Results: Calendar of Events
Operation Free event in downtown Anchorage
Tuesday, July 6, 2010 at 11:00AM
Operation Free is a coalition of military veterans and national security organizations that have been traveling the country education people on the connection between our energy policy, climate change, and national security. Our next big event is next Tuesday July 6th at 11 am at the Dena’ina Convention Center 600 W. 7th Ave Anchorage. The event is free and will feature Lt General Castellaw speaking about the moves the U.S. military is making towards clean renewable energy and why this is vital for our national security. Please share this information with your friends and family. You can RSVP at our site here and read more about Operation Free
Dena’ina Center
600 West Seventh Avenue
Anchorage, AK 99501
June 29, 2010
By Todd Woody for the New York Times’ Green blog: SunRun, a San Francisco start-up that leases rooftop solar arrays to homeowners, said Tuesday it had raised $55 million from investors. The equity investment led by Sequoia Capital, a prominent Silicon Valley venture firm, is one of the largest made in a solar leasing firm and a sign that companies are poised for a major expansion beyond the industry’s core market in California.
The investment follows a $100 million tax equity fund PG&E Corporation, the utility holding company, created last week to finance residential solar installations for SunRun customers. PG&E Corporation in January formed a $60 million financing pool for SolarCity, a Silicon Valley competitor to SunRun. SolarCity is also tapping $190 million in tax equity funds created over the past year for the company by U.S. Bancorp. Read more
June 29, 2010
From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Starting this fall, you’re likely to see a new breed of road sign along Interstate 5 for electric vehicle drivers looking for a spot to plug in and recharge.
With help from a $1.32 million federal grant, the state Transportation Department plans to turn Interstate 5 into the nation’s first “electric highway” with enough charging stations so electric vehicles can make the entire 276-mile trip from the Canadian border to the Oregon state line, Gov. Chris Gregoire announced Monday. Read more
June 27, 2010
From the Associated Press: The Golden Valley Electric Association says a wind farm near Healy could prevent increases in customer rates because it would likely produce cheaper power than wholesale prices the utility pays. The proposed $93 million Eva Creek wind farm would be the largest in the state and could produce power for a full cent less than Golden Valley’s current wholesale price, which is about 10.6 cents per kilowatt-hour.
Kate Lamal, a vice president for the utility, said Tuesday during a presentation on plans for the wind farm that it should be able to deliver 9 megawatts of power. Lamal also said years of data on wind patterns are strong enough to secure loans and a $2 million renewable-energy grant from the state has paid for studies of road access, bird migration patterns and integration with Golden Valley’s existing energy portfolio. Read more
June 27, 2010
Anchorage Daily News editorial: Alaska is an oil and gas producing state. Alaska also is working its way closer to the front lines of renewable energy research and production. That’s one of the encouraging conclusions to draw from last week’s conference on “The Business of Clean Energy in Alaska,” organized by the nonprofit Renewable Energy Alaska Project.
Clean, renewable energy isn’t a starry-eyed vision of future centuries. It’s now.
• In Kodiak, the combination of hydroelectric power and wind turbines produces more than 88 percent of the island’s electricity. Since 2009, wind power has produced almost 9 percent, saving $1.6 million in diesel fuel costs.
• Twenty-two communities in rural Alaska have wind projects. The Alaska Village Electric Cooperative reports wind power displaced 147,000 gallons of diesel in 2009, saving $441,000.
Read more
*July 7
FAIRBANKS – JESSIE PETERSON, local issues and energy coordinator for the Northern Alaska Environmental Center, will discuss ENERGY INNOVATION: ALASKA’S PATH ON A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE at 7pm in the Schaible Auditorium. Alaska is at an energy crossroads. We have the option of either staying with the past, relying heavily on fossil fuels, or being innovative leaders who are ready to transition to a sustainable energy future. FREE For more information, contact (907) 474-7021, (866) 404-7021 toll free, (907) 474-5297 fax or email summer@uaf.edu.
July 8, 2010
12:00 pm to 1:00 pm
**July 8
FIRE ISLAND WIND PROJECT will be presented by Brian Kovol of Restoration Science & Engineering from Noon to 1pm at the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation, 510 L Street, Suite 603. He will present the latest on this renewable energy project. Light refreshments will be provided.
July 27, 2010
FAIRBANKS – GREEN BUILDING WORKSHOP will be held at 9am to 4pm at the Georgeson Botanical Garden Pavilion instructed by ROB ROY. This three-day cordwood masonry workshop is divided into equal parts classroom work (cordwood theory via lectures and slideshows) and hands-on experience. Witness master builders at work and assist Rob and Jaki in the construction of a cordwood masonry garden shed, built on location at the Georgeson Botanical Garden on the UAF campus. Learn this useful and eco-friendly skill while offering a lasting contribution to UAF. Register here or at UAOnline. NRM F040. Cost: $300. For more information, call (907)474-7021. To register, go to http://www.uaf.edu/summer/registration/.
June 27, 2010
An editorial by REAP Board member Doug Johnson in the Alaska Journal of Commerce: As a fourth-generation Alaskan, I know how important oil and gas are for our state. The petroleum industry drives a third of the state’s economy and pays about 85 percent of the bills for state government.So why am I devoting my life to building a business that turns tidal power into electricity?
Because I worry about Alaska’s future.
Our oil production has fallen by two-thirds since the late 1980s, and no replacement gushers are anywhere in sight. BP’s blowout in the Gulf of Mexico has reminded the nation of the steep environmental price we pay for our dependence on oil – just as the Exxon Valdez catastrophe here in Alaska did 21 years ago.
The harder we push to keep feeding that dependence, the higher the price we pay – both at the pump and in damage to the environment. Even if we keep oil on board ships and inside the wells where it belongs, burning so much of it fills our atmosphere with greenhouse gases that are changing our climate and raising the acidity of our ocean waters.
That is why I am one of Alaska’s clean energy entrepreneurs. I and others in this growing 21st century industry have a message you don’t hear too often these days: We’re hiring. Read more
June 22, 2010
By Joshua Saul at Alaska Dispatch: Eagle, a community of 200 far up the Yukon River and just a short snowmachine ride from the Canadian border, faces an issue that affects many remote Alaska communities: Electricity generated by burning diesel fuel, which has to be shipped in on small barges that travel during the ice-free months, is very expensive. So expensive, in fact, that across the state, high fuel costs are being blamed for outmigration to larger communities like Fairbanks and Anchorage.
A new experiment could help. With the help of federal funds, Alaska Power and Telephone is working to install a floating turbine in the silty waters of the Yukon River near Eagle, which is still recovering from last year’s devastating floods. If the turbine works, it could provide power that would cut the community’s fuel bills while providing a blueprint for electricity that could be used by rural river villages around the world. Read more
