Results: Calendar of Events
July 16, 2010
From Hydroworld: U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, has introduced two pieces of legislation aimed at increasing the production of electricity from renewable hydropower and creating jobs in America’s energy sector. The “Hydropower Improvement Act” and the “Hydropower Renewable Energy Development Act” would boost federal support for hydropower projects.
The Hydropower Improvement Act, co-sponsored by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash; Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash; and Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, aims to increase the capacity of our nation’s hydropower sources to generate clean, renewable electricity by up to 75,000 megawatts. Read more
July 13, 2010
Small town Tanana, Alaska is off the grid. The city of about 300 people lies 132 mostly roadless miles from Fairbanks, making it easier to reach by airplane than by car.
From the U.S Department of Energy: That means Tanana has to burn diesel to create electricity, pushing up the cost to 76 cents per kilowatt hour – at least 13 times the standard in the lower 48. These high costs make something as simple as powering streetlights very expensive. To save money and energy, Tanana applied for and received a $20,000 Energy Efficiency Conservation Block Grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. The money will allow Tanana to replace its older high-pressure sodium streetlights with newer and more energy-efficient LED streetlights.
“Our streetlights right now use about 150 watts. The two brands we’re looking at, one is a 25-watt brand that produces more light than the 150-watt lights currently do, and the other uses about 38 watts,” says Al “Bear” Ketzler, Tanana’s city manager. “So with either product… there’s a 300 percent savings.” Read more
July 11, 2010
By Brielle Schaeffer of the Peninsula Clarion: The Kenai City Council unanimously passed a resolution Wednesday supporting the development of wind and alternative energies, energy efficient projects within the city and open meetings with other local governments on the Peninsula.
“I support the resolution on the compact for climate change,” said Nadia Daggett, North Kenai resident and owner of Alaska Wind Industries, who testified at the meeting. “I think this is a great step for us.”
This resolution was a substitute for the originally amended resolution supporting the Alaska Coastal Communities Global Climate Change Compact and the Tri-Borough Commission’s proposed State of Alaska Energy Policy. The controversial compact had Kenai residents riled up last winter and ultimately caused the city council to facilitate a town hall meeting for residents in May. Mark Schrag, Kenai resident who attended the town hall meeting, showed up to council chambers Wednesday to show his support too. Read more
July 10, 2010
By Mark Masteller in the Anchorage Daily News: Thanks to clever marketers, if I said I had a problem with ED, you might immediately have an idea what I’m talking about. But I have a problem with EE. It’s no cause for embarrassment — EE is a great thing. EE can save you money, create jobs, help protect our environment and safeguard our children’s future. Unfortunately, many people just don’t find EE that exciting.
EE is energy efficiency, and if you’re a building or business owner you needed EE yesterday. It’s the cheapest way to boost your profit margin, and in these tough times who doesn’t want that? Oil spewing in the Gulf presents yet another reminder of our unsustainable addiction to fossil fuels, amplifying calls to move toward “clean” energy systems. Energy costs in Alaska can stifle economic development, especially in rural areas. Renewable energy generation — wind, solar, hydro, geothermal — is crucial to Alaska’s clean energy future, and this is what most people think of first when looking for truly sustainable energy solutions.
But the critical first step toward making renewable energy systems a reality is EE. It’s the quickest and cheapest way to reduce fossil energy use. At the recent Business of Clean Energy conference one entire day dealt with EE; the conference organizers at Renewable Energy Alaska Project clearly understand the role EE plays in transitioning to a clean energy future. Read more
July 10, 2010
By Lori Tipton at KTUU-TV: Exploratory drilling is under way in King Salmon to determine the potential for geothermal energy. The Naknek Electric Association, an energy co-op, is testing a geothermal well to see if developing the renewable resource is feasible. The geothermal project’s test well took more than 10 years to come together, at a cost of more than $20 million. If it proves to be successful, the association could provide affordable renewable energy to communities and villages across Bristol Bay.
“It’s a new industry for an electric co-op,” said Donna Vukich, the association’s general manager.
“It’s the first well out here, so we’re just trying to take all the information in,” said the association’s Stanley Burton. Read more
July 8, 2010
From the Anchorage Daily News editorial staff: Robin Eckstein knows about U.S. dependence on foreign oil in more ways than one. She served as a truck driver with the Army’s 1st Armored Division in Iraq, ferrying fuel and water for her fellow soldiers. She left the service in 2007, but she since has found another way to serve, as a member of Operation Free.
Operation Free is a coalition of military veterans and national security groups dedicated to American energy independence. They want a sustainable national energy policy that weans the United States from dependence on oil from nations that don’t share our values and interests, mitigates damages of climate change and provides “green jobs” for young vets after service in Iraq and Afghanistan. Read more
July 8, 2010
By ALAN COWELL of the New York Times: PARIS — Slender as a stick insect, a solar-powered experimental airplane with a huge wing span completed its first test flight of more than 24 hours on Thursday, powered overnight by energy collected from the sun during a day aloft over Switzerland. The organizers said the flight was the longest and highest by a piloted solar-powered craft, reaching an altitude of just over 28,000 feet above sea level, at an average speed of 23 knots, around 25 miles per hour.
The plane — Solar Impulse — landed where it had taken off 26 hours and 9 minutes earlier at Payerne, 30 miles southwest of the capital, Bern, after gliding and looping over the Jura Mountains, its 12,000 solar cells absorbing energy to keep its batteries charged when the sun went down. Read more
July 8, 2010
By MICHAEL BURNHAM in the New York Times Green Inc. blog: Westward pioneers halted their wagons here (Portland) 150 years ago, but today’s politicians and planners aim to make recession-battered Portland the starting point for green-economy trailblazers.
Mayor Sam Adams and General Electric Co. executives are forging a first-of-its-kind partnership that will include retrofitting drafty buildings with energy-saving technologies and helping local startups sell their clean-technology products abroad. GE, the global industrial conglomerate, will also help the “Rose City” bring to life five “EcoDistrict” pilot projects — enclaves that would manage their own energy, water, waste and other systems — as well as build, perhaps, the world’s greenest office building.
The Oregon Sustainability Center, slated for construction at the edge of Portland State University’s downtown campus, will generate all of its electricity, consume only the rain that falls upon it, and process all of its wastewater. The “triple-net-zero” building will have offices for businesses with an eye on the triple bottom line — economic, social and environmental sustainability — as well as space for municipal urban planners, nonprofit environmental groups, and university administrators, faculty and students. Read more
July 8, 2010
From Energy Efficiency News: Last year, just shy of 20% of Europe’s total electricity consumption came from renewable sources, according to the latest figures from the European Commission. The EC’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) has produced annual Renewable Energy Snapshots since 2007 to track the region’s progress towards the target of 20% renewable energy generation by 2020. Data is coalesced from official figures from EU countries or EUROSTAT and ‘grey’ data from industry associations, research projects and the like.
The findings, which indicate that renewables accounted for 62% of newly installed generation capacity in 2009, give grounds for “cautious optimism” says the JRC. Overall, hydropower still makes up the single largest share at 11.6% of Europe’s total electricity consumption, followed by wind (4.2%), biomass (3.5%) and solar (0.4%). But in newly installed capacity, wind (37.1%) and solar photovoltaics (21%) clearly lead the way, with biomass (2.1%), hydro (1.4%) and concentrated solar power (0.4%) trailing behind. Read more
July 6, 2010
From Joaqlin Estus at KNBA: A new group of advocates for renewable and alternative energy plan is emerging: veterans and retired military leaders. A national advocacy group called “Operation Free” organized a panel of speakers in Anchorage Tuesday. The nation’s dependence on fossil fuels and climate change are already leading to increased costs for the military, says Retired Marine Corps Lieutenant General John Castellaw. And he says leaders are considering what to do about military bases that will be under water due to rising ocean levels. The military is also getting hit by the rising cost of fuel, which, in Afghanistan, is soaring.
The group says climate change will bring increased instability due to shortages of water and food, mass migrations and natural disasters as well as extremism and terrorism. The U.S. military may need to intervene to protect countries with extensive oil reserves. U. S. Senator Mark Begich says America’s dependence on oil is undermining its strategic position in the world. Read more
