Results: Calendar of Events
January 25, 2010
Turbine installation at Sherrod Elementary (November 2009)
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory and DOE’s Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program have selected Alaska as one of five additional states to become part of Wind Powering America’s Wind for Schools program.
The selection makes Alaska one of only 11 states in the country to be part of the Wind for Schools program and will encourage more success stories like that at Sherrod Elementary where a recently erected wind turbine is being used to teach students about science and energy (see our stories on Sherrod’s project here). With the selection comes approximately $60,000 in funding per year for three years for activities supporting the Wind for Schools program in Alaska.
By targeting students, the Wind for Schools program seeks to engage the next generation in learning about science, and address a major challenge for the wind energy industry: the need for a skilled workforce to support the expanded development and application of wind technologies. The Sherrod turbine is currently the only one at a school in Alaska, but over 30 schools from all over the state have expressed interest in the program. The effort to add Alaska to the Wind for Schools program was led by the Alaska Center for Energy and Power and Renewable Energy Alaska Project.
For more information, contact:
Hannah Gustafson, assistant director of REAP at 907-929-7770 or hannah@realaska.org
Kat Keith, of Alaska Center for Energy and Power (ACEP), at 907-590-0751 or kmkeith@alaska.edu.
Other press releases:
DOE/NREL Select Five Additional States to Recieve $60K for Wind for Schools Project
ACEP to lead Alaska Wind for Schools program
January 24, 2010
From Todd Disher at the Frontiersman: With accreditation now official for its program in renewable energy, Matanuska-Susitna College is looking to become the center of green education in Alaska. The program of eight classes and a practicum teaches students the principles of renewable energy. The occupational education certificate students receive after graduation is the first offered anywhere in the state. Read more
January 24, 2010
By Alan Bailey at the Petroleum News: Renewable energy isn’t a silver bullet that can somehow immediately replace all use of traditional fuels, but renewable technologies such as wind, solar energy and hydropower must form part of any energy portfolio, Chris Rose, executive director of Renewable Energy Alaska Project, told the Alaska Chamber of Commerce Make it Monday Forum on Jan. 11.
Alaska is at a crossroads, where within the next five years the state needs to make major long-term decisions on its energy future, Rose said. “As a society here we have to be thinking 50 to 100 years down the road,” he said. “A lot of other societies are. They will out compete us if we don’t think that way.”
And within the next 100 years energy will need to become 100 percent renewable — it’s a question of how fast to get there, Rose said. “It’s just a matter of time. The whole world is going to have to be moving this way, and that’s what other places are doing,” he said. Read more(subscription required)
To hear more from Chris, go to our forum page here and download a podcast of one of his recent presentations.
January 22, 2010
On October 14, 2009, the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (Commission) voted to adopt new regulations establishing net metering requirements for economically regulated utilities. A final version of the regulations was formally adopted on January 15, 2010.Net metering serves as an important incentive for consumer investment in renewable energy generation. It allows a customer of a regulated utility to interconnect eligible onsite generation facilities with their electric utility’s distribution system. Customer-generated electricity can then offset electricity consumption on a kilowatt-hour (kWh) basis. In general, the new regulations….Read more
More information from the Regulatory Commisison of Alaska here
January 22, 2010
From the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: Two Alaska state senators today recommended the state use roughly $200 million to restock an energy fund, a proposed deposit aimed at upgrading electrical generation and transmission systems through Fairbanks and Southcentral Alaska. The figure comprises two-thirds of a broader slate of recommendations, released last fall without a price tag, for a major shift in state energy policy. That plan, developed through committees on energy and natural resources, calls for a slate of plans. Some, such as $25 million for home energy-efficiency work, would look to reduce demand for energy across the state. Others, including a proposed $25 million boost in deposits toward renewable energy development, would look to shift supply options toward renewable resources.Read more
Read Sens. Lesil McGuire and Bill Wielechowski’s letter on the energy recommendations here
More headlines on the energy recommendations:
Southeast, rural energy issues considered by Legislature(Juneau Empire)
Anchorage senators draft state energy policy(KTUU)
Senate energy bill: $300 million(Alaska Dispatch)
Utility reps meeting for consolidation talks(Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)
January 21, 2010
From Energy Efficiency News: An analysis by the US Department of Energy (DOE)’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) indicates that shifting to 20% wind energy by 2024 is possible. The two-and-a-half year study modelled various scenarios of the effects of future penetration of wind power on the Eastern Interconnect electricity network. The Eastern Interconnect currently supplies just over 70% of the US population with power.
The Eastern Wind Integration and Transmission Study (EWITS) concludes that transmission upgrades and operational changes could enable a substantial amount of new wind capacity, from either onshore wind farms in the Midwest or potential offshore installations on the East coast. Read more
Award-winning filmmakers Basil Gelpke and Ray McCormack examine the world’s dependency on oil and the impending chaos that’s sure to follow when the resource is dry in this straight-from-the-headlines documentary. Through expert interviews on a hot-button topic that might represent the world’s most dire crisis, the film underscores our desperate need for alternative energy and spells out in startling detail the challenge we face in finding it. 8 pm, Organic Oasis (2610 Spenard Rd). The kitchen closes at 7:45 for food orders, please arrive by 7:30 to order food. Bar/coffee will be available until later. Suggested movie donation – $5.
January 23, 2010
7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Sustainable Girdwood Fundraiser from 7 PM to 9 PM, hosted by the new Babes in the Woods Art Gallery, along the boardwalk at the Sitzmark Building (109 & 111 Olympic Mountain Loop—the old Java Haus location). The event features musical guest “DJ Militant.” Light food and beverage will be provided.
Babes in the Woods (www.BabesInTheWoodsAK.com) is a beautiful new gallery in Girdwood, featuring the multimedia works of many women and some men from all over Alaska. If you haven’t been there yet, add it to your list. There is a $3.00 suggested door donation, but you are welcome even if penniless!
The door donation and a portion of any art sales will go to support Sustainable Girdwood’s Produce Consumption Survey. There are special discounts and deals being offered just for this event! Also, if you bring an earth friendly, reusable shopping bag, you will get 10% off your purchase, should you feel inspired to buy some art, jewelry, calendars, clothing, or other fancy stuff at this event.
January 18, 2010
A few worldwide stories caught our eye today:
•From across the pond, a British company is sponsoring a £2 million($2.8M) challenge pitting communities against each other to see who can be greenest using energy conservation and renewable energy.
•Taiwan is plunging into the already massive clean tech field with Taiwan’s president announcing a plan to spend about $786 million(U.S. dollars) over the next five years to encourage the private sector to set up renewable energy and energy conservation facilities.
•And finally closer to home, a story on universities, like Southwestern University, Texas Tech, and the universities of Maryland and Maine, all getting into the wind power game.
P.S. For those like me who didn’t immediately know, a “lido”, mentioned in the story from Britain, is a pool.
January 18, 2010
From Jason Palmer at BBC News: Researchers have demonstrated a simple, cheap way to create self-assembling electronic devices using a property crucial to salad dressings. It uses the fact that oil- and water-based liquids do not mix, forming devices from components that align along the boundary between the two. The idea joins a raft of approaches toward self-assembly, but lends itself particularly well to small components. Read more
