Organizations around the world are focused on addressing climate change. The Paris Climate Accord focused the efforts of participating governments to achieve Net Zero by 2050—that’s less than thirty years away. Where is all the metal going to come from that will allow this galactic shift to occur?
Students in Southeast Alaska dominated the 4th annual Clean Energy Olympics engineering challenge by designing and building wind turbines.
Through the assistance of Thermalize Juneau, local homeowners interested in clean energy are taking advantage of heat pumps. The program helps them leverage their buying power to obtain discounts and provides technical assistance to demystify the process of installing a new and unfamiliar technology.
Having used supplemental wind power for decades, KEA is looking to solar, a significantly cheaper and more sustainable option in the region.
A few projects across the state are gaining momentum—including one only 80 miles from Anchorage—that could redefine geothermal energy’s role in Alaska.
Many industry experts agree that oil, natural gas, solar, hydro, geothermal, and tidal can all be developed in Alaska without one encroaching on the other’s economic importance to the state. Combined, petroleum and renewables are a positive one-two punch for Alaskans, not ideologically opposed platforms locked in some industrial grudge-match.
While rare earth elements can be found throughout the world, including in Alaska, most of the world’s production takes place in China, putting the supply chain for hundreds of products—as well as significant defense applications—at risk.
Green energy technology is built through mining. Without certain raw materials, such as graphite and rare earth metals, everything from the lithium-ion batteries that power Teslas to those storing electricity from wind turbines would be impossible to create, says US Senator Lisa Murkowski.
The Makushin Geothermal Project would accommodate all of Unalaska’s current and known potential customer base while reducing greenhouse gas emissions, increasing energy security, and helping diversify the local economy.
Alaska has some of the best renewable energy resources in the world. Yet the current lack of a domestic energy policy, transmission costs, and the isolation of more than 200 communities create a challenging environment in which to develop those resources and bring them to market.