Chena Hot Springs Resort hosted its 18th annual Renewable Energy Fair on Sunday, bringing together vendors, local and national experts for technical talks, and keynote speeches.
Bernie Karl, the owner of the resort and several associated businesses, started the fair to highlight possible solutions for Alaska’s energy needs.
The resort remains Alaska’s lone active geothermal project, though Karl’s Chena Power and partner businesses are exploring the concept in the Aleutians East Borough.
Vendors included the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Alaska Center for Energy and Power, the U.S. Energy Department Arctic Energy Office, Alaska Renewable Plastics, and the Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition.
ACEP, for example, had a bicycle rigged to a set of light bulbs to demonstrate the amount of physical exercise needed to power an incandescent, fluorescent and LED bulb.
Adrian Burke, an ACEP intern, said he has seen people surpass 200 watts while cycling. The LED bulb requires the least exercise, while the incandescent requires the most.
“You have to emphasize with the utility companies who have to produce so much power,” Burke said.
The renewable energy fair also included local owners’ trio of electric vehicles, including a Ford Electric Mustang, a Tesla sedan and the iconic Tesla Cybertruck.
Keynote speakers included Karl as master of ceremonies, Givey Kochanowski, the regional director for the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), and Bill Schnabel, the dean of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ College of Engineering and Mines.
Karl opened the ceremony by touting the need to be flexible with Alaska’s energy needs while scaling and reigning in federal spending.
“We’re addicted to oil in one arm and we’re addicted to greed in the other. Those two addictions have us totally messed up,” Karl said. “I’m worried about the future, and I would like to think that we all can make the future a better place for our grandkids and their grandkids.”
Karl also touted some of his newest developments and additions at Chena Hot Springs Road, including ten all-electric snowmachines with 90-mile ranges. He recently added a new building to his resort to house the snowmachines, along with electric bicycles and other recreational equipment. The building is made out of shipping containers and all-recycled materials, from wiring to a $25 breaker box he bought at an Aleyska Pipe auction.
“You don’t have to be the brightest bulb, you just have to be a bulb and come up with ideas,” Karl said.
Kochanowski spoke about Alaska’s untapped renewable energy potential, including tidal and ocean-based sources that could help offset Alaska’s use of natural gas. About 50% of the Railbelt’s energy generation comes from natural gas, all of it from the Cook Inlet.
However, Hilcorp, the largest Cook Inlet natural gas developer, told its clients in 2022 that the supply of reachable natural gas was dwindling. Hilcorp advised its clients that it would be unable to sign new supply contracts after the current ones end in the next decade.
BOEM’s mission, Kochanowski said, includes looking at the best potential for energy sources around Alaska’s continental shelf, which is about one billion acres — a third of the national continental shelf area.
The Alaska BOEM office has 45 people to cover the entire state and as such leverages its resources with partners such as ACEP, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Alaska Native Corporations and state agencies.
With the Biden administration’s current moratorium on most new oil and gas development projects in Alaska, Kochanowski said his office has pivoted toward making renewable energy more feasible.
“Our agency has spent $450 million over the last 50 years to understand Alaska’s environment and what it looks like historically and where we are today,” Kochanowski said. “These studies allow us to domain awareness for the Arctic and for the state of Alaska.”
Kochanowski’s office oversees offshore energy leases in federal waters, which start about three miles off Alaska’s coast. The leases include both possible renewable energy and traditional fossil fuel developments.
“A lot of people don’t look at Alaska through the ocean lens,” Kochanowski said. “There’s so much more energy potential in the ocean than we’ve ever known about or considered for development.”
BOEM launched a new study recently that highlighted ocean and tidal power as a renewable energy source. He said the Cook Inlet alone could produce 20 gigawatts of power, more than 20 times what the entire Railbelt produces.
BOEM started a multi-agency working group in 2023 to explore Cook Inlet tidal sources.
The federal waters off Alaska’s shores also have the potential to yield critical earth minerals such as cobalt and lithium needed to meet the current White House goals to eventually transition to a future of mostly renewable energy and electrical vehicle use.
“The entire energy revolution happening right now requires a significant amount of critical minerals to power the transition to electric vehicles and other rechargeable batteries and storage systems,” Kochanowski said.
He stressed partnerships with the state of Alaska will be key to developing the ocean’s renewable energy potential given overlapping interests.
“There’s a big disconnect often between DC ambitions and the reality of Alaska,” Kochanowski said. “Our role as a regional office is to bridge that difference and bring the Alaska and Arctic perspective into our agency operations.”
He added when his office makes decisions on leasing and project development, public feedback will be essential.
“We want to make sure that it’s done in accordance with the wishes of not only the federal laws that regulate us but specifically the local people that are impacted by these projects,” Kochanowski said.
