Renewable Energy Fair draws politicians, heads of state to Chena Hot Springs

The 12th annual Renewable Energy Fair took place over the weekend at the Chena Hot Springs Resort.

Along with providing information on environmental conservation and energy alternatives, one of the main items on the schedule for the fair was to introduce metrol to the people of the Interior.

Roy McAlister is a professional engineer and inventor who has been at the head of the metrol project for the past several years.

According to McAlister's research, Metrol is a net-hydrogen liquid fuel and is made by combining hydrogen with nitrogen and carbon dioxide from the air.

President of Chena Holdings and host of the Renewable Energy Fair, Bernie Karl claims that this could be the end of pollution.

"You got to the gas station, you put in metrol, it stays liquid atmospheric. It's safer than gasoline, and every gallon that you burn, you get a gallon of water. If you burn 30 gallons of metrol, you get 30 gallons of water. Can you imagine how that's going to work, in all the countries that are having droughts, where there is no water? We're going to make millions and billions of new water, clean water, distilled water. And every engine that runs, there's one billion, 200 million engines in the world, we're going to clean up all the air. You will see in your lifetime, you will see no more pollution. No more pollution in the air. You'll see that because this is going to catch on and everybody's going to do it. Someone's got to start."

Chinese company, Kaishan Technologies, is currently working with Alaska on the metrol project.

Governor Bill Walker says the state should continue its work with our Asian neighbors.

"You know I get frustrated when people tell me all of the things we can't do in Alaska and my response is always the same, we're not 'Alask-can'ts', we're 'Alas-cans.' When you look at Alaska from the top down, who do you see? Do you see Florida? Do you see any of those? No. You see Asia. You see China, you see Japan, you see Korea. There's where our market is. It absolutely is."

Senator Lisa Murkowski says it's up to the young people of the state to carry on with clean energy.

"And I really like the fact, that we've got our F-H-A young folks back here, we've got young folks right here because people like Roy that have put 40 years, 50 years of their life into imagining what comes next. Being the imaginers, you have provided the frame work, it's these young people now that need to be captivated and inspired to go out and do what everybody says is crazy."

Within the next four years, Karl says Alaskans can see up to one million barrels of metrol a day in the pipeline.

They're starting with a prototype plant on the North Slope.