Rural Alaska: A Peek Into America's Energy Future

Green Inc.:

There are no roads to the village, and everything from diapers to snowmachines has to be shipped in by barge or plane. Fuel comes by barge, and a whole year's worth is bought in the summer, and then stored in rows of 27,000-gallon fuel tanks.

In early January, gasoline was selling for $7.74 a gallon and heating oil for $7.86. The Alaska Village Electric Cooperative, which serves Toksook Bay, buys diesel for its generators in bulk, but still paid more than $4.50 a gallon in 2008.

The high fuel prices make renewable energy attractive, and in late 2005, the cooperative installed three wind turbines in Toksook Bay.

Read the whole story: Green Inc.