HCR 10: Encouraging the state, municipalities of the state, and private organizations in the state to weigh the benefits and costs of waste-to-energy technology and to consider waste-to-energy technology to help meet the energy and waste management needs of the state, municipalities of the state, and private organizations in the state.
00 HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 10 01 Encouraging the state, municipalities of the state, and private organizations in the state 02 to weigh the benefits and costs of waste-to-energy technology and to consider waste-to- 03 energy technology to help meet the energy and waste management needs of the state, 04 municipalities of the state, and private organizations in the state. 05 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 06 WHEREAS communities, families, and businesses across the state are struggling to 07 meet high energy costs; and 08 WHEREAS, in 2010, the Twenty-Sixth Alaska State Legislature unanimously passed, 09 and the Governor signed into law, House Bill No. 306, which set a goal for the state to 10 produce 50 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2025; and 11 WHEREAS municipal waste management represents a continuing challenge and 12 expense for communities in the state; and 13 WHEREAS waste-to-energy technologies using municipal solid waste have been 14 successfully used around the world and in at least 24 states in the United States to produce 15 energy and reduce landfills; and
01 WHEREAS waste-to-energy technology is currently used at Fort Wainwright, and the 02 Municipality of Anchorage is in the process of constructing facilities to use natural gas 03 created by the Anchorage regional landfill; and 04 WHEREAS several different means of creating energy from solid waste materials are 05 currently available, including direct combustion of solid waste or using solid waste to produce 06 a combustible fuel; and 07 WHEREAS modern solid waste combustion technology can produce energy while 08 reducing landfills and emissions created by waste stored in landfills; and 09 WHEREAS waste-to-energy technology is generally considered to be a renewable 10 energy source since it is produced from biomass and material that was already produced for 11 reasons not related to energy; 12 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature encourages the state, 13 municipalities of the state, and private organizations in the state to weigh the benefits and 14 costs of waste-to-energy technology and to consider waste-to-energy technology to help meet 15 the energy and solid waste management needs of the state, municipalities of the state, and 16 private organizations in the state. 17 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Alaska Municipal League, the Denali 18 Commission, the Alaska Energy Authority, and the University of Alaska.