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Biomass can be defined as any accumulation of biological materials, that can be used as a source of energy. Examples of biomass are wood and crop residues.
Like fossil fuels, biomass can be burned directly to provide energy in the form of heat. It can also via decomposition processes be converted to methane (natural gas) and liquid fuels like methanol and ethanol.
The process of converting biomass to methane (or other fuels) is called bioconversion. In the absence of air, digestion of the organic materials in biomass by anaerobic bacteria produces biogas, which is about 60%–70% methane. The most suitable starting materials are sewage sludge or manure.
A number of cities in the Arctic and Subarctic burn municipal trash, which is generally about 40% waste paper, as a source of energy.
The biogas is used for cooking, lighting, and heating, or to generate electricity. Production of biogas is economically feasible only in locations where there is a large concentration of the starting materials.
Although it is unlikely that bioconversion will ever become a major source of energy, it is a useful way to supplement other sources. It is particularly valuable as a means of converting plant and animal agricultural wastes, and waste paper in municipal garbage, to usable energy.
The forests of the circumpolar North present an enormous reservoir for this renewable form of energy. Burning pellets can be seen as carbon neutral as it releases the exact amount of carbon that would have been emitted in nature anyway through decomposition.
Source: UArctic Megatrends
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Wind power was one of the earliest forms of energy humans utilized. Today, the use of wind turbines is also growing in the Circumpolar North.
A modern wind turbine usually consists of three fibreglass blades mounted on a steel tower. The blades are much stronger and lighter than older conventional ones as they are constructed out of the named fibreglass materials. The whole system is usually automated and very reliable.
Turbines are usually arranged in wind farms consisting of several hundred turbines, each with blades measuring about 15 m, and capable of producing 10–15 kilowatts of electricity (1kW = 0.001MW).
Single units can be used for individual homes, but arrays of units are more efficient in the Arctic where there is plenty of space.
For wind power to be cost-effective, winds should blow fairly steadily at about 16 km per hour. Many areas in the Arctic meet this criterion, and wind power has great promise for those villages that lack large access to fossil fuels.
Wind is free and abundant, and wind power produces no pollutants and no carbon dioxide. However, wind generated energy does also have a number of disadvantages: it is intermittent, making it necessary to have a storage system or alternative source of energy when the wind is not blowing; and wind turbines pose a danger to birds if the turbines are located along migratory routes.
Also, some discussion has taken place about possible disturbance due to vibrations both on land and offshore.
Sources: UArctic Megatrends Sustainable Planning of Megaprojects in the North
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The shift of height in water level due to the tides represents another potential, renewable source of energy. The tides are predictable due to their linkage to the lunar cycle, making it possible to calculate them and their related production of energy with astronomical precision for years in advance.
There are three types of tidal power generators. Tidal stream generators (TSGs) are similar to wind turbines but being under water and utilizing the kinetic energy of flowing water. There is one prototype installation in Kvalsund, south of Hammerfest, Norway and another demonstration plant near Race Rocks (Vancouver Island) in Canada.
Tidal barrage is possibly the most used type in the circumpolar North up to now. It is exploited by building a dam across the mouth of a bay or inlet. The incoming tide generates electricity as it flows through turbines constructed in the dam.
The turbine blades are then reversed so that the outgoing tide also produces electricity. The difference in levels between low and high tides must be 6 meters or more to create a feasible amount of energy.
Examples of tidal energy production can be found in the Bay of Fundy (Canada) and in Russia (Kislaya Guba near the Port Vladimir, Barents Sea).
The tidal power plants, though environmentally sound, are known to affect the normal flow of water and disrupt the natural structure of the environment (e.g. of estuaries).
There is also a discussion as to what degree there is an effect due to noise and vibration of turbines on maritime environment.
Recently, Danish scientists achieved a breakthrough in the "Weptos" project, creating a tidal generator that manages to produce considerable amounts of energy and could be used as a prototype for a future generation of tidal power plants.
Source: Hammerfest UArctic Science Nordic
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Hydroelectricity is created by capturing rushing water and using it to drive large turbines to generate power. Hydroelectric stations require rivers to be dammed or diverted to harness the force of rushing water at its apex.
Circumpolar water-powered megaprojects have been built especially in Norway, Labrador and Iceland. Some cross-national projects have also been launched the Norwegian, former Soviet, and Finnish agreement on the Pasvik River being an example of such a cooperation.
Hydroelectric dams alter river systems, often depleting fish stocks and disrupting navigational routes creating socioeconomic and environmental impacts at micro level.
The impact of hydro power in both environmental and socioeconomic terms is though most strongly felt at local level as can be seen from the examples in Alta-Kautokeino project in Norway or La Grande project in James Bay in Canada show. In both cases the utilization of land belonging traditionally to indigenous people triggered massive protests with multiple outcomes.
Another example is the Kárahnjúkar project in Iceland where the creation of lagoons to collect the water had effects on the environment and led to huge protests.
Comprehensive socioeconomic and environmental impact assessments with regard to indigenous / local populations and a sustainable use beyond sheer cost-benefit calculations have thus become growingly accepted as necessity for any hydro-project.
Sources: UArctic Megaprojects
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The Arctic has a long history of using renewable energies. To harness water, wind or wood for creating energy has been done since the first inhabitants arrived to the Arctic.
In more recent times and in the context of an industrialized utilization and generation of energy, especially the Scandinavian and Nordic countries of Europe have been the historical drivers for development of renewable energies in the circumpolar North.
Norway was the first country to make use of hydro power. Late in the 19th century, the city of Hammerfest was artificially lit by hydro powered lighting.
In 1920 two thirds of Norwegians had access to electrical power based on hydro powered generation, compared to one sixth of the population in Sweden at that time.
Iceland was a forerunner in the use of geothermal energy. Whereas hot water from springs was traditionally tapped directly at the source, the first use of geothermal energy for heating came in 1907.In 1930 the first pipeline system was constructed in Reykjavik heating two schools, 60 homes and a hospital.
The system of geothermal energy has ever since been improved to a network of pipelines and pumping stations providing both district heating as well as electricity.
In total, 66% of energy usage in Iceland in 2009 was from geothermal energy.
Finland on the other hand has been a forerunner in the use of wood for energy production. In Rovaniemi a plant is under construction that will use logging waste and pellets for heating and generating electricity.
Sources: Renewable Energy ACIA Report Nordic Energy Perspectives