October 28, 2010
Come Join Us!
Celebrate six years of working to energize our state with clean, local sustainable power. Music, drinks, prizes, free appetizers and special guest appearance by teh renewable energy fairies.
Renewable Energy Alaska Project (REAP)
cordially invites you to our:
6th Anniversary Party
& Fundraiser
5-8 pm Friday, Nov. 19
Snow City Cafe, Anchorage
1034 W. 4th Avenue
October 27, 2010
By Tim Mowry of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: Doyon Ltd. wants to build a micro-hydroelectric project inside Denali National Park and Preserve to power Kantishna Roadhouse, a backcountry lodge the Fairbanks Native corporation owns 100 miles inside the park.
The National Park Service supports the project, and Alaska’s two U.S. senators, Mark Begich and Lisa Murkowski, introduced legislation last month, the Kantishna Hills Renewable Energy Act of 2010, that would direct the park service to issue a special-use permit to speed construction of the project and authorizes a 10-acre land exchange between Doyon and the NPS.
Doyon is proposing to build the hydro project on Eureka Creek, a small fishless creek near the roadhouse in the non-wilderness section of the 6 million-acre park. The project would include a 50-kilowatt power plant, a small impoundment dam and a small pipeline to carry water. Doyon currently uses a diesel generator to power the roadhouse. Read more
October 24, 2010
By Tim Bradner in the Anchorage Daily News: It’s time to get serious about alternative energy for the Railbelt, the Southcentral-Interior corridor of the state’s largest communities. The regional power grid is mostly dependent on natural gas, and the gas wells are running out. If we don’t do something we’ll have to import liquefied natural gas, or LNG, within the next three years or so, possibly at more than twice what we pay now for gas. Not a pleasant thought.
October 22, 2010
From Alaska Housing Finance Corporation: - The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) recently announced that AHFC’s Home Energy Rebate Program is one of the exceptional state-led energy-efficiency programs in the United States. ACEEE recognized a total of just 18 top programs from 14 states. AHFC’s Home Energy Rebate Program received one of 10 honorable mentions awarded.
Alaska’s Home Energy Rebate Program helps homeowners reduce energy costs by providing rebates toward the cost of energy-efficiency improvements. Energy ratings are required before and after improvements. Homeowners pay all costs upfront, and the rebate is paid out based on increased energy efficiency and eligible receipts. The maximum rebate is $10,000. Homeowners have 18 months to complete the program.
Dan Fauske, AHFC CEO/Executive, said, “Our calculations show people reduce energy use by about 30 percent and save nearly $1,600 a year on average. We are thrilled to be recognized for successfully rolling out this program in an extremely short timeframe. Although we had some bumps along the road, the response from those completing the program has been overwhelmingly positive.” Read more
October 21, 2010
REAP Editorial by Stephanie Nowers in the Anchorage Daily News: On Wednesday, the city of Anchorage will conduct a second test of its emergency “Energy Watch” conservation plan. Residents will be asked to turn down their thermostats, click off unneeded lights, and postpone doing the laundry and dishes, all in an effort to see how much energy we can save in an emergency.
It’s a worthy drill for dealing with an unlikely but very scary possibility facing Southcentral Alaska this winter — Anchorage, Mat-Su and the Kenai could run so low on natural gas on a high-demand, cold winter day (or night) that, unless we cut our energy use, the utilities will have to resort to rolling blackouts to keep the gas flowing that heats and lights our homes. But there’s an easier, more permanent way to reduce our energy use without pulling on parkas and wool socks, and forgoing showers.
It’s called energy efficiency. Unlike conservation (i.e. turning off lights), energy efficiency is about leveraging technology to cut our energy use without forgoing creature comforts. In our homes, it’s simple things like installing programmable thermostats and putting appliances like computers and TVs on power strips that can significantly reduce our energy consumption. In our own home, we added power strips a few years ago on our television and computers and cut our power use by 10 percent.
Installing energy-efficient lights is another simple, energy-saving change. New compact fluorescents use a third to a quarter of the energy of traditional incandescent bulbs. Taking it a step further, we can add insulation to our homes, replace inefficient heating systems or even design our buildings in the first place to use less energy.
Across Europe and to a growing extent in the United States, people are building “passive houses” that, in some cases, are designed and insulated so well they don’t require a central heating system. Imagine not needing that yearly furnace inspection or repair bill.
In Alaska we have everything to gain from energy efficiency. We pay some of the highest energy prices in the country — more than five times the national average in some rural areas — and we have plenty of energy-inefficient buildings. We also face an uncertain energy future with oil production declining and the supply of natural gas from Cook Inlet in question.
There’s no doubt we can accomplish a lot with conservation. So do your part. Wednesday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. turn off those lights, turn down that thermostat and show what we can do. But then take a step back. Look around your house and business, check out the state’s new energy-efficiency website www.ak energyefficiency.org, and find those things that will reduce your energy use not just today but every day. We all pay for the energy we consume. Let’s be smart and use it wisely.
October 21, 2010
FROM KIMO-TV, Channel 13: The city conducted a test Wednesday of its emergency Energy Watch’ conservation program and interviewed REAP about simple ways to reduce energy use year round with energy efficiency by, for example, installing programmable thermostats, adding power strips and increasing your home’s insulation. Watch the video here
October 14, 2010
From Greenenergyreporter.com: BP’s wind power unit is close to securing debt financing supporting the construction of its Cedar Creek II wind farm in Weld county Colorado.
Spanish bank Banco Santander and Société Générale, the Paris-based bank, are leading the $300 million long-term, none-recourse financing supporting the construction of the 250 megawatts facility. Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, BBVA and Lloyds TSB have also reportedly stepped in. Read more
October 11, 2010
By Matthew Wald of the New York Times — Google and a New York financial firm have each agreed to invest heavily in a proposed $5 billion transmission backbone for future offshore wind farms along the Atlantic Seaboard that could ultimately transform the region’s electrical map.
Opponents and supporters of a wind power project at Woods Hole, Mass., earlier this year. Developers of a new Atlantic project say they hope their proposal will meet less opposition. The 350-mile underwater spine, which could remove some critical obstacles to wind power development, has stirred excitement among investors, government officials and environmentalists who have been briefed on it.
Google and Good Energies, an investment firm specializing in renewable energy, have each agreed to take 37.5 percent of the equity portion of the project. They are likely to bring in additional investors, which would reduce their stakes.
If they hold on to their stakes, that would come to an initial investment of about $200 million apiece in the first phase of construction alone, said Robert L. Mitchell, the chief executive of Trans-Elect, the Maryland-based transmission-line company that proposed the venture. Marubeni, a Japanese trading company, has taken a 10 percent stake. Trans-Elect said it hoped to begin construction in 2013. Read more
October 10, 2010
By Sean Manget of the Alaska Journal of Commerce: Alaska’s U.S. senators have co-sponsored a bill that would speed the permitting process necessary to construct a small micro hydro power generator in Denali National Park and Preserve. Dubbed the Kantishna Hills Renewable Energy Act of 2010, the bill would authorize U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to issue the construction permit within the park’s nonwilderness area. It would also allow for a land exchange between Doyon Tourism Inc. and Denali National Park and Preserve.
The bill has gone to committee in both chambers of Congress, with Rep. Don Young sponsoring a House version. The generator would supplement a diesel generator used by the Kantishna Roadhouse, a lodge run by the tourism arm of Doyon Ltd., an Alaska Native regional corporation. At present, the generator burns 110 gallons of diesel fuel per day, which equates to nearly 10,000 gallons a season, said Elwood Lynn, assistant superintendent of operations for Denali National Park and Preserve.
While the new project wouldn’t completely replace the old generator, it would help reduce the number of trips taken to the lodge by the trucks that supply the fuel, Sens. Mark Begich and Lisa Murkowski said in a joint statement. Read more
October 8, 2010
Alaska now has 20 communities generating electricity from wind, with more projects coming on line soon. The villages of Toksook and Kasigluk are generating more than 20 percent of their electricity from wind power. Kodiak is generating 9% of its power from turbines it installed on Pillar Mountain in July 2009. Those turbines cut diesel fuel use by 930,000 gallons in one year, saving the utility and its customers more than $2.3 million (at a price of $2.50/gallon for diesel). Want to know more about Alaska’s existing wind farms, and what other projects might soon come on line? Download REAP’s 2-page Wind Power in Alaska update.
Another good resource is this 2010 report from the Institute of Social and Economic Research and the Alaska Center for Energy and Power. The summary and full report can be downloaded below
Wind-Diesel report
Wind-Diesel Report_summary
