Building Clean Energy Capacity in Alaska: Educating and Training the Energy Leaders of Tomorrow
Abstract
AbstractAlaska is home to more than 200 remote communities not connected by road or transmission line that are reliant on imported diesel fuel for heat and electricity generation. Some residents face electricity rates nearly 10 times greater than the national average. In 2008, the Alaska Legislature established the Renewable Energy Fund to help Alaskans develop local renewable alternatives todiesel. More than 80 projects have so far been commissioned and are displacing more than 30 million gallons of diesel each year. The varied performance of those hybrid diesel-renewable microgrids is partly attributable to how those systems are operated and maintained over time. A resilient Alaskan future will depend on increased energy literacy, and a highly trained clean energy workforce in both rural and urban Alaska to efficiently run hybrid microgrids and retrofit an inefficient building stock in a vast state with a cold climate and challenging logistics.The mission of Renewable Energy AlaskaProject (REAP) is to advance clean energy in Alaska through education, collaboration, training, and advocacy. REAP partners with the Alaska Regional Collaboration for Technology Innovationand Commercialization (ARCTIC) to promote and support energy research, education and technology. REAP#s primary roles under ARCTIC are to deliver Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) curricula and support vocational training through the Alaska Networkfor Energy Education and Employment (ANEEE). REAP also leads the US DoE#s Energy Transition Initiative Partnership Program, a complementary effort bringing technical assistance from national laboratories to Alaskan communities which sprang in part from REAP#s successful efforts over the last ONR grant period to expand the US DoE#s Islanded Grid Resource Center (IGRC). REAP#s energy education work focuses on disseminating a range of K-12 STEM curricula across Alaska through a variety of initiatives, and training local educators on those curricula. REAP also disseminates STEM lessons through the Sustainable Southeast Partnership (SSP), a diverse networkof partners that provides high energy cost communities in Southeast Alaska with expertise in energy, local food production, resource management, economic development and communications to foster integrated solutions and community resiliency. For almost seven years, REAP#s Alaska Network for Energy Education and Employment has mapped energy education and training opportunities in Alaska. ANEEE#s ongoing gap analysis provides a platform to align organizations in Alaska working in the energy education and workforce sectors. With an emphasis on building career pathways, ANEEE is cultivating a more robust and collaborative STEM, vocational and university ecosystem in Alaska through targeted convenings, information exchanges, career education and outreach. ANEEE recently spawned People in Power (PIP), a program bringing needed training in a variety of areas to small, independent rural utilities across Alaska.REAP also recently hired a trained economist to develop and refine economic analyses that support Alaska#s transition to renewable energy, and greater energy efficiency. There are hundreds of millions of people worldwide that rely on imported diesel to generate electricity. Increasing STEM skills, human capacity and critical analysis in Alaska#s energy sector increases the security, resilience and efficiency of the state#s critical infrastructure. It also leads Alaskans to innovation that has both local and global impact.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jun 13, 2024
- Source ID
- N000142412362
Entities
People
- Chris Rose
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- Renewable Energy Alaska Project
- United States Navy