Sustainability Theme Energy projects in the Arctic are at best fragile: their very existence is subject to a variety of outside forces that could at anytime make the project non-viable.  The ability to sustain a project, to make it viable over its lifetime, therefore, is dependent on a number of factors that are not at all related to the energy technology itself.  No discussion on the development of energy projects in the Arctic will be complete until these sustainability factors are considered.  In exploring the concept of a sustainable Arctic energy project three key topics must be examined and addressed: economics, environment and impact on the peoples of the North.  These are further discussed below. Economics For an energy project to be successful in the Arctic, as elsewhere in the world, the basis needs to be economically sound and robust (not sensitive to change).  While this is not unique to the Arctic, the economic parameters that a project will be based on are.  These situational economics must reflect both the costs and the benefits of a given energy project for its locale and the community that it serves.  For example, the use of natural gas for electrical generation in a village environment would look at the price of fuel and cost of conversion.  But it would also look at risk-based savings on eliminating barge fuel shipping and maintenance of tanks with the associated elimination of potential spill response. Energy security and energy policy are other areas that impact the economics of an energy project and are areas that must be explored in determining the sustainability of a project. Environment First, and foremost, on any energy development endeavor is the requirement to do no harm to the environment.  This includes the air quality and wildlife issues as detailed in any permitting activity, but the carbon footprint as well.  Climate change and its impact on the Arctic are well-documented; how this will play out in the development of energy projects is less clear.  There is the obvious impact on infrastructure (roads, pipeline supports), tundra access for exploration (seasons are getting shorter); but the less obvious include increased northern route shipping (and that environmental impact) and potentially less access from rural community to rural community as traditional frozen (rivers, tundra) travel ways become less available. With regard to carbon footprint the Arctic energy projects must consider CO2 capture and sequestration.  This is an interesting, and at present, unexplored option.  In oil and gas fields, CO2 is a powerful enhanced oil recovery opportunity. Coalfields provide excellent sequestration capabilities and in those seams where natural gas is available, CO2 has been shown to increase that gas production.  Work is currently being done to examine how CO2 can be sequestered as a hydrate in deep Arctic waters, displacing methane hydrates while maintaining the integrity of the hydrate structure.             Impact on the peoples of the North Last and foremost in any discussion on sustainability of Arctic energy projects must be the impact those activities have on the peoples of the north, both positive and negative.  High energy costs have a devastating impact on rural Arctic communities; the development of new technologies to lower not only the electrical, but heating and transportation costs must be given priority – especially as it relates to a subsistence lifestyle.  Other areas that must be considered as it relates to sustainability include the maintenance and training necessary for any village-based energy project; the impact of exploration on subsistence lifestyle as recently demonstrated in Alaska with concerns of offshore seismic exploration and the impact on whale hunting; the rights and ownership issues of extractive resources on native lands (ANCSA in Alaska and the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline in Canada); and joint ventures between extractive energy use and local energy needs -- for example, an offshore gas development in Bristol Bay, Alaska could bring natural gas to the Dillingham area with resulting lower electrical and heating costs and the possibility for an alternative transportation fuel. Sustainability includes those efforts that must go into any activity to assure that the project can be sustained and maintained without impacting the environment in the largest sense and the people involved in that activity.  To allow the Arctic to be developed as a true energy province - one that is not be exploited but stands as its own territory - will require robust and situational economics on all its energy projects, while doing no harm to the environment and serving those who reside in our Arctic communities