A plan for hydrogen use in a rural Alaskan community

Abstract

The results of a study to plan and design a program to demonstrate an all-hydrogen community in rural Alaska are discussed. The objectives of the study were to assess the prospects of reducing Alaska's dependency on fossil fuels by producing hydrogen from renewable resources and easing the burden of transporting fuel to remote sites. The hydrogen system considers Alaska's unique resources, supply logistics, demographics, and economics. Integration of hydrogen production with transportation, distribution, storage, and utilization equipment is discussed for the representative rural village of Old Harbor on Kodiak Island. A 6 1 2 year demonstration program to prudently convert this village from diesel fuel to hydrogen is anticipated. As each phase is successfully completed, one aspect of the community's energy use and supply will be converted to all hydrogen. This includes equipment required for hydrogen production, residential hydrogen utilization, transportation, and electricity generation. In addition to technical requirements the paper describes the social, legal, and economic issues encountered in planning the demonstration. The total estimated cost of the demonstration, including equipment, management, monitoring and testing, is $20 million.