How one of the coldest, darkest towns on Earth is trying to get more energy from the sun

[Celerity]

A quest to build renewable energy at the frozen top of the world

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2024/03/09/greenland-renewable-energy/

https://archive.is/Q1NnW

In Qaanaaq, Greenland, residents live between the gargantuan Greenland Ice Sheet and the frigid waters of Baffin Bay. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post)

QAANAAQ, Greenland — Out on the ice, Toku Oshima often says, “there is no time.” No calendar but the migrations of sea creatures. No clock but the cadence of the tides. She can hunt and fish the same way her parents did, and their parents before them: traveling by dog sled, sleeping in a wooden hut she built with her own hands. In the rugged mountains and frozen fjords that surround Greenland’s northernmost town, the old ways are still alive.

But those ways are under threat. Human-caused climate change has scrambled weather patterns and pushed the rhythms of animals out of sync with the ice and sun. Residents struggle to earn a living through hunting and fishing, which leaves them unable to afford the imported oil that keeps their homes warm and lit during the long Arctic night. The high cost of electricity and heat has forced some people to abandon their traditional livelihoods — or to leave the town altogether. Qaanaaq residents should be able to heat their homes without sacrificing their culture, Oshima said. But that will require them to cast off the culprit behind their dual challenges of climate change and energy security: fossil fuels.

Together with scientists and engineers from Dartmouth College, Oshima is working to bring renewable energy to one of the most remote places on Earth. Drawing power from local wind and sunshine can reduce the cost of living in Qaanaaq, easing financial pressures on residents who already live at the edge of survival. And it can help the town do its part to rein in the planet-warming pollution that threatens its very existence.

Toku Oshima at her fishing camp on May 26. Oshima, a hunter, is worried about climate change and hopes to get her community to shift to greener sources of energy. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post)

The effort is in its infancy, with Oshima’s Dartmouth partners still developing the equipment they hope to install. To succeed in such an isolated and harsh environment, they are leaning on the expertise of those who thrived in this landscape for generations. Each prototype is designed specifically for conditions in Qaanaaq and tested by the residents themselves.

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[Bernardo de La Paz]

1. Recommended for the photos as much as anything. . . . . nt