Alaska Wind Working Group RSVP
August 31, 2011
Results: Calendar of Events
Mount Spurr Geothermal Tests ‘Discouraging’
August 24, 2011
By Ted Land Channel 2 News: It’s been a disappointing summer for the Mount Spurr geothermal energy project.
Reno, Nevada-based Ormat Technologies Inc., which has been doing test work on leases out there, said equipment problems and difficult rock conditions only allowed them to drill a single well, instead of the two they planned at the start of the summer.
Ormat spokesman Paul Thomsen also said the well also didn’t get as deep as they wanted, and that they weren’t impressed with the water temperatures they sampled.
“It doesn’t mean that the resource isn’t there, it just means that our first shot at finding it was not successful,” said Thomsen.
Ormat’s Spurr exploration camp has been demobilized for the summer. Thomsen said the company is now putting together a report, which it plans to present to the Alaska Energy Authority in the next few months.
Thomsen said Ormat expects to review its initial findings with the state before spending any more money on future drilling at Mount Spurr.
The State of Alaska is helping pay for Ormat’s exploration work — lawmakers committed millions of dollars to match the amount of money the company spends on the Spurr leases.
Living lab’ will test efficiency as new UAF dorm
August 21, 2011
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — The University of Alaska Fairbanks is building a dormitory it hopes will serve as a living laboratory to study renewable energy, gray-water recycling and elements of hyper-efficient design.
The $1 million project, called the Sustainable Village, is being designed to test efficiency and low operating costs, according to The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
The first phase of the village will house 16 students who will also serve as researchers. They will live in clusters that each house between 4 and 6 people.
“It just seemed like a wonderful opportunity,” said Cold Climate Housing Research Center President Jack Hebert, whose organization is partnering with the university on the project.
The village, which will be on a roughly 60-acre plot on campus, will emphasize local building materials and environmentally sound land use. A community garden, shared open space and network of footpaths will be integrated among the buildings.
Construction on the project was expected to begin in April.
“We want to transform our campus life, and this is really a step in that direction,” said University of Alaska Fairbanks Vice Chancellor for Administrative Services Pat Pitney. Read more
Renewables Give Us More Power Than Nuclear
August 19, 2011
For the first time in a while, our portfolio of renewable power sources has surpassed power production from nuclear generation. According to the latest Monthly Energy Review from the Energy Information Administration, the most sustainable forms of energy now produce more for us than the most hazardous, largely due to rises in wind, solar and hydro production.
In the first quarter, renewable energy clocked in a total of 11.73% of our total power production at 2.245 quads (quadrillion BTUs) or 5.65% more than nuclear power. From the same period last year, solar power generation was up 104.8 percent, wind generation increased 40.3 percent, and hydro expanded by 28.7 percent. Power generated from biomass decreased by 4.8 percent. By comparison, natural gas generation increased by 1.8 percent, nuclear by 0.4 percent, and coal-fired electrical generation declined by 5.7 percent.
