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Energy Sources

Alaskas Energy Priorities and their Effects on the Environment

Alaskas Energy and Demands

The United States uses more energy per capita than any other country in the world, and Alaska as a state has the highest per capita energy use in the nation at 1112 Mmbtu(Million British thermal units) per person. This is more than three times higher than the national average of 333 Mmbtus, and is in part due to their climate, with long cold winters throughout most of the state requiring more energy for heating homes.

Available Resources

S Alaska is home to tremendous untapped or

underutilized energy resources, including some of the highest concentrations of fossil and renewable energy resources on earth.

Available Resources (cont.)


In addition to the well known oil and natural gas resources on the North Slope and in Cook Inlet, Alaskas proven coal reserves represent the 4th largest fossil energy resource in the world. Alaska also has significant undeveloped geothermal resources in the Aleutian Island volcanic arc, abundant untapped hydropower, wind, and biomass resources, and the majority of the tidal and wave power potential in the United States.

Resources on a Local Level

Focusing on each community and its relative options for generating electricity and heat through the use of locally available resources is an important step in developing a community, regional and statewide energy plan. The plan is to start at the local level as a building block to develop regional and statewide energy plans for Alaska. In some communities, the resource capability is much larger than the current energy requirements of the community, but there are several communities that do not have any viable alternative energy resources. This causes the need of alternatives beyond the immediate area of the community. It is also likely that some communities are too small or too remote, and the most economic answer would be to continue to use diesel fuel for the near future. However, most communities have at least one opportunity to reduce diesel use, even if solely through implementing efficiency measures.

Resources on a local level (cont.)


S The use of local resources would help local economies

stabilize by developing jobs to build, operate, and maintain energy systems. Local jobs would also be created where fuel collection, processing, and transportation are required. In this way, money currently spent on diesel fuel could be recalculated within a community.

S Resources that could be used to power and heat

Alaskan communities and provide opportunities for local economic development should not sit unused. Alaskans must make the commitment to shift from diesel as much as possible, even when prices are low, if high costs are to be avoided in the future.

Selected Energy Sources

S Hydroelectric Power

S Natural Gas
S Coal Energy S Diesel (Other fossil fuels)

Hydroelectric Power
S Alaska has enjoyed a long and rich history with

hydroelectric power. These power plants have proven to be long-term, reliable, and relatively inexpensive sources of power. durable, operating successfully at some sites for more than a century. Hydropowers low operation and maintenance costs along with long lifetimes result in stable power rates.

S Hydropower installations have the reputation for being

S In Alaska, hydropower is currently the largest and most

important producer of electricity from a renewable energy source. With increased interest in replacing fossil-fuelpowered generation with renewable energy resources, the statewide inventory of installed hydropower capacity will continue to expand.

Hydroelectric Power (cont.)

Natural Gas
S

In Alaska, natural gas is used to generate 54% of the electricity being consumed by industry and the public.
Figure 1 compares the amount of gas being consumed annually in the Anchorage area for residential use and power generation. Clearly, natural gas makes up an important part of the overall energy portfolio of Alaska and will for the foreseeable future. An obstacle to increased use of natural gas in other parts of Alaska is the high cost of exploration and development, or of transportation from areas of large known accumulations to areas where it can be used for heat and power by a smaller population base.

Natural Gas in Alaska for residential and electricity production for the decade 1997-2007

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