Yakutat has identified biomass energy sources as one of our primary areas of emphasis.
The Yakutat Forelands has considerable deciduous and evergreen forest resources. Yakutat is interested in the potential to use these wood resources to produce affordable local electrical power. We have investigated the use of ORC (Organic Rankine Cycle) technology to convert wood energy to electrical power. We are also interested in waste-to-energy technology that could make use of our local seafood plant's waste stream, potentially coupled with organic landfill waste and sewage effluent.
NEW!! YAKUTAT CHOSEN FOR BIOMASS DISTRICT HEAT LOOP PROJECT
In early January, Yakutat was awarded $103,000 from the Alaska Renewable Energy Grant Program run by AEA to help fund a biomass heat project. We aim to displace over 6,000 gallons of diesel currently used to heat City Hall, the Courthouse/Planning Office and the Community Center. We are grateful for the letters of support we received from the Yakutat Ranger District (USFS), Yakutat Kwaan and Yakutat Tlingit Tribe. The project is designed to use Garn Boilers with cordwood cut locally. We are monitoring other potential technology such as chip-fed boilers as well. This project will not only start reducing diesel use, it will be a good first step towards greater use of our nearby forest resources to increase our energy self-sufficiency and cut costs. Final approval of the overall AEA grants is expected to occur at the end of legislative session, with funds available after the beginning of the next fiscal year in July. At that point we will begin engineering of the project.
In 2010, with funding provided by a grant from the Alaska Energy Authority, we planted a test plot containing local willow and alder as well as non-native hybrid species to measure growth rates. The intent is to determine the feasibility of using abundant local land for bio-energy crop cultivation.
Additionally there is considerable opportunity to use trimmings from road clearing and wood from forest thinning projects.
More research is needed to determine the actual operational cost of delivering such resources to a power plant, processing, and converting to energy.
Along with the local Alaska Native Corporation, Yak-Tat-Kwaan, and the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe, we remain very interested in this potential and are actively pursuing a scaled project that will prove the viability of biomass energy in Yakutat.