This course provides research-based and on-the-ground tools for students, community planners, decision-makers, energy professionals, and interested citizens to improve and implement stronger and more resilient renewable energy systems in Arctic communities. Through a framework combining renewable energy in microgrids, and Food, Energy, and Water (FEW) security and infrastructure, this course synthesizes concepts into a holistic approach to community planning, improvement, and resiliency.
Learn about existing and emerging types of renewable energy and clean energy sources and technologies and explore examples from Alaska, including solar energy, wind energy, geothermal, biomass, and hydropower facilities. Explore sustainable energy and alternative energy concepts.
Examine underlying causes of food, energy, and water insecurity in Arctic, subarctic, and northern rural communities as it relates to energy use.
Gain insights into Arctic and subarctic lifestyles, including the roles and impacts of wild harvests, plant-based foods, and health disparities.
Learn about food, energy, and water security and analyze the interactions among food, energy, and water usage, including for example: energy and water use in the production, transportation, and storage of food; energy usage in treating drinking water and wastewater for human health; water demands and fuel costs for electricity generation; appropriate food systems, sources of energy, and water resource usage and allocation; climate change impacts, fossil fuels and environmental impacts.
Gain specialized expertise on a variety of Arctic energy generation issues affecting its residents and Indigenous peoples, from engineering to social science to traditional community knowledge.
Learn the key concepts with practical, Alaska-focused examples.
Use real wind speed data from wind turbines and photovoltaic data from solar panels with various analysis tools to make community energy assessments related to energy production.
Apply a Food-Energy-Water (FEW) nexus approach to guide decisions about renewable power and selection of an energy mix from hydroelectric power to solar power and wind power.
Gain skills that enable a move toward a new energy future that minimizes greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide and carbon emissions through a focus on renewable energy sources that maximize energy efficiency and clean electricity production.
Learn from National Science Foundation-funded researchers and staff from a variety of disciplines at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the University of Alaska Anchorage, the University of Calgary, Stanford, and the private sector. Connections with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
This project is funded by the National Science Foundation, Award #1740075 INFEWS/T3: Coupling infrastructure improvements to food-energy-water system dynamics in small cold region communities: MicroFEWs.
