Yakutat Energy

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energy fair, Wave energy, Yakutat

Waves are the big thing here- surfing by the big mountains, whales running around out in the bay, tall (old growth) trees, etc… People from all over the country have met for a couple days for the Yakutat Energy Fair and it looks as though wave power is the big talk. Lots of biomass and even some solar people also are attending from lower 48, Hawaii and in-state.

CES has had a presence with a table attended by Sarah Lewis (Juneau agent) and myself.  A highlight was to spend quite a bit of booth time with the AK Education Commissioner about the energy efficiency of schools statewide. ACEP also had a booth, and there were about a half a dozen Fairbanksians attended and presented various workshops. (From there on to Cordova for a stop over  to present biofuel and remote camp energy workshops).

Biomass Conference Day 3 (Wednesday)

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bush elecric generators, Digesters

When you are in a session co-titling itself ‘from cow piles to biomass’, you know you are in for some excitement before the next break (happening to be lunch….). Anyway, one and half hour sessions are pretty impressive with 4 experts to a panel (being one yesterday, there were some gasps of impression when showing a 10 minute film about Tok Schools concept to completion heat and electricity facility). The session above was about a dairy digester facility where energy was reaped from the cow waste and using algae from ponds/trenches. Creative case studies and macro/meta views of govermental and public opinion manuvuering are covered- qute a range. Someone from the Biomass division of Alaska Energy Authority joined me to a booth for viewing a portable/modular electical biomass generator that uses 55 gallon drum, Die hard battery, GM Vortex engine and other common items- quite impressive, it can have biomass create 10, 20. 50 and 100kw!

Biomass Conference Day 2 (Tuesday)

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biomass, carbon accounting, EU, incentives, policy regulation

Quite a day with seminars- but the most informative was the general session kicking off the morning with high powered CEO-Lawyer and think tank types from various Biomass entities. There has been much talk of European markets for Amercian biomass as the sensibility is that carbon to be counted with cutting down and burning of a tree is in a sense ‘wiped off the books’ due to regrowth (unlike fossil fuels which burn yet don’t resubmit function into the carbon cycle….). This makes biomass more attractive when comparing it to other fuels. Yet Amercian regulatory policy and legislation was characterized as somewhat hodge-podge and in transition; thus, biomass may not be comprehensively be categorized that way and thus industry and incentive providers are not sure with the current signals from the D.C. Administration how to go forward. When I mentioned after a couple hours of listening that Asia had not been mentioned (and that coming from a Pacific Rim facing state we often look to the East), it was mentioned that Korea and Japan have guides similar to the EU which they follow per biomass and carbon counting in their policies.

Biomass Conference Day 1 (Monday)

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Biomass conference. International, Conversion, Garn

Two and a half hours was spent in St. Paul at the Garn testing facility. We witnessed a partial burn, instrumentation as well as a ‘thermal battery in a box’ which could be used to dump a load by attaching DC rectifier to 7 elements in the bottom of a very large poly reservoir of water. They have tested now for ~40 years, and explained earlier models of this novel gasification system which needs no flue and utilizes surrounding water as the heat medium.

Finally, the highlight of the day was picking up finger food sandwiches as well as exciting white papers such as “From Liquor to Sludge- Conversion of a Recovery Boiler to a Bubbling Fluid Bed”. (Oh boy).

Alaska- a new Frontier?

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Alaska exports, biomass, Energy, International Biomass Conference

Read this article (http://www.economist.com/news/business/21575771-environmental-lunacy-europe-fuel-future) in light of the fact that 4 voyages went over through Bering Straights via the Northern Passage to Europe in 2010. In 2012, 40 (forty) voyages went through. Alaskan entrepreneurs I’ve met are banking-literally to some degree- on the next Alaskan energy export boom to be value added (chipped, pelleted, bricked, torrefacted) wood. Tomorrow is the beginning of the International Biomass Conference and I bet there will be plenty of talk about new markets as climate changes in our frontier Arctic state and the waters/ice near!

Law time…..

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Alaska legislature, natural gas, oil, SB 14

Much of the focus has been on oil this week (with the movement through the House currently of SB 21 per oil corporation taxes). Yet for a little levity no matter which side of the isle you stand, here is a must read concerning natural gas hearings: http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/kawasaki-rebuked-for-sticking-out-tongue-on-house-floor/article_bc1bb1fe-9bf7-11e2-bb98-001a4bcf6878.html