Interior

How low can you go, really?

That’s one question Alaska researchers are asking of a new heat pump prototype this winter.

The new LG model purports to heat homes effectively even at -30 degrees Fahrenheit, and may soon do so for hundreds of residents in northern Alaska.

Along with installing solar power systems and battery storage, heat pump deployment was one of three major components of a $55 million U.S. Department of Energy grant awarded to the Northwest Arctic Borough back in February.

That deployment is to the tune of 850 air source heat pumps installed in 11 different villages.

But before that grant-funded rollout begins, the borough must select which model to deploy. That means generating data and crunching numbers, said Ingemar Mathiasson, the Northwest Arctic Borough’s energy manager.

“We have now a test going on with an LG heat pump … that can go down to 30-, 40-below, and still produce 70 degrees inside the house,” Mathiasson said, referring to temperatures measured in degrees Fahrenheit. “And we’re gonna test one of those here through the rest of the winter. We’re installing it pretty quick here, and there’s also one in Fairbanks that’s being installed over there by NREL.

A few hundred miles southeast of Mathiasson, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Chief Scientist Tom Marsik walked to the corner of a classroom on the second story of the lab’s main building. He pointed out the window.

“You can see it right here,” Marsik said as his footsteps echoed on the hard floor. “So that’s the outside unit of the heat pump,” he added, directing his gaze at a microwave-sized metal box with a fan on its backside.

Then his attention moved away from the snow-covered scenery outside the window.

“We can see the indoor unit hanging here on the wall, the indoor unit of the heat pump. We can see lines connecting it, going through the wall, connecting it to the outside unit,” he said.

A 6-foot collapsible table stood between Marsik and the eggshell-colored indoor unit. Some hand tools and wire were scattered across the table’s surface.

The setup wouldn’t look out of place in the garage of an avid do-it-yourselfer, but it’s exactly where the testing is happening this winter that will help determine whether – and how – the Northwest Arctic Borough will go about putting in and using hundreds of new heat pumps in the coming years.

“We are evaluating the preferments of this heat pump, so they can decide, is it really the model they want to use? And if so, then we can also provide guidelines for how to potentially operate it in the most beneficial way,” Marsik said.

Marsik explained that the technology works by capturing heat from the air – however cold the air may seem – and then sending it inside to warm up a space. The process is like refrigeration – which removes hot air from an enclosure to keep it cool – but in reverse.

“The coil of the outside unit is colder than the outside environment, that’s how it can extract the heat from that because heat flows, heat flows from hot to cold,” he said.

Heat pumps aren’t exactly new. In some fashion, they’ve been a part of the home-heating picture since the 1960s. But the technology is evolving, working at colder and colder temperatures, an earlier this year, the MIT Technological Review listed heat pumps as one of the 10 breakthrough technologies of 2024.

The LG prototype at NREL is designed to operate down to temperatures about 10 degrees Fahrenheit colder than the backup model for the Northwest Arctic Borough’s project, which is a Mitsubishi heat pump.

But, Mathiasson, the energy manager, said that capability could come with its own set of limitations the borough needs to assess before making a final selection on the model.

“It’s a new variation to be able to go down into the lower temperatures, but they also draw more power, so we want to measure how efficient they are and how well they can substitute for a Toyo stove or boiler in the house,” Mathiasson said.

That’s where the testing comes into play.

Throughout the Fairbanks winter, Marsik and others will keep tabs on how the LG prototype responds to natural fluctuations in the temperature outside. Also, to mimic differing levels of building insulation, they’ll pit the heat pump against a portable air conditioner that will run incrementally in the room. The U.S. Department of Energy is funding the $130,000 testing project.

“So we have put a bunch of sensors on the indoor unit and the outdoor unit to measure how much electrical energy we are putting into it and also how much heat this heat pump is supplying into this environment,” Marsik said.

Whichever model makes the cut, Mathiasson expects the installation of heat pumps to get underway this summer in villages already converted to renewable-centric microgrids.

“So that’s Shungnak and Kobuk and Noatak and Deering,” he said.

The heat pumps will then be deployed to the other villages, but only after their microgrids introduce solar power and battery storage to offset some diesel in the production of electricity.

“If you put heat pumps into the communities without the renewables, you’re actually going burn more diesel,” Mathiasson said, adding he expects the conversion to be complete by 2029.

Although their efficiency can decrease in extreme temperatures, heat pumps can generate about three to four times as much energy in the form of heat as they use in electricity. That’s why advocates say they’ll prove a critical tool for global decarbonization efforts.

The International Energy Agency says heat pumps currently supply about 10% of the world’s heating demand. To keep pace with the Net Zero by 2050 scenario, the IEA estimates that supply would need to hit 20% by 2030.

Upfront capital costs remain one of the bigger roadblocks for heat pumps, and after years of growth, global heat pump sales dropped by 3% in 2023.

But, in Alaska, 2024 held a couple policy-related developments for the technology. There’s the pending Northwest Arctic Borough rollout, and there’s the $39 million federal grant announced in July to help homeowners in Southcentral and Southeast Alaska purchase heat pumps.

So, for Mathiasson, at least, “It’s definitely the year of heat pumps for Alaska.”

Interior Alaska is losing its last local television newscast, as the corporate owner of NewsCenter Fairbanks downsizes its news operation and lays off employees.

KTVF Channel 11 and KXDF Channel 13, known together as NewsCenter Fairbanks, are collectively owned by Gray TV/Gray Media, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Gray, which also owns Anchorage TV stations KTUU and KAUU under the name Alaska’s News Source, bought the Fairbanks stations in 2017.

In a Nov. 8 conference call with investors, the company announced a plan to cut expenses by consolidating some its stations and reducing staff.

It is unclear if the downsizing at Gray TV means some local jobs will be lost. Reporters for KTVF and KXDF say they have been told not to comment, and to refer any media questions to Kevin Latek, Gray’s chief legal and development officer. Latek did not return calls or emails.

However, NewsCenter Fairbanks anchors let the public know about the change in their goodbyes on Saturday.

“Before we go, I would like to take a moment to thank our loyal and amazing viewers in the community,” said Stephanie Woodard, who has worked as a reporter and anchor on and off since 2010.

“I say goodbye to the evening news desk tonight and thank you to Fairbanks because you truly are the Golden Heart City that I have grown to love,” she added.

Some small segments of Fairbanks news will now be delivered as part of a newscast from Anchorage.

Skyler Lewis included that in his goodbye over the weekend.

“As you may have heard, NewsCenter Fairbanks is joining forces with Alaska’s News Source, our sister station in Anchorage, to bring you news from across Alaska,” Lewis said.

Starting this week, KTVF and KXDF will air news as Alaska’s News Source instead of NewsCenter Fairbanks. It means there will be no more local news or sports anchors, like Alex Bengel or Alex Johnson.

“It has been an absolute honor and a privilege to present your local news every night. Thank you so much for choosing NewsCenter Fairbanks as your source for news,” Bengel said.

“It’s time for me to sign off of Sports for the final time,” Johnson said. “To the friends I’ve made at the games I’ve been at, thank you for the memories made. I always appreciate it. I’ve gotten to cover some amazing events that before I came up here, I’d never even heard of. Whether that be the YQA at 52 Below or the Midnight Sun game. And that’ll do it for the final Middle of the Bench Sports Report tonight. Thank you so much for tuning in, everyone.”

Calls to the general managers of KTVF and KXDF, as well as the Anchorage TV stations, were not returned over the weekend.

Two people were injured Monday when a wolf bit them as they were stopped for construction work along the Dalton Highway, according to Alaska State Troopers.

Troopers learned of the attack near Coldfoot, at Mile 37 of the highway, shortly before 3:30 p.m. Monday according to an online report.

“Investigation revealed a wolf bit the two motorists in their lower extremities while they were stopped in a construction zone and out of their vehicle while waiting for the pilot car,” troopers said. “The wolf fled into the woods after being shot at by another motorist and is not believed to have been struck.”

Troopers spokesman Austin McDaniel said the attack occurred as the motorists – both Alaskans – were outside their camper and examining it. Multiple other commercial vehicles were stopped in the area at the time.

The Dalton extends more than 400 miles north, linking Livengood in the state’s Interior with Deadhorse and the state’s Prudhoe Bay oilfields. The isolated highway, seen on the TV show “Ice Road Truckers,” is the primary overland link to the North Slope.

McDaniel said that the black wolf was showing behavior consistent with having been fed by motorists prior to Tuesday’s incident – including a lack of fear of humans.

“The wolf would stop at vehicles, kind of look like he was expecting food or some type of handout from the vehicle before proceeding on to the next vehicle,” McDaniel said.

The people bitten by the wolf continued south and received medical care in Fairbanks, McDaniel said. Troopers didn’t have word on whether they had suffered rabies or other infections from the wolf bites.

Alaska Wildlife Troopers were consulting with state Department of Fish and Game biologists Tuesday to determine whether they should seek out the wolf involved in the attack, McDaniel said. Requests to the Fairbanks Fish and Game office for comment weren’t immediately answered Tuesday afternoon.

Wolf attacks on people are rare in Alaska, but Chignik Lake teacher Candice Berner was killed by wolves in 2010 as she went jogging near the Alaska Peninsula village. Homer public radio station KBBI reported that Fish and Game biologists killed eight wolves following the attack, one of them positively identified as one of the wolves that attacked Berner. Her death came a year after Bethel public radio station KYUK reported that a moose hunter survived an attack by a rabid wolf along the Kuskokwim River.

Last June, Fairbanks public radio station KUAC reported that a Coldfoot-based wildlife trooper shot and killed a male wolf that was attacking semi trucks’ tires along the Dalton. A necropsy showed signs of malnutrition, but no indication that the wolf in that incident was rabid.

Based on the behavior of the wolf in Monday’s attack, troopers urged people not to feed wild animals.

“Even though these individuals were not feeding the wolf, it was observed to be exhibiting behavior indicative of having been fed by other motorists,” troopers said in the dispatch. “Feeding wildlife is not only dangerous but also illegal and punishable with a fine.”

Another mass mass of gnat larvae was reported in Fairbanks this week. University of Alaska Fairbanks entomology professor and Museum of the North curator of insects Derek Sikes says the sighting on Pika Road is the latest report of what he calls snake worm larvae.

“Because it looks a little like a snake when you have all these larvae moving in long column across a road,” he said.

The unusual lines of moving gnat larvae were first reported in Fairbanks in 2007, and Sikes says sporadic sightings have come in over the years since.

“When people see these things going across trails or roads, it’s quite remarkable, and people take pictures and send them in,” he said. “But we don’t get reports every year, so we don’t know how cyclical it is. We don’t know if they’re actually making these columns in the woods where nobody is observing them.”

Sikes says he initially worked with specialists in Germany and Japan to identify the larvae, eventually looking at their DNA.

“Became pretty clear that we were dealing with new species,” he said.

Sikes says the data got back burnered until 2021 when post-doctoral entomology researcher Thalles Pereira of Brazil picked it up.

“He came and finished the project,” Sikes said. “Did all the final analysis and wrapped it up and drafted the paper.”

The paper came out in December 2023.

Sikes says a lot of questions remain about the species they officially named Sciara serpens, including whether it is different from gnat larvae observed in similar formations elsewhere in North America. There’s also the question of why the larvae group in snake-like processions.

Sikes theorizes they climb on top of one another to protect themselves while crossing roads and trails.

“Sliding over their comrades below so you get this kind of conveyor belt thing going across the road where they can make it across with minimal exposure of their moist bodies to the dry conditions,” he said.

He says another possibility is that the formations are a defensive measure.

“Birds that might otherwise prey on individual larvae, will leave them alone because they look like a big animal, like a snake or something,” he said.

Sikes encourages anyone who sees snake worm gnat larva to report them with photos, time, location and other information, using the iNaturalist app.

He says all the Alaska observations have been in the morning when its cooler, but it’s unknown whether the larvae columns are weather-related.

Denali National Park will reopen Wednesday after a wildfire near its entrance forced the park’s closure for more than a week during the busy tourist season.

“The plan right now is for the park to resume normal operations as of 4:30 a.m. Wednesday,” said park spokesman Paul Ollig.

Cool, rainy weather over the weekend helped crews fight the Riley Fire, which started last Sunday and grew to roughly 430 acres.

Ollig said the popular Riley Creek Campground and Horseshoe Lake Trail will temporarily remain closed, as both are being used by fire crews.

Alaska Division of Forestry spokesman Al Nash said work has focused on the Riley Fire’s east-southeast perimeter, near Alaska Railroad tracks and the Parks Highway.

“Those are the parts of the fire that are closest to the railroad, the road, the river canyon and the developed areas inside the park,” Nash said.

Nash said as of late Sunday, the fire was more than 30% contained. He emphasized that work remains to be done, despite the rain.

“It does not mean that rain necessarily penetrates the dense canopy of a thick forest, so it doesn’t get down to the ground,” he said.

Under such conditions, Nash said, the roots of bushes and trees can continue to burn.

“That’s why firefighters really do go around the perimeter and seek out that heat several yards in from the edge of the fire, to make sure there isn’t something that’s still hot that could still rekindle,” he said.

Nash anticipates that firefighters have several more days of work on the Riley Fire.

Ollig said evacuation orders eased over the weekend, allowing employees relocated from park housing to the local school and area churches to return.

He said electricity was also restored to the fire zone, including the park entrance area, but the extended outage resulted in some lost food.

“So over the next couple of days, our park concessioner is going to be restocking those supplies, getting rid of all the food items that spoiled, and just going through and making sure that everything is up and running,” Ollig said.

The National Park Service is seeking the public’s assistance determining the cause of the fire, which began along railroad tracks on June 30 between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

“(We’re) soliciting information from people who may have been on that midday southbound train or may have been on some trails in the area,” Nash said.

Those trails include Horseshoe Lake, Mount Healy and Sugarloaf and Sourdough mountains, Nash said.

The closure has happened during what’s normally the busiest time of the year at Denali, causing a revenue hit for the park and area tourism businesses. Ollig said anyone who missed out on park reservations has been refunded, but there are very limited openings to re-book this summer.

About 140 active wildfires, many in the Eastern Interior, are burning up acreage and sending smoke across the region — with one burning across and closing the Elliott Highway north of Fairbanks.

Among about 10 wildfires being fought statewide, the highest priority is the Globe Fire along the highway north of Fairbanks. The fire, which has grown to more than 5,000 acres, prompted an evacuation order between Mileposts 39 to 48, and a highway closure between Mileposts 28 and 48.

Alaska Fire Service spokesperson Beth Ipsen said the Globe Fire exhibited extreme behavior Thursday. It grew rapidly in erratic winds and hot, dry weather, burning through black spruce.

“The fire activity picked up and there was a large column of smoke that collapsed and really impacted the area with hampered visibility, hot air and ash,” Ipsen said.

Ipsen said the fire burned across the Elliott near the Globe Creek Campground. She said the focus is on protecting people and then property.

“There’s cabins, Native allotments, and primary homes in that area,” she said. “I’ve talked to quite a few people that are in Fairbanks, and are really worried about their property, and of course there are some people that decided to stay.”

Ipsen said smokejumpers spent the day checking on residents and structures, clearing surrounding brush and setting up sprinkler systems. Additional firefighters are being mobilized, including two hotshot crews from California that arrived Thursday night.

“And then we are trying to order more crews up there, so it’s going to be increasing, and then also we’re trying to get some heavy equipment,” she said.

Ipsen said the Elliott Highway closure is before the Dalton Highway intersection, so truckers headed to and from the North Slope were among vehicles backed up Thursday. The fire service is coordinating with the state Department of Transportation and Alaska State Troopers on the road closure, which will be lifted when it’s safe.

The wildfire situation is intensifying as lightning strikes combined with hot, dry weather continue to create red flag conditions across a wide swath of the state’s mid-section. Alaska Division of Forestry and Fire Protection information officer Sam Harrel said existing fires and new starts have high growth potential.

“Winds like we had on Thursday are just really going to drive them and force them to grow,” Harrel said. “The fuels are very receptive.”

Harrel highlighted a fire that started Thursday night north of Nenana on the Totchaket Slough.

“It has the potential to grow and it’s in a full response area. There’s a lot of cabins and Native allotments along the Tanana River there,” he said.

Meanwhile, the hot, dry windy conditions have resulted in significant growth of the state’s two largest wildfires: the McDonald and Clear Fires which have burned together, charring over 100,000 acres on military training lands across the Tanana River from Fairbanks and Richardson Highway communities to the southeast.