Posted: May 05, 2021 2:07 PM CT | Last Updated: May 5
Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation turned on its solar farm this week.(Caleb Charlie)
There will be something noticeably different in Old Crow, Yukon, in a few months. The hum of diesel engines will be gone. For the first time in 50 years there will be silence.
Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation's solar farm is now generating electricity. In July, the array will be fully operational, capable of meeting the community's needs, to the degree diesel generators — some of which date back to the 1970s — will be powered down on sunny days.
Leaders with the First Nation say the farm will displace 190,000 litres of diesel fuel every year, or 750 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. That represents a roughly 25 per cent annual reduction in diesel fuel use.