March 26, 2012
By Ed Ronco, KCAW: Shifting Sitka to more renewable sources of energy could keep millions of dollars from leaving the community over the next 20 years. That’s the conclusion of The Future of Energy in Sitka report (.pdf) by the Sitka Conservation Society. Right now, Sitka uses renewable resources for about a quarter of its [...] Read More
March 20, 2012
By Dave Donaldson | APRN – Juneau, Alaska: The House also today authorized a five year extension of the Renewable Energy Grant fund. In continuing the program, it also informally agreed to contribute $50-million a year to projects fitting into the Fund’s requirements. Finance Co-Chair Bill Thomas (R-Haines) told members that the Fund has [...] Read More
March 17, 2012
(SitNews) Ketchikan, Alaska - The U.S. General Services Administration announced this week that the installation of the first biomass boiler in a United States Federal Building is complete. Outdated oil-fired steam boilers in the Ketchikan Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse were replaced with a technologically advanced biomass boiler, which uses waste [...] Read More
March 16, 2012
By Ron Pernick, Managing Director, Clean Edge: There is a strong case for an energy future that moves beyond highly polluting coal and extremely volatile nuclear power, and towards a marriage of efficiency/smart grid, renewables, and natural gas. But in a world of low-cost natural gas, currently at less than $2.50 per million BTU in [...] Read More
March 16, 2012
By RUSSELL STIGALL | JUNEAU EMPIRE Renewable energy entrepreneurs could see the popular Renewable Energy Grant Fund continue for five more $50 million-dollar years. A bill extending the fund passed House [...] Read More
March 15, 2012
2011 was a banner year for solar installations in the US – the first year over a gigawatt (GW) was added in one year, according to a report by U.S. Solar Market Insight A record 1,855 megawatts (MW) of solar PV were added, double the previous record set in 2010, and representing a 109 [...] Read More
March 15, 2012
From the U.S. Energy Information Adminstration Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly. Download CSV Data Generation from wind turbines in the United States increased 27% in 2011 compared to 2010, continuing a trend of rapid growth. During the past five years capacity additions of wind turbines were the main driver of the growth in [...] Read More
March 15, 2012
The Alaska Center for Energy and Power (ACEP) at UAF and Renewable Energy Alaska Project (REAP) are designing Alaska-specific energy efficiency curriculum for classrooms across the state. Funded by the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC), the lessons we are developing will give Alaskan youth an understanding of the high economic and environmental costs of power [...] Read More
March 11, 2012
By Pat Forgey | JUNEAU EMPIRE: After weeks, or even months of preparation, Alaska well driller Tim Hlavnicka sank his first well Friday and hit nothing but gravel. He was thrilled. Hlavnicka’s company, Aquasource, was drilling the first of the wells for the new Library, Archives and Museum building’s innovative geothermal heating system. The ability to use [...] Read More
March 11, 2012
Carey Restino | The Arctic Sounder: After the dramatic pilgrimage of the Coast Guard icebreaker Healy and the Russian ship Renda’s journey to Nome to deliver fuel to the ice-locked community this winter, few remain oblivious to the energy challenges faced by rural Alaska. A recent study by Commonwealth North, however, brings the [...] Read More
