The greening of Alaska: revolutionary green energy projects on the horizon.

• Author: Pielli, Brooke
• Position: ENGINEERING

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In Alaska, a group of civil engineers has already begun delivering new green energy technologies, transforming the way people here live and work and think.

Courses in coastal energy are growing by leaps and bounds, according to Orson Smith, chair of the civil engineering department at the University of Alaska Anchorage for the past 11 years.

"We have 350 undergraduate students and 50 graduate students," said Smith. "The economic opportunities, the employment opportunities for high-paying, interesting jobs in so-called green energy projects is larger than the university can currently supply to businesses."

According to Smith, "500 jobs will arise each year--more than there are graduates. There's an obvious high demand. Green projects are catching on here and they are environmentally responsible. Renewable energy and sustainability are both present in the state. Here at engineering, we are impressed by this growth and, among other things, there will be a meeting to discuss the feasibility for a new engineering building that demonstrates green features and sustainability."

He said there is interest in whether Girdwood, an outlying community of Anchorage, might benefit from an energy research and discovery center, because of its proximity to a steep valley for hydropower and to Cook Inlet's tidal range for hydrokinetic power generation.

"There has been a tidal plant in France for several decades," Smith said. "The tidal-power installation, consisting of 5,000 people, is a pretty big project and produces 100 megawatts-an-hour for people in nearby communities.

"The resultant flow is abundant as the windmill traps tidal flow behind a dam before being directed to where it is needed or wanted. Adjacent environment and ecologies are not affected in any way."

Another renewable, non-intrusive green energy employs anchoring a device in flow causing the device to spin, turning a generator to make substantial power--literally hundreds of kilowatts. There is one planned for Eagle, a project of Alaska Power and Telephone, where the flow of the river will spin a hydrofoil, turning a generator to produce heat for homes and businesses in this isolated community.

Alternative energy is very important for small, coastal communities relying on expensive diesel to fuel generators--particularly Native Alaska villages and towns.

"The price of hydrocarbon fuel affects all choices as the abundance of hydrocarbon gas for power and heating of the...