Searching for diesel efficiency: testing Bering Sea technology on rural generators.

• Author: Stricker, Julie
• Position: ENERGY SIDEBAR

Anew technology promising to boost the of efficiency diesel engines is garnering interest in rural Alaska.

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The technology, an air-based catalyst made by EcoEmissions is being used successfully on cruise ships and large fishing vessels, including the F/V Kodiak of "The Deadliest Catch." On the vessels, it is showing a 5 percent to 10 percent reduction in fuel use, which would add up quickly in rural Alaska, where diesel can cost up to $10 per gallon.

The payoff could also be substantial. According to the Alaska Energy Authority, villages that receive State Power Cost Equalization funding used 29.3 million gallons of diesel in 2009, the most recent numbers available. A 5 percent efficiency improvement translates into savings of 1.47 million gallons annually. It could also reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 32 million pounds.

David Pelunis-Messier, renewable energy department project director of the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council, is seeking a grant to test the technology in diesel-powered generator sets that are used in most Alaska villages.

"The catalyst should work the same, if not better, in a village generator than in a propulsion system because village generators are on all the time and are running more consistently," Messier said, adding that he has spent a substantial amount of time studying the differences in how the two types of engines operate.

The grant is seeking about $250,000 through the Alaska Energy Authority's Emerging Technology Fund. Much of that cost is for the equipment needed to set up the test, Messier said. He does not know, however, when any funding might come through.

The EcoEmissions system is relatively new and Messier said it has not been added to the EPA's list of approved clean technologies. Studies are...