The Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation is about to enter a new phase for an energy saving tool project and are looking for 10 fishermen to help test it.
Director of the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation Julie Decker said the program to create an audit method so small boat owners can benefit from energy audits was launched two years ago by the foundation and Sea Grant.
Decker: “People in Alaska are familiar with the home energy audits and this is basically a similar concept but on a fishing vessel. It becomes more complicated because there are more systems and different types of activities when you’re operating in different fisheries, things like that.”
She said the tool is like a spreadsheet which lets fishermen calculate baselines and comparisons of fuel use by energy system.
Decker: “You can see how much your hydraulics are using, or the main engine is drawing when you’re running around from fishery to fishery or how much your DC and AC systems are drawing, whether it’s for refrigeration, or what not.”
The energy tool is being fine tuned and in phase two, AFDF plans to launch a simpler version available via Smart Phone and on the web. To do so, Decker says they need to do 10 more boat audits and get feedback on the Energy Analysis spreadsheet.
Decker: “We’re asking fishermen to work with us and we’ll help you fill it out for your vessel and then hope for feedback from fishermen on whether they think it was useful, was it difficult to complete, what would make it easier for you to use, those kinds of things.”
For more information about the program or how to become a tester, click here.