With alternative energy receiving increasing attention nationwide, Kenai Fjords National Park is now operating a remote nature center with environmentally clean fuel-cell technology. If successful, the project could serve as a model for other national parks and federal agencies.
Opened in May, the Exit Glacier Nature Center is powered by a solid-oxide fuel cell that uses hydrogen as an energy source. Located about nine miles off Seward Highway, the Exit Glacier area is not served by standard commercial power, and park officials have previously relied on diesel generators. The National Park Service hopes that the fuel cell technology will keep the new center-now open only during the summer months-in operation year-round.
"The Alaska region has been experimenting with fuel cell technology because we have so many areas where we would like to have a minimal amount of power, and there's no way to get power to them," says Sandy Brue, chief of interpretation at Kenai Fjords. "The entire Park Service, the Alaska parks, and Kenai Fjords are interested in alternate fuel sources. This fuel cell will allow us to serve visitors throughout the year more efficiently and offer educational programs where we haven't been able to before."
Exit Glacier represents the first use of solid-oxide fuel-cell technology in a national park. Fuel cells operate through the chemical conversion of hydrogen and oxygen to produce water, heat, and electricity. The conversion process produces little to no harmful byproducts and is considered a clean source of power. Fuel cells come in several forms, depending on the type of electrolyte used in the conversion. Previously the Park Service has experimented with proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells to power various functions at Golden Gate National Recreation Area and Yellowstone and Yosemite national parks. The solid-oxide fuel cell at Kenai Fjords depends on propane as its hydrogen source, taking advantage of existing propane delivery to the area.
At Exit Glacier, power generated by the fuel cell flushes toilets, powers videos or other interactive exhibits, and provides heat. Yet park staff are still working out kinks in the system. The first fuel cell was damaged in shipping and had to be replaced. The current fuel cell operates for several days at a time but has a habit of breaking down. Brue notes that this is a demonstration project and that each breakdown is a learning opportunity. "When they get it up and running, it's fantastic," she says. "We have lights, and we have videos on glacier calving, human-bear interaction, and other videos about the research in the park."
The Exit Glacier project is the result of a partnership between the Park Service and the Propane Education and Research Council, the Alaska Energy Authority, the Denali Commission, and the energy technology lab at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. "We're trying to show the public that the technology is there and that, by taking advantage of existing propane delivery in the area, it's transferable technology," says Tim Hudson, NPS team leader for planning, design, and maintenance in the Alaska region. "It's very efficient and it's very clean."
