Anchorage is keeping it green by making municipal operations more efficient and diversifying its sources of energy. The city's sustainability initiatives include recycling, energy efficiency, energy generation and transportation programs. Its Greenstar waste reduction program strives to reduce the amount of waste generated by city operations.
Most recently, city officials say the city signed a joint agreement to develop a new power plant in South Anchorage to replace aging natural gas turbines with new, high efficiency turbines that will translate into lower gas consumption, lower electricity bills, and reduced environmental impact. Additionally, the city has been a leading advocate for the development of wind energy on Fire Island - a project that recently earned state support and is in active pre-development. The municipality is also working to bring a landfill methane power project online, which could produce 4 MW of power from the byproducts of landfill decomposition.
The city's Environmental Services Division, focuses on the promotion and protection of environmental health regarding air quality, public facility sanitation, and nuisance and community noise.
Program activities include: air quality monitoring, primarily carbon monoxide and dust (particulate matter); assuring vehicles driven in Anchorage meet emission requirements; inspecting public facilities, including food facilities, pools and spas; compliance investigation and resolution, and providing customer services related to these programs. Each program provides public health education as well as code enforcement.
One important focus of the division is the Air Quality Program, which publishes a comprehensive annual report summarizing air quality data and trends. This has helped tremendously in keeping Anchorage's air pollution levels down and air quality levels high, city officials say.
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