Alaska's future energy source? The answer may be blowing in the wind.

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It's free. There's plenty of it. You can't see it. It's clean. And its supply is endless. It's the wind. Wind is simple air in motion. The uneven heating of the earth's surface causes it.

Alaska has abundant wind resources suitable for power development. Costs associated with fossil fuels and improvements in wind power technology make harnessing this clean, renewable energy source a growing opportunity for many Alaskans.

"People in rural Alaska are paying astronomical prices for diesel," said Martina Dabo, wind program manager with the Alaska Energy Authority. "In extreme cases, villagers will pay between $6 to $8 a gallon. So if we approach this thing right and further develop wind power, we can reduce their fuel bills and at the same time help the environment."

Today, wind energy is also the fastest-growing energy source.

Much of the best winds in the 49th State are located in the western and coastal portions.

"Of course, as you might imagine," says Dabo, "the stronger and more productive winds occur during the winter months. Although, maybe a little surprising, is that the central part of Alaska is not particularly a good geographic location in terms of harnessing wind."

GOOD AND BAD

The winds in these regions tend to be associated with strong high- and low-pressure systems and related storm tracks. In parts of Southwest Alaska, turbines may actually need to be constructed away from some of the best wind conditions to avoid extreme gusts and turbulence. In the Interior, average wind speeds tend to be much lower, although localized wind resources can be found near elevated terrain or channeled passes like those near Delta Junction and Healy.

Wind power density, represented as watts per square meter, is divided into seven power classes: Class 1 being the weakest classification. Much depends on wind energy feasibility, such as size of electrical load, price of displaced fuel, such as diesel or natural gas, foundation cost, and other site-specific variables.

Wind energy, a clean energy source of electricity generated by wind turbines, does not pollute the air or emit pollutants like other energy sources, which translates into less smog, less acid rain and fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

The first wind farm in the Last Frontier, located in Kotzebue in a Class 4 to 5 wind resource, has been displacing a significant portion of the utility's diesel fuel with wind power for more than 10 years. "Even though wind is free and there is a never-ending abundance of it, there will never be a time when we are going to be completely 100 percent dependent on wind power," Dabo said.

Now, with 17 wind turbines online, Kotzebue Electric Association's wind-power project is the largest in the state. It started out with three wind-turbine generators. KEA has also garnered national attention--and awards--for its design and high percentage of power provided to this northwestern community. These units currently supply about 7 percent of Kotzebue's yearly electrical requirements.

The price for each turbine, delivered, is in the neighborhood of $140,000. Costs of steel, transportation and production have all risen with the price of oil.

The Tanadgusix Corp., on St. Paul Island in the Bering Sea, benefits from a Class 7, the highest-rated wind class, to provide electricity, as well as heat produced from excess wind energy, to a large industrial facility.

Last year, the Electric Power Research Institute, in partnership with AEA, Chugach Electric and ML&P, completed a tidal energy study at Cairn Point on Knik Arm. The results of the study showed that an estimated 17 MW of power could be generated using tidal energy, enough to power 17,000 homes. After that report was published, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued eight preliminary tidal energy permits to energy developers for projects in the state.

"Some regulations (regarding alternative energy sources) are as stringent as permitting for the natural gas pipeline," Dabo said.

GOT WIND?

One Alaska business, which is out to make the most of the energy from wind power, is Susitna Energy Systems.

"I completely run my homestead on Flathorn Lake by using alternative energy sources," said Susitna Energy Owner Kirk Garoutte. "I think I might be one of the few in this business who practice what they preach. I sell AND I use the product."

Among the energy efficient products Susitna Energy Systems sells are wind turbines. A typical setup for a homeowner in Anchorage would cost nearly $5,400. These particular turbines are efficient enough to power lodges, homesteads and large cabins and homes up to 3,000 square feet. These machines, which have been on the market for nearly two years, are designed to connect to the utility.

"We probably have between 20 to 25 of the (Skystream 3.7) units operating around the state," Garoutte said, who has owned the firm since 1999, under the name Susitna Energy Systems. "A wind turbine is not feasible for everyone. If you live on a zero-lot line property, then constructing a wind turbine for your energy needs would not be prudent." The wind turbine that Garoutte speaks of is called a Skystream 3.7[TM]. According to Garoutte, the turbine is "neighborhood friendly" because of its ability to run quietly and save homeowners as much as 75 percent on their electrical bills. Skysteam is the first fully integrated system that produces energy for less than the average cost of electricity in the U.S.

The turbine weighs 170 pounds with a rotor diameter of 12 feet. "It's almost like putting up a TV satellite dish on the roof of your house," he says.

When the wind is blowing, the Skystream powers your home (in part); when it's not, your home is powered by your utility as usual. There are permitting requirements for the homeowner for constructing the turbines.

"We're hogs when it comes to energy," Garoutte said, referring to the tremendous amount used annually by Americans.

Puget Sound Energy (Bellevue, Wash.) estimates its share of the wind generation needed to meet Washington's Renewable Portfolio Standard would be approximately 1,100 MW. That means that PSE and its developmental partners will need to place one wind project into commercial service approximately every 18 months, beginning in 2010.

Some technologies are more advanced, though still small in the nation's overall energy mix. Nevada boasts 15 geothermal plants, with the capacity to generate enough electricity for 73,000 homes.

THE WINDY STATE

Katabatic winds, created by variation in air-mass temperatures, are found in places like the upper Matanuska Valley and near Seward and Juneau. In parts of Southeast, offshore locations are promising, but steep terrain and large forested areas limit onshore potential.

The community of Wales (Alaska Village Electrical Cooperative) recently installed 300 kWh wind projects in Toksook Bay and Kasigluk. An intertie from Toksook Bay also provides electricity to Tununak and Nightmute. Other projects are under way or planned in Sand Point, Kodiak, Hooper Bay, Nikolski, Chevak, Gambell and Savoonga.

Cook Inlet, with North America's second-largest tidal range, has attracted interest as an energy source for the Railbelt for many years. Several of the major utilities are examining wind power in the region as a way to diversify future sources of energy and hedge against rising natural gas prices.

Chugach Electric Association and landowner, Cook Inlet Region Inc., and their wind project at Fire Island west of Anchorage, indicate a wind power Class 4 to 5. Golden Valley Electric Association has made substantial progress in developing the Eva Creek wind project located near existing transmission lines north of Healy.

"The advantage of wind power energy is of course, is that it's free. The disadvantage is when we look to wind as an alternative source of energy, that we not look to it as 'instead of' but 'in addition to,' and therefore, we will never be able to totally count on it as the ultimate answer," said Phil Steyer, director of government relations and corporate communications for Chugach Electric.

BY BEN GRENN, ASSOCIATE EDITOR

QUICK FACTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE WIND AND ALASKA ENERGY POWER:

* 24 percent is the portion of Alaska's electricity that comes from hydropower.

* 8 percent is the portion of the Railbelt's electricity that comes from hydropower.

* 20 million gallons of diesel fuel displaced by hydroelectricity is produced from Four Dam Pool.

* 2 megawatts of electric generating capacity from wind turbines is in Alaska.

* 2,901 megawatts of electrical wind power capacity is in Texas.

* 2,500 homes could get electrical power using methane produced by decomposing garbage at Anchorage's landfill.

* 1.5 percent is the portion of Eielson Air Force Base's (Fairbanks) heat and power that is supplied by burning compressed cubes of waste paper.

* 1 million gallons of diesel/fish oil mixture is used each year to produce electricity in Unalaska.

* 106 photovoltaic panels help supply electricity in the tiny community of Lime Village.