September 1, 2010
By Matthew Wald on the New York Times’ Green blog: Exelon, the nuclear giant that recently backed away from building new nuclear plants, is moving into wind. The company announced on Wednesday that it was buying John Deere Renewables, which has 735 megawatts in operation and 230 megawatts in “advanced stages of development” in Michigan. The price was $860 million, plus $40 million if ground is broken on the Michigan projects. Read more
August 29, 2010
Originally published at the Breakthrough Institute:
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has funded breakthrough innovation and new growth industries that are driving down the cost of clean energy and building the foundation for competitive 21st century U.S. industries, according to a new White House report released today on the impacts of the U.S. stimulus bill.
The report, “The Recovery Act: Transforming the American Economy Through Innovation,” is notable for highlighting the multifaceted and relatively comprehensive clean economy strategy now underway with stimulus investments, and for the Administration’s welcome focus on making clean energy cheap.
Yet while the White House report highlights the considerable clean energy momentum established by the Recovery Act, it also inadvertently raises the specter of an impending clean tech funding cliff which risks sending U.S. clean energy industries into deep freeze as stimulus funds begin to expire over the coming months. Read more
August 27, 2010
By Ben Rooney of CNNMoney.com: Energy use in the United States fell nearly 5% last year, marking the largest annual drop on record, according to an analysis of federal data by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Total U.S. energy use fell in 2009 to an estimated 94.6 quadrillion British Thermal Units, down from 99.2 quadrillion BTUs in 2008. To put that in perspective, the average room air conditioner uses about 10,000 BTUs. This was the largest year-over-year drop since the government began keeping track in 1949, said A.J. Simon, an energy analyst at LLNL.
“Energy use tends to follow the level of economic activity, and that level declined last year,” he said. “Simply said, people are doing less stuff. Therefore, they’re burning less fuel.”
The last time energy use was this low was 1996, when it totaled 94.2 quadrillion BUTs. Despite the drop in overall energy use, Simon said the study also showed a substantial increase in alternative sources of energy, including gains in solar, hydro and wind power. Read more
August 18, 2010
Exciting news from REAP member Ocean Renewable Power Company which is working hard to harness tidal power in Cook Inlet among other areas. Tidal and wave power hold great promise as emerging technologies with potentially vast supplies of energy. Alaska is estimated to have 90% of the country’s estimated tidal power potential.
PORTLAND, ME, August 18, 2010 – Ocean Renewable Power Company (ORPC), an industry
leader in tidal, river and deep-water ocean current energy technology and projects, announced
today that its Beta Power System, the largest ocean energy “power plant” ever installed in U.S.
waters, has successfully generated grid-compatible power from tidal currents at its Cobscook
Bay site in Eastport, Maine.
The system’s core component, the proprietary Turbine Generator Unit, or TGU, is deployed below ORPC’s world-class research and testing vessel, the Energy Tide 2, and has a maximum design capacity of 60 kilowatts. Performance test results show that the TGU’s electrical output meets or exceeds expectations for the full range of current velocities encountered. ORPC will use the data obtained from the Beta Power System to fine tune the design of its commercial TidGen™ Power System, planned for installation in Eastport in late 2011. The TidGen™ Power System will be connected to the New England grid through the Bangor Hydro Electric Company system, and will generate enough electricity to power 50 to 75 homes.
“Proving the efficacy of the Beta Power System and its ability to generate gridcompatible
power day in and day out is a huge milestone for America’s ocean energy industry,”
said Chris Sauer, president and CEO of ORPC. “It reaffirms the limitless opportunities to advance
the nation’s renewable energy agenda and ensure a more sustainable future.”
Tidal energy has the potential to be a billion dollar industry in Maine within the next seven to ten years, creating hundreds of jobs. The bodies of water around Eastport have some of the most robust tidal
currents in the world, and through ORPC’s testing activities over the last three years, Eastport
has become known as the Kitty Hawk of tidal energy. Continue reading ‘Largest ocean energy device in U.S. hits design capacity’
August 15, 2010
Dr. George P. Charles editorial in the Anchorage Daily News: As an Alaska Native veteran, I want to see our country expand our clean energy sources. It will help our planet and our state, it will help Alaska’s Native peoples and it will help our national defense.
I am 69 years old. In my lifetime I have seen many changes connected to global warming. A big part of where I grew up has permafrost. The small village where my mother was born has sunk in and is now part of a large lake. I saw the old village of Kasigluk begin sinking in my short lifetime. The island where my maternal grandparents lived is mostly gone. A new Kasigluk was created almost a mile downriver from the old village. A new school, federally funded houses, post office and airport had to be built at a high cost.
The warming has affected the fall white fish runs on the Johnson River not far from Bethel. People there rarely fish for them anymore. The black fish creeks are almost nonexistent because of the changing river channels due to warming. The Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta has been invaded by beaver, which dam up the many small tundra creeks, disrupting the black fish runs.
Newtok, where my maternal grandmother’s family is from, and the village of Shishmaref need to be relocated at great cost due to erosion. Our elders link the erosion to changing weather due to warming. The melting of the permafrost also increases the cost of constructing homes and public buildings.
In rural villages, the cost of fuel to heat homes is high. So is the cost of electricity, which comes from expensive diesel fuel.
Back in the early 1950s, a few places in my region had wind generators. I remember one that Johnny Samuelson had in Nunapitchuk. He used a series of batteries that stored the wind-generated electricity to power light bulbs in his home and store. I often wondered why public institutions such as schools did not take advantage of wind generators. Later in Bethel in the 1950s the city built a diesel power plant. It was noisy, and the diesel engine spewed foul-smelling smoke. Many empty 55-gallon fuel drums would litter the tundra villages.
Today’s high energy prices raise the price of everything else shipped into the villages. With the high costs and lack of jobs, we are seeing a migration of people leaving rural villages for regional centers. Even older people are leaving. They have fixed incomes, so living in their traditional villages becomes too costly. This diaspora causes cultural disruption. Those younger people left behind in the villages have fewer culturally competent elders to guide them. Read more
August 15, 2010
Steve Cleary editorial in the Anchorage Daily News: The era of cheap and plentiful gas in Southcentral Alaska is over. There is more gas in Cook Inlet, as Petrochemical Resources of Alaska noted in their March 2010 report, but it will cost an estimated $1.9 billion to $2.8 billion to recover it. The report also states what should be obvious to us consumers in the region: “In the future, Cook Inlet utility customers should expect to pay more for the gas used by Cook Inlet Utilities to generate heat and electricity.”
Enstar’s parent company SEMCO is proposing a gas storage facility in Kenai at a cost of nearly $200 million. That’s just to store gas for a rainy day, or, more accurately, a freezing day of peak demand.
There’s also natural gas from the North Slope that may be available in as few as 10 years. With project costs for that pipeline estimated to be as high as $41 billion, North Slope gas may be plentiful but it isn’t likely to be cheap. According to a state report to the Legislature, the bullet line would have to charge between $7 and $14-plus per thousand cubic feet of gas to recover its costs — just for shipping the gas. That’s double what Southcentral customers currently pay for delivered gas.
Ninety percent of the Railbelt’s electricity comes from natural gas. That’s a lot of eggs in one basket and any way you slice it, those eggs are sure to get more expensive.
The most stably priced and cheapest power currently on the grid comes from the Bradley Lake hydro facility near Homer. But what is now praised as a great idea and a sound investment was derided back in 1990 when it was being built. Bradley Lake was too expensive, critics claimed: Cheap natural gas is all we need. Power from Bradley Lake has remained constant over the years, while the price of natural gas continues to rise. Read more
August 13, 2010
By Ken Dragoon of Renewable Northwest Project: The deadly West Virginia coal mine explosion and the Gulf of Mexico oil drilling disaster remind us that it’s time to end our dependence on fossil fuels. In June, President Barack Obama said we cannot consign our children to this future. Last February, I was invited along with a handful of other Americans to learn first-hand how one country is replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy sources.
Denmark’s dedication to ending fossil fuel use was born out of the 1974 oil crisis. Back then, more than 90 percent of Danish energy came from petroleum. The economic effects of the oil crisis threatened the small country’s national security. Cars were banned entirely from streets on Sundays. Leaders across the political spectrum agreed to end dependence on oil as a national security measure. Climate concerns about burning coal and widespread opposition to nuclear power led the country to choose to rely entirely on renewable energy.
Today, wind power supplies more than 20 percent of the electric energy consumed in Denmark. In 10 years, it will be 50 percent. And the country won’t stop there. Indeed, the government’s goal is a carbon-free power grid, with most of the energy coming from wind power. Denmark is leveraging its green power grid by adopting electric vehicles as the main mode of personal motorized transportation (two-fifths of commuters are on bicycles). Efficiency is key too; power plant “waste heat” is captured to provide hot water and space heat through district heating systems that already serve 60 percent of all buildings. Read more
August 12, 2010
The press release below in Alaska Business Monthly is very exciting news for Akutan. In addition to Akutan, geothermal exploration is ongoing at Mt. Spurr, just 50 miles west of Anchorage, and test drilling is underway in King Salmon by Naknek Electric Association. Geothermal power is also already being tapped at Chena Hot Springs Resort where its used to heat and power the resort’s facilities, including a year-round greenhouse and ice museum.
From Alaska Business Monthly: The City of Akutan is in hot water, but that’s a good thing. The first of two geothermal energy exploration wells has produced water in excess of 360 degrees Fahrenheit. According to the project’s geotechnical team, the early results point to a geothermal resource that could put Akutan on the fast track for developing Alaska’s first large-scale geothermal power system.
“The community has decided that renewable energy is our future,” said Akutan Mayor Joe Bereskin. “The results from our first test well make me optimistic that the future will be here sooner, rather than later,” he added. Read more
August 12, 2010
A press release from the Alaska Energy Authority: Today the Alaska Energy Authority (AEA) Board of Directors approved a $9 million Power Project Fund (PPF) loan to Haida Energy, Inc. to help finance a new 5 megawatt (MW) hydroelectric project located at Reynolds Creek on Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska.
Haida Energy, Inc. is a newly formed entity established by Haida Corporation and Alaska Power and Telephone Company, Inc. (AP&T). The corporation was formed to construct and own the new Reynolds Creek 5MW plant, which has a total project cost of $17,245,000. State and federal grants totaling $5,340,000 were previously approved. Haida Corporation invested $4 million, and will reduce its equity investment to $2,905,000 through use of the PPF loan approved today.
AEA’s Power Project Fund provides loans to local utilities, local governments or independent power producers for the development or upgrade of electric power facilities, including conservation, bulk fuel storage and waste energy conservation.
AEA Board of Directors approval is required for any Power Project Fund loan that exceeds $2,000,000.
The Alaska Energy Authority is a public corporation of the state. AEA’s purpose is to reduce the cost of energy in Alaska.
August 10, 2010
By Jill Burke of Alaska Dispatch: Nearly 300 miles south of Anchorage sits a small community where tribal members are descendants of villagers forced to flee an erupting volcano. Nearly a century after those ancestors were chased away, King Salmon is the home base for an energy discovery tapping into the same forces that caused Mount Katmai to blow in 1912.
In a place best known for its world-class salmon runs, workers are currently in the process of capturing a different kind of catch. Each day, a drilling crew is lifting from a deep hole in the earth enough water to fill nearly 500 bath tubs, at temperatures hot enough to slow-cook spare ribs. In the geothermal world a 250-degree heat source isn’t exceptionally warm but it’s plenty warm enough to get the job done.
Converting the earth’s trapped heat into energy isn’t an earth-shatteringly new endeavor. But the project underway on the northern tip of the Aleutian Chain is a first for the state of Alaska. The geothermal wells Naknek Electric Association is drilling are a lead up to the first utility-grade geothermal plant in Alaska history. If successful, the plant is expected to dramatically decrease utility rates in the Bristol Bay region. At first only three communities will tie into the new power source — Naknek, South Naknek and King Salmon — but the ultimate goal is to connect all 28 villages in the Bristol Bay region to the alternative energy grid. Read more
