Is anyone looking into solar-powered snowmachines?

I once met Sidney Huntington who died last week at the age of 100. We had flown to his home town of Galena, on the Yukon River 500 miles west of Fairbanks, to do a story about an air taxi operator who had run out of gas, literally. It was during the big gasoline shortage in the early 1970s. The flight operator had been supporting 18 trappers in the bush but because of the shortage was unable to obtain fuel and those trappers were stranded without a connection.

We had flown there to do a story about the first real victim of the gasoline shortage. In the course of the day we met Sidney. What I found amazing about the man that day was when I asked him what could be done about the gasoline shortage. I expected a tirade about all the city people with their gas guzzling automobiles and their wasteful ways. Instead he ticked off ways people in Bush Alaska could cut back. Living on margins, they seemed to me to be the last people who should have been called on to sacrifice more.

Fast forward to today. A friend posting on facebook about the recent world agreement on cutting back  on carbon emissions wondered if someone had yet invented a solar-powered snowmachine. That hit home; what do we do with the folks who depend on small engines for survival – not automobiles, but snowmachines and generators and chainsaws and water pumps, all powered by small gasoline engines.

For much of my adult life I have had a relatively small carbon footprint. At on point the only internal combustion engine I owned was a chainsaw and you can guess how many hours a year that burned up gasoline. If I used a gallon a year it was a lot. My collection grew slightly to a generator that I used to energize power tools, also not a big user. Lately though I find myself using it more, watching movies and the like and I have it running right now to power the cellular signal booster that gives me a relaible connection to allow me to be writing and posting this. Eventually I bought a snowmachine and then a four-wheeler. I installed propane lights and a propane cooking range in the cabin.  Over the early years I went 11 years without a car. Then I got married and had to have two – something I still don't quite understand.

So today I looked around and it's a generator, a chainsaw and a snowmachine. Oh yes, and my Jeep sitting out at the trailhead, and I wonder what happens at Carbon 0 to those of us who depend on small engines? Will gasoline prices soar to exhorbitant levels that we can't afford?  Will we find solar-powered snowmachines? Unlikely. At least at first we  might be victims of the majority.  But thinking further, I suppose all of those could be electric with charging energy supplied by solar or wind generation.

Perhaps it is time for some creativity and invention to be able to supply the demand when the time comes because thinking back to Sidney Huntington, those of us living off the grid (even short timers like me) don't have a lot of margin for any more sacrifice.

Shadows oh the Koyukuk, The Sidney Huntington Story