News
August 9, 2010
By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL of the New York Times: LISBON — Five years ago, the leaders of this sun-scorched, wind-swept nation made a bet: To reduce Portugal’s dependence on imported fossil fuels, they embarked on an array of ambitious renewable energy projects — primarily harnessing the country’s wind and hydropower, but also its sunlight and ocean waves.
Today, Lisbon’s trendy bars, Porto’s factories and the Algarve’s glamorous resorts are powered substantially by clean energy. Nearly 45 percent of the electricity in Portugal’s grid will come from renewable sources this year, up from 17 percent just five years ago.
Land-based wind power — this year deemed “potentially competitive” with fossil fuels by the International Energy Agency in Paris — has expanded sevenfold in that time. And Portugal expects in 2011 to become the first country to inaugurate a national network of charging stations for electric cars. Read more
August 9, 2010
By Victoria A. Rocha of Electric Co-op Today: An Alaska co-op is the first electric utility to deploy the state’s brand-new net metering regulations that allow consumers to install and use renewable generation to offset usage. The home of Dorothy and Bill Fry, consumer-members of Homer Electric Assn., is one of 31 enrolled in the co-op’s net metering program. Bill Fry is a co-op director.
Under the state’s requirements, members of Homer Electric Association, Homer, can connect up to 25 kilowatts of renewable energy generation per site, provided they comply with approved interconnection standards. Members are either billed for net consumption or credited if they generate more electricity than they use.
Before the state approved the net metering plan earlier this year, the co-op had experience with member-owned renewable generation. Under a similar interconnection program Homer Electric operated for two years, 31 consumer-members operated small-scale installations, most of them wind turbines ranging in size from one kilowatt to six kilowatts. Read more
August 9, 2010
By KEITH BRADSHER of the New York Times: HONG KONG — Earlier this summer, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao of China promised to use an “iron hand” to improve his country’s energy efficiency, and a growing number of businesses are now discovering that it feels like a fist. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology quietly published a list late Sunday of 2,087 steel mills, cement works and other energy-intensive factories required to close by Sept. 30.
Energy analysts described it as significant step toward the country’s energy efficiency goals, but not enough by itself to achieve them. Over the years, provincial and municipal officials have sometimes tried to block Beijing’s attempts to close aging factories in their jurisdictions. These officials have particularly sought to protect older steel mills and other heavy industrial operations that frequently have thousands of employees and have sometimes provided workers with housing, athletic facilities and other benefits since the 1950s or 1960s.To prevent such local obstruction this time, the ministry said in a statement on its Web site that the factories on its list would be barred from obtaining bank loans, export credits, business licenses and land. The ministry even warned that their electricity would be shut off, if necessary. Read more
August 5, 2010
By Richard Radford of Capital City Weekly: Residents of Juneau concerned with an increase in their monthly utility bills might find it easy to forget that in some Southeast communities, energy woes have been a constant issue for years. Rural areas like Angoon, heavily dependent on fossil fuels, face energy prices as high as ten times the national average. A new project, headed by the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, aims to change that. Dan Lesh, energy coordinator for the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, said the goal of the sustainability project is to show how efficiency and renewability can cut energy costs in rural villages.
Lesh said the cost of energy is exceptionally high in Angoon. The upper limit can be as high as $1,200 per month for a single household, he said, with the average cost in the $300 to $500 range. Read more
August 2, 2010
By Tim Bradner in the Anchorage Daily News: The year 2014 is hanging over Southcentral Alaska like the Sword of Damocles. That’s the year the natural gas runs out, at least in a manner of speaking, or so some experts believe. It’s when the annual production of gas from our depleting Southcentral gas fields may no longer meet annual demand. This shortfall is different from the shortfall in production during cold winter days we now have, when gas is diverted from the Kenai liquefied natural gas plant to meet the utilities’ demand. This is different. Gas production might fall to the point that there just isn’t enough, period. And there might no longer be an LNG plant to cover the deficit.
Sounds scary, and it is. Fortunately it could come a year or two later than 2014, and there are a lot of people working on new energy supplies. Our Legislature had the wisdom this year to enact some powerful incentives for new exploration and gas development in Southcentral, an obvious first step. We’ll know in the next two years if there’s enough new drilling to make a difference. Read more
August 2, 2010
By Jonathan Grass of the Juneau Empire: Construction of the new Downtown Transportation Center at the corner of Egan Drive and Main Street has included a new feature, something to provide some green in more than one sense. The project’s new transit center will be home to a “green roof,” which the minds behind it say will be the first of its kind in Southeast Alaska. In their simplest form, green roofs are those that contain living plants as part of the roofing structure.Landscape architect Christopher Mertl explained the thought behind creating this visual aid made it quite a detailed project.
“We wanted to create something that’s going to be attractive and environmentally sensitive,” Mertl said.
Around 1,000 square feet of the transit center’s roof are covered with trays of sedums and native Alaskan sea thrift. Mertl said he chose these species not only for their aesthetic appeal, but for their low-maintenance benefits. He said these plants could survive heavy rains, droughts and heat conditions without requiring caretaking. Once planted, they would be relatively independent and save in maintenance costs. Read more
August 1, 2010
REAP Communications Director Stephanie Nowers wrote this editorial which appeared in the Anchorage Daily News
With the recent disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, people across the country have been questioning our country’s reliance on fossil fuels and are searching for alternatives to diversify our energy supply. Many are looking more closely at Alaska’s efforts. A recent online report by Atlantic Monthly writer Alexis Madrigal went so far as to say people should look to the 49th state to see the future of clean energy. That may be a bit of a stretch, but Alaska is blessed with vast supplies of renewable energy from wind to geothermal to tidal, and we are already utilizing those resources to a far greater extent than many people realize.
More than 20 communities from Kasigluk to Hooper Bay to Unalakleet are now partially powered by wind. On Kodiak Island, the Kodiak Electric Association is now generating 89 percent of its electricity with wind and hydropower. The utility’s three wind turbines, installed last July on Pillar Mountain, have already cut diesel fuel use in half by more than 900,000 gallons. That’s saved the utility more than $2.3 million (at the going rate of $2.60 a gallon for diesel), and the $21.4 million project will pay even higher dividends in the future as the price of diesel rises.
Wind is far from the only renewable resource. Chena Hot Springs Resort near Fairbanks is tapping geothermal power to provide heat and electricity for its facilities, including a year-round greenhouse and ice museum. Last year, the Juneau airport installed a ground-source heat pump system to heat the airport’s facilities by tapping into the relatively constant temperature underground. Geothermal exploration is also ongoing at Mount Spurr, 80 miles west of Anchorage, for a project that could potentially provide up to 16 percent of the Railbelt’s daily electric needs.
Hydropower is also a mainstay in Alaska, generating 24 percent of the state’s electricity.
Other clean energy technologies are emerging in Alaska, with the state becoming a recognized test bed for new ways to generate power. Ocean Renewable Power Company is on track to install a test turbine in 2012 in Cook Inlet, for example. There are also projects under way to tap heat from Resurrection Bay to heat the Alaska Sealife Center in Seward; use in-river turbines to generate power from the Yukon and Nenana rivers; and to use methane gas produced by cold-loving bacteria from tundra lakes (psychrophiles) to generate electricity.
Alaska can be a leader in clean energy. We have both the resources and the motivation with communities that pay some of the highest energy prices in the country. Oil and gas will be a necessary part of the energy mix for years to come. But by diversifying now with wind, hydro, geothermal and other renewable resources, we can provide Alaska with long-term stability in energy prices and insulate ourselves against the inevitable spikes in fossil fuel prices for years to come.
Stephanie Nowers is communications director for the Renewable Energy Alaska Project (REAP), a nonprofit education and advocacy group dedicated to increasing the development of renewable energy in Alaska. REAP is holding the upcoming Aug. 7 Alaska Renewable Energy Fair, a free event from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on the Anchorage Park Strip that features live music, crafts, food, renewable energy demonstrations and workshops on renewable energy and energy efficiency.
July 28, 2010
By MATTHEW L. WALD of the New York Times: The rapid growth of wind farms, whose output is hard to schedule reliably or even predict, has the nation’s electricity providers scrambling to develop energy storage to ensure stability and improve profits.
As the wind installations multiply, companies have found themselves dumping energy late at night, adjusting the blades so they do not catch the wind, because there is no demand for the power. And grid operators, accustomed to meeting demand by adjusting supplies, are now struggling to maintain stability as supplies fluctuate. On the cutting edge of a potential solution is Hawaii, where state officials want 70 percent of energy needs to be met by renewable sources like the wind, sun or biomass by 2030. A major problem is that it is impossible for generators on the islands to export surpluses to neighboring companies or to import power when the wind towers are becalmed. Read more
July 28, 2010
By LOUIS GARCIA in the Kodiak Daily Mirror: The Kodiak High School wind turbine project that started in 2008 is starting to pick up speed. Various administrators and KHS teacher Jane Eisemann have been meeting with the Kodiak Electric Association and the Coast Guard to get the Wind for Schools Program under way. The Skystream, a small wind turbine, is the model being used in what will be a green academic venture for the district.
“It’s going to provide a curriculum and education to students in the natural resource class on sustainable energy,” Eisemann said at Monday evening’s school board meeting. “It’s just a nice segue on what’s happening already in our community … with our hydro and our beautiful wind turbines on Pillar Mountain.”
Data will be sent to the district classrooms 24/7 from the turbine. Read more
July 27, 2010
From Anne Hillman at KUCB: Only 90 people live in the Aleutian Island community of Akutan. But the village hosts one of the largest fish processing plants in the state. And soon, they might also be home to one of the largest geothermal energy plants. With over $2.5 million from an Alaska Renewable Energy grant, Akutan is exploring the potential of their active volcano. KUCB’s Anne Hillman visited Hot Springs Bay on Akutan Island and has this story. Hear more
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