ARCTIC Toolkit: Students pave the way towards energy resiliency in rural Alaska
November 10, 2023
Sometimes to get a job done in rural Alaska, you have to learn how to do it yourself. Equipped with thermometers, hair dryers, and infrared cameras, Alaska Teaching Through Technology students learned how to assess a home's energy efficiency, make recommendations and weatherize buildings with accessible materials.
ARCTIC Toolkit: Students pave the way towards energy resiliency in rural Alaska
November 10, 2023
Sometimes to get a job done in rural Alaska, you have to learn how to do it yourself. Equipped with thermometers, hair dryers, and infrared cameras, Alaska Teaching Through Technology students learned how to assess a home's energy efficiency, make recommendations and weatherize buildings with accessible materials.
September 15, 2023
Public opinion about nuclear energy is often shaped by big events and popular culture, with many people not feeling they fully understand the topic
Ready or not, electric vehicles are coming
August 03, 2023
The transition to electric vehicles is happening—rapidly in some places and more slowly in others. Are we ready for EVs in Alaska?
Does Coal have a Role in Alaska's Energy Future
July 07, 2023
Coal has become a dirty word, and not without good reason. But when it comes to coal, Alaskans have to be pragmatic and open-minded about the realities of our state's needs and available resources. We need to think holistically about our energy options and how we can do the absolute best with ALL of the energy sources and technologies we have access to.
Innovation at the Margins – Lessons Learned from Rural Alaska
June 29, 2023
Technology transitions don't happen uniformly all at once. There are pockets of early adopters, or niche markets, where technology uptake is much faster than the norm. In Alaska, those niche markets have been our rural communities. The Railbelt should look to its counterparts in rural Alaska to understand what strategies and approaches have worked, where, and why.
Nuclear Power and the Perils of Pioneering
June 22, 2023
One day in 2004, Marvin Yoder, the City Manager of Galena, AK, received an unusual e-mail that would change his life and the course of an industry. The email was an inquiry from Toshiba Corporation, asking if Galena might be interested in hosting a demonstration deployment of a small nuclear microreactor "battery" that was under development in Japan.
Seven Tomorrows - the perils of predicting the future
June 15, 2023
Predicting the future is hard - really hard. What can we learn from researchers who scientifically tried to predict the 1980s and 90s, but got things very, very wrong?
Cheaper by the Dozen: Reducing Alaska's Electricity Costs
June 07, 2023
Next week, we will explore a cautionary tale about our ability to predict or forecast the future, and why maintaining flexibility in the face of uncertainty is a smart strategy.
Embarking on a Quest for Cheap Energy
June 02, 2023
Could Alaska generate power for electricity and heat on par with the most competitive markets in the world? A look at the places in the world with the cheapest power to consumers reveals some valuable insights (as well as cautionary tales) to consider as the trend toward deregulation and the opening of energy markets continues to rise.
Alaska's Energy Future: A view from my hot tub
May 22, 2023
From vast fossil energy resources to every possible flavor of renewable energy, Alaska has the resources and assets to produce some of the cheapest energy in the world. However, our current reality boasts the highest energy cost burden of any state in the U.S. Can investments we make today leave an intergenerational legacy of cheap and reliable energy in Alaska?