Sustainable North

Are you Sustain Able?

Sustainable North

Heavy stove smoke could net fines in Fairbanks

February 23rd, 2010 · No Comments

From The Associated Press, Saturday, February 20, 2010:
A proposed new rule in Fairbanks would fine people at least $300 for using wood- and-coal-fired stoves that belch out dense smoke, part of an attempt to curb air pollution in the area.
The Fairbanks News-Miner reports that Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor Luke Hopkins is sponsoring the measure, [...]

[Read more →]

Category: Alaskan Efforts · Legislation and Policy · Northern Living · Sustainable Living
More Information: · , ,

Chimney fire threat grows with wet wood

February 5th, 2010 · No Comments

From The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Thursday, February 4, 2010:

Check your chimney or have someone else do it.
Charlie Whitaker, who has cleaned chimneys for 25 years, sent me three photos of chimneys he cleaned this week.
During his career in Fairbanks, Whitaker has peered into 10,000 chimneys, but never has he seen a bigger problem with creosote. 
He [...]

[Read more →]

Category: Northern Living
More Information: · ,

Phone survey seeks home heating information

January 26th, 2010 · No Comments

From The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Tuesday, January 26, 2010:

A telephone survey aims to find out how residents of the Fairbanks North Star Borough go about heating their homes.
Borough officials want to use the information to help develop a pollution control plan for PM 2.5, tiny particulates known to embed in the lungs and cause health [...]

[Read more →]

Category: Alaskan Efforts · Energy, Information · Legislation and Policy · Northern Living · Sustainable Living
More Information: · , ,

More sunlight equals cleaner Fairbanks air

January 19th, 2010 · No Comments

From The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Tuesday, January 19, 2010:
Increasing sunlight has helped improve particulate pollution in Fairbanks, according to borough air quality specialist Jim Conner.
The average particulate pollution level in Fairbanks on Monday was 40 micrograms per cubic meter of air, making the air unhealthy for sensitive groups, Conner said.
Earlier this month, daily averages were [...]

[Read more →]

Category: Northern Living
More Information: · , , ,

Trio of communities might offer insight into Fairbanks’ air pollution problem

January 18th, 2010 · No Comments

From the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Sunday, January 17, 2010:
The tiny town of Pinehurst, Idaho, sits in a valley and needed to do something about the pollution being caused by smoke from wood stoves.
So the federal government helped Pinehurst residents buy cleaner-burning wood stoves. The state government asked people to hold back voluntarily on wood burning [...]

[Read more →]

Category: Alaskan Efforts · Northern Living
More Information: · ,

Wood-burning blamed for poor air in Fairbanks

January 14th, 2010 · No Comments

From The Associated Press, Wednesday, January 13, 2010:
On winter days when the air is still and Fairbanks area residents fire up their wood stoves and outdoor boilers, Alaska’s second largest city becomes entombed in a shroud of pollution.
The problem is due in part to wood stoves and outdoor boilers that belch out small particles, forcing [...]

[Read more →]

Category: Northern Living
More Information: · , ,

Wood energy becomes increasingly popular

November 30th, 2009 · No Comments

From The Tundra Drums, Sunday, November 29, 2009:
For the Bethel region of Alaska, the heating fuel of the future might be a throwback to the past.
A business and organizations there, including Bethel’s city government, are increasingly turning to firewood in an effort to replace the costly heating fuel that often exceeds $6 a gallon.
They’re getting [...]

[Read more →]

Category: Alaskan Efforts · Sustainable Living
More Information: · , , , ,

In your home, let the sun shine in

November 18th, 2009 · No Comments

ASK A BUILDER
By CCHRC Staff
The “Ask a Builder” series is dedicated to answering some of the many questions Fairbanks residents have about building, energy and the many other parts of home life.
Q: Why is it beneficial to have south-facing windows on a home?
Because of the orientation with the sun, south-facing windows bring in both [...]

[Read more →]

Category: Alaskan Efforts · Building Structure · Energy, Information · Northern Living
More Information: · , , , , , , , ,

Coast Guard looking at heating with wood in Alaska

October 29th, 2009 · No Comments

From The Associated Press, Thursday, October 28, 2009:
The Coast Guard’s plan to move away from oil-fired burners and toward heating with biomass could provide a lift to the timber industry in Southeast Alaska.
Projects are being considered in Ketchikan and Sitka that would convert building heating systems to biomass boilers that burn wood chips. That would [...]

[Read more →]

Category: Alaskan Efforts · Energy, Renewable
More Information: · , ,

State of Alaska energy plan not popular with some lawmakers

January 28th, 2009 · No Comments

From the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner on Wednesday, January 28, 2009:
A document submitted as a state energy plan falls short of its mark, while renewable energy projects submitted for funding might go too far, legislators said.
Members of the House Energy Committee, including Rep. Jay Ramras, R-Fairbanks, were critical of the Alaska Energy Authority’s state energy plan [...]

[Read more →]

Category: Energy, Information · Energy, Renewable · Legislation and Policy · Mechanical Systems · Sustainable Living
More Information: · , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,