Photos by Sherry Stout, NREL

In mid-February, I had the opportunity to attend the Alaska Forum on the Environment in Anchorage, Alaska. The conference was attended by over 1,500 people and included a film festival, poster sessions, keynote speeches, and dozens of presentations. 

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Most of my time was spent at an information booth meeting people from around Alaska, but I was able to attend some of the presentations as well. One of the most interesting presentations I attended was on the use of biomass in rural Alaska. The presentation was given by Karen Petersen of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service. Karen talked about biomass pre-feasibility studies that are available for free to Alaskan communities and only require a short application. 

Karen also presented on a biomass calculator (available for free) from the University of Minnesota. This calculator allows communities to predict their costs and savings associated with biomass projects. This provides a first-cut look at whether or not biomass is a viable option for a community project. Karen mentioned the opportunities and challenges for biomass use in Alaska. Many communities have an abundant resource in the form of cord wood that can be obtained in a cost-effective way. At the same time, in some places (particularly in the southeast part of the state), it can take up to three years to adequately dry wood for use in efficient cord wood stoves. The prefeasibility studies from the Cooperative Extension Service are designed to help communities identify the opportunities for biomass in their specific context.

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My favorite part of the forum was meeting people from all over the state of Alaska. We had great conversations on financing rural energy projects, microgrids, and electric vehicle use. We were even able to provide limited technical assistance at the booth! Using the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) PVWatts tool, we modeled available solar resource and rough-cut paybacks for over a dozen villages.

While every location had some degree of solar resource, Barrow had the most unique solar profile. Barrow sits at about 71 degrees latitude. This means that in the month of December, the community has exactly zero solar resource! However, given the long days of Alaskan summers, solar energy is an option even in places as far north as Barrow. In these places, it is crucial to match solar development projects to summer loads. There were several communities that were interested in using solar panels to support their tourism and fishing industries. PVWatts provided quick looks at the resource potential of these projects.

Overall, it was a great week of making connections and talking about environmental and energy issues in a uniquely Alaskan context.

Visit the University of Alaska Fairbanks Alaska Cooperative Extension Service website for more information on using wood as an alternative heating source to fuel.

Sherry Stout
Sherry Stout is an Engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory with expertise in sustainable development at the community scale, case study research, and data management.
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