receives a case number , allowing users to track the progress of their issue at any time online .
The tool is one product of the city ’ s new tech czar , Brendan Babb , hired as MOA ’ s new Chief Innovation Officer to expand Anchorage ’ s open data initiative . “ Mayor Berkowitz ’ s administration is interested in being as transparent as possible and sharing the data that ’ s created by taxpayer dollars and doing it in a way they can easily access it ,” Babb said .
One tool allows people to text “ bus ” to 312-2060 to check if their bus is on time . Another tool lets people find out if they qualify for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Woman , Infants and Children benefits . They can do that by texting “ food ” or “ child ” to 312-2300 .
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Since 2011 , Seward ’ s Alaska Sealife Center has been striving to heat their facility an innovative way .
Previously , the size of the center required several electric and oil-fired boilers to heat the buildings , so the center decided to take advantage of a resource right outside its doors . By building a heat pump system that uses energy from the sea water in Resurrection Bay , the Alaska Sealife Center ( ASLC ) has cut down on its reliance on fossil fuels and saved considerable money .
The heat pump system was initially effective enough to cover hot water heating and radiant floor heating , but the ASLC still relied on the boilers for baseboard heating . Since December 2015 , the new systems meets 98 percent of the ASLC ’ s heating needs through renewable energy , and has eliminated the use of most of the boilers .
Resurrection Bay is more than 900 feet deep . Through the summer , the water in the bay absorbs solar heat and below the surface remains warmer than the air temperature through winter .
With the new system , seawater from Resurrection Bay is pumped through a heat exchanger , which warms a water and glycol mix . When liquid refrigerant contacts the warmish water , it evaporates , which pulls heat out of the water , changing from a liquid to a gas and then compressed to 2000 PSI , which raises its temperature to 194 °. The hot , compressed gas then goes to a condenser , where it turns into a liquid , releasing all the heat that it had stored when it was turned into a vapor .
The SeaLife Center is saving $ 15,000 a month in heating costs , a savings that can be redirected to its conservation and research programs . The new system will have a complete return on investment in only 13 years .
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Alaska Villages are Leading Nation in Rural Micro-grids
Alaska SeaLife Center Now Heated with Seawater
Despite the challenges , the Alaskan energy sector has excelled in establishing micro-grid : localized grids that can be disconnected from the traditional energy grid and that operate autonomously .
Alaska operates 12 percent of the world ’ s microgrids . In the state , there are 200-250 permanently islanded microgrids ranging from 30 kW to over 100 MW in size . While most of them run on costly diesel fuel , more than seventy of these microgrids integrate some type of renewable energy . About half of that is wind energy , and the rest is comprised of small hydro projects , biomass , and solar . Communities that integrate renewable energy see increased cost savings .
Expensive , diesel-generated power currently constitutes 90 percent of rural communities ’ energy mix . Rural Alaskan utilities companies can pay up to four times more for fuel than those elsewhere in the state .
The University of Alaska Fairbanks Alaska Center for Energy & Power ( ACEP ) has established the Global Applications Program ( GAP ) to assess the global opportunities for trade surrounding the use of energy systems in islanded grids .
For more on Alaska microgrids , see the ACEP website at http :// acep . uaf . edu /.
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