Results: Calendar of Events
November 9, 2009
7:00 pm to 9:30 pm
Permaculture is the use of ecology as the basis for designing integrated systems of food production, housing, appropriate technology, and community development. It offers a practical and creative approach to the inevitable storm that’s coming with peak oil, climate change, and resource scarcity. Sharon Ferguson and Saskia Esslinger, two passionate permaculturists in Anchorage will show you permaculture examples already at work in Alaska, and discuss the role that permaculture can play in preparing your home and community for the challenges ahead.
Monday, November 9 from 7:00 – 9:30
UAA – room to be determined, contact Terri Brown at 947-8217 or terrib@artlover.com for more information
Auditorium at the Anchorage Museum, 625 C Street
The Alaska Sealife Center, Alaska Marine Conservation Council and Alaska Center for the Environment offer a free showing of “A Sea Change,” the first documentary film about ocean acidification.
SeaChangePoster
November 20, 2009
7:00 pm to 8:30 pm
Mat-Su College Public Square Renewable Energy Lecture Series: Small Hydro Power in Alaska – Earle Ausman of Polar Consult
Building: FSM 204-206 7:00-8:30PM at Matanuska-Susitna College – Mile 2 Trunk Road, Palmer
Earle Ausman will discuss micro hydro in Alaska. Information will be provided on site selection and optimization, water flow measurements, pipelines, turbine-generators, control systems and transmission, and a brief mention of permitting and costs. Illustrations of small hydro systems now operating in Alaska will be shown. Additional sources of information for hydro will be provided as well.
Earle Ausman has been working on hydro systems since 1961. He is currently President of Polarconsult Alaska Inc., whose small hydro projects included: Fishhook, 2MW; Southfork, 1.2 MW; Glacier Fork, 70 MW; Lace 6, MW; Fourth of July Creek, 4MW; Atka, 275 kW; as well as 7 other small plants. PCA owns and operates the 100 kW McRoberts Creek project, which sells power to MEA.
November 9, 2009
8:00 am to 5:00 pm
Hotel Captain Cook, 939 West 5th Avenue, Anchorage
The Alaska chapter of the Cascadia Region Green Building Council is sponsoring two half-day workshops on LEED for Existing Buildings. Presenters are Elaine Aye and Ted Spear of Green Building Services. For more information, go to http://anchorageleedeb11092009.eventbrite.com
November 10, 2009
1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the 1st Floor Conference Room at 3801 Centerpoint Drive in Anchorage
The Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS), the agency charged with regulating renewable energy development on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), is hosting a public workshop to discuss the framework to manage offshore renewable energy development. The workshop is open to the public and will consist of a presentation on the regulations, MMS research, and a question and answer session.
The Final Framework for Renewable Energy Development on the OCS was published in the Federal Register on April 29, 2009. The framework establishes a process for granting leases, easements, and rights-of-way for offshore renewable energy development. The new program also establishes methods for sharing revenues generated from OCS renewable energy projects with adjacent coastal States.
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 granted MMS the authority to regulate renewable energy development on the OCS. MMS has exclusive jurisdiction with regard to the production, transportation, or transmission of energy from non-hydrokinetic renewable energy projects, including wind and solar. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has exclusive jurisdiction to issue licenses for the construction and operation of hydrokinetic projects, including wave and current, but companies will be required to first obtain a lease through MMS.
For additional information on the MMS renewable energy workshop, please contact Rance Wall at rance.wall@mms.gov or call (907) 334-5321.
Join legendary outdoorsman Dick Griffith for a presentation on his 250-mile trek along the coast from Glacier Bay to Copper River at the Eagle River Nature Center at 2 p.m. Points of interest along the way are Lituya Bay and the crossing of LaPerouse Glacier. Free program; $5 parking for non-members.
November 11, 2009
6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
A big thankyou to Bruce Carr, Director of Strategic Planning for the Alaska Railroad, who gave an excellent and engaging update on plans for commuter rail service between Anchorage and the Mat-Su Borough. Progress has been made on commuter rail, but there is still much work to do, including getting a Regional Transit Authority established, which the currently proposed Senate Bill 152 seeks to do.
Bruce made several interesting points, including noting that while commuter rail will need to subsidized, the alternative – our road system – is also heavily subsidized with the federal government paying 90 percent of the cost of roads like the Glenn Highway. He also noted commuter rail has a long history in Anchorage dating back to 1979 and talk then of installing light rail along C Street and on Northern Lights Boulevard. Imagine where we would be now if we had put in such service, he said.
If you weren’t able to make the forum, you can look at at Bruce’s PowerPoint by clicking here.
We hope to catch you next month, Dec. 9 at the Anchorage Museum, when Jim Strandberg of the Alaska Energy Authority, will present an udpate on the state’s Regional Integrated Resource Plan.
For more information, contact REAP at 929-7770 or s.nowers@REalaska.org.
