Improving the Energy Efficiency of Alaska Seafood Processing Plants
After labor costs, utility bills often are the biggest expense for a seafood processor. The Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program (MAP), in partnership with the Alaska Energy Authority (AEA) and UAF’s Institute of Northern Engineering (INE), has been assisting the Alaska seafood industry to better understand the use of energy in their plants, identify energy conservation and efficiency opportunities, and increase savings.
To explore industry needs, energy audits were piloted during the 2010 summer season with two salmon processing plants in Southcentral Alaska. More recently, two energy audits were conducted in Kodiak during the 2011 cod and pollock season. Other species processing system audits (e.g., crab, pollock, etc.) were conducted during the summer of 2011 in Unalaska/Dutch Harbor and the Alaska Peninsula.
In 2014, Alaska Sea Grant and the UAF Alaska Center for Energy and Power are exploring a research partnership with the University of Idaho Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) to further serve the seafood processing industry in this area. IACs are funded by the US Department of Energy to help manufacturers increase energy efficiency and provide workforce opportunities for engineering students.
For more information
If interested in participating in this project, please contact Paula Cullenberg at 907-274-9691 or paula.cullenberg@alaska.edu, or Torie Baker at 907-424-7542 or torie.baker@alaska.edu.
