Citation: Menghwani, V.; Walker, C.; Kalke, T.; Noble, B.; Poelzer, G. Harvesting Local Energy: A Case Study of Community-Led Bioenergy Development in Galena, Alaska. Energies 2022, 15, 4655. https:// doi.org/10.3390/en15134655 Academic Editors: Nicolas Mansuy and Ryan Bullock Received: 11 May 2022 Accepted: 20 June 2022 Published: 25 June 2022 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). energies Article Harvesting Local Energy: A Case Study of Community-Led Bioenergy Development in Galena, Alaska Vikas Menghwani 1, *, Chad Walker 2 , Tim Kalke 2 , Bram Noble 1 and Greg Poelzer 2 1 Department of Geography and Planning, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5C8, Canada; b.noble@usask.ca 2 School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5C8, Canada; chad.walker@usask.ca (C.W.); tim.kalke@sustainablegalena.org (T.K.); greg.poelzer@usask.ca (G.P.) * Correspondence: vikas.m@usask.ca Abstract: Community-led bioenergy projects show great promise to address a range of issues for remote and Indigenous Arctic communities that typically rely on diesel for meeting their energy demands. However, there is very little research devoted to better understanding what makes individual projects successful. In this study, we analyze the case of the Galena Bioenergy Project (Alaska)—a biomass heating project that uses locally sourced woody biomass to help meet the heating demands of a large educational campus. Using project documents and other publicly available reports, we evaluate the project’s success using three indicators: operational, environmental, and community level socio-economic benefits. We find that the project shows signs of success in all three respects. It has a reliable fuel supply chain for operations, makes contributions towards greenhouse gas reductions by replacing diesel and has improved energy and economic security for the community. We also examine enabling factors behind the project’s success and identify the following factors as crucial: community-level input and support, state level financial support, access to forest biomass with no competing use, predictable demand and committed leadership. Our findings have important implications for other remote communities across the Boreal zone—especially those with nearby forest resources. Our examination of this case study ultimately highlights potential pathways for long-term success and, more specifically, shows how biomass resources might be best utilized through community-led initiatives to sustainably support energy security in Arctic communities. Keywords: Indigenous energy; energy security; interior Alaska; off-grid energy; distributed energy generation; biomass energy 1. Introduction Catalyzed by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and emission reduction targets set under the Paris agreement, a global clean energy transition is underway. In this pursuit, several renewable energy technologies are increasingly being relied upon. For many communities, especially those in northern and remote regions, bioenergy is one of the most promising sources that can help meet global climate commitments while responding to local energy needs. While other types of renewable energy are highlighted more often, the global contribution of biomass is five times higher than wind and solar PV combined [1] and is likely to play a crucial role in deep decarbonization moving forward [2]. There are many different types of bioenergy feedstocks, though woody biomass sourced from forests is available in abundance, provided the resource is properly man- aged [3]. Woody biomass can be an optimal energy source, particularly for remote com- munities with ample forest resources in their proximity. Woody-biomass-based energy projects also offer a lot of promise as a replacement for diesel-based power plants, meeting community energy needs with much lower environmental impacts and better, more local economic opportunities [4–6]. Often generated as residue from harvesting activities or Energies 2022, 15, 4655. https://doi.org/10.3390/en15134655 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/energies