ACEP Makes a Big Presence in the Northwest Arctic Borough
ACEP Research Engineer Michelle Wilber presents her NSF NNA work on Electric Vehicles in the Arctic.
June 02, 2023
ACEP has had a large presence in the Northwest Arctic Borough this year.
Economist Dominique Pride gave a presentation on a National Science Foundation (NSF)’s Navigating the New Arctic (NNA) project she leads with a multidisciplinary team at the Northwest Arctic Borough’s Energy Steering Committee meeting April 18 in Kotzebue.
The project is titled “Reducing Fuel Oil Consumption in Rural Arctic Communities.” The team is investigating whether displacing fuel oil used for space heating with energy efficiency improvements and renewably generated electricity can substantially reduce the energy cost burden for households, reduce carbon emissions, and increase the renewable energy contribution in isolated microgrids in remote Arctic communities. Alana Vilagi and Gratia Rowell, research assistants who work on the team, held a community focus group to discuss energy efficiency concerns as well as a survey design specific to Kotzebue.
At the same meeting, Research Engineer Michelle Wilber and Research Assistant Jessica Egbejimba presented their work. Their NSF NNA planning grant project, “Electric Vehicles (EVs) in the Arctic,” investigates the transition to electric vehicles. They shared their results on identified barriers to EV adoption, opportunities, and the Alaska EV Calculator tool.
Wilber traveled further on to visit the power system in Shungnak and the power plant in Ambler.
From left to right, Gratia Rowell, Jessica Egbejimba, Michelle Wilber and Alana Vilagi pose for a photo on the frozen Kotzebue Sound after attending the Northwest Arctic Borough’s Energy Steering Committee meeting in April.
Pride will be returning to Kotzebue during the week of June 5 to recruit participants for the home heating field study. If you are interested in learning more about and participating in the study, please visit https://www.uaf.edu/acep/studies/kotz.php.
Kotzebue will also see Teaching Through Technology high school students coming from across Alaska during the week of June 5. Led by ACEP’s George Reising, the students will study energy systems and environmental monitoring — the process of measuring or collecting environmental data to accurately quantify the impact that an activity has on an environment. Specifically, they will learn about renewable energy and sustainability, microgrid systems, energy efficiency and auditing, and data collection.
They will also visit Noatak, one of the many surrounding communities which are in an early stage of renewable energy development and face additional challenges, such as higher energy costs, limited transportation, and greater impacts on subsistence from human activities. The students are planning to learn from the community of Noatak and share their experience with Noatak students.