwide, consumer electronics now represent 15 percent of household power demand, and that is expected to triple over the next two decades, according to the International Energy Agency, making it more difficult to tackle the greenhouse gas emissions responsible for global warming. To satisfy the demand from gadgets will require building the equivalent of 560 coal-fired power plants, or 230 nuclear plants, according to the agency.
Read more
