Every 3 Weeks, the Ocean Absorbs the Equal of the Planet’s Entire Energy Supply Since Forever: Krock

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’re familiar with our enthusiasm for the elusive Holy Grail of renewable energy – ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC), the reason we started the blog in the first place.

Dr. Hans Krock, an emeritus professor at the University of Hawaii and indefatigable OTEC proponent and would-be developer, made the case for OTEC in his UH lecture last night. (The Sakamaki Extraordinary Lectures 2009 series has an impressive lineup of speakers and subjects this summer. A panel on “Native Hawaiian Perspectives on Renewable Energy Development" moderated by UH’s Ramsay Taum will be featured on June 24, and UH's Dr. Denise Konan will discuss “Energy and Greenhouse Gas Solutions for Hawaii’s Economy” on July 22.)

Krock made several major points, the first being that OTEC has been proven feasible numerous times since it was first theorized in the 19th Century. OTEC predates the era of the automobile and the internal combustion engine.

The eye-popping fact of the night was Krock’s assertion that the solar energy absorbed by the ocean every three weeks is equivalent to all the Earth’s energy sources (still intact or already used up) since the planet’s creation – all the fossil fuels, all the radioactive energy, everything.

Plugging In

The trick, of course, is to tap this inexhaustible supply of ocean energy. Hawaii has an impressive OTEC history and was center stage in the 1970s for small but successful OTEC projects. One on the Big Island had an energy flow to the electric grid so steady and unvarying that a “brake” had to be installed on the generator to match the utility’s power fluctuations.

But virtually all major OTEC work was halted by the Reagan Administration. There’s been no shortage of OTEC proposals in the decades since (Krock’s included), and there are frequent reports about the Navy’s interest in OTEC for Guam, Hawaii and Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. Lockheed Martin and the Taiwanese were reported to be working on a pilot plant near Oahu, but the announcement was made during a trade mission by Hawaii’s Governor and has been followed by near total silence from the two parties involved.

Krock and other OTEC enthusiasts are not going away; that most certainly includes the US Navy, which as well as any organization knows the global warming, sea-level rise and national security consequences of continued fossil fuel usage.

What the planet needs today are visionaries the equal of OTEC’s 19th-Century theorists – visionaries with cash. Maybe the recent sharp increase in the price of oil, along with the daily drumbeat of new global warming findings, will this time shake loose the funds necessary to build a working OTEC plant in the Pacific and usher in the Hydrogen Age.

The future widespread use of hydrogen for the planet's energy was another of Dr. Krock’s major themes that we’ll explore with him in the coming months on Hawaii Public Radio’s “Energy Futures” program. The series will be launched on July 6th -- “live” at 5 pm on Mondays on KIPO-FM (89.3) and streamed at HPR’s website.

Back in the Mid-Pacific Groove, OTEC’s on Deck

European wind farms are a dime a dozen, solar arrays less so.

It’s time to refocus on Hawaii energy issues – not that we lost any intensity while vacationing in France. The above photo is submitted as proof of our vigilance – a massive photovoltaic array tucked away on the back lot of a nuclear power facility northeast of Pertuis.

Back here at home, ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) will attract some well-deserved attention tomorrow night when Dr. Hans Krock participates in the Sakamaki Extraordinary Lecture series at the University of Hawaii.

Showing a flash of show-biz marketing savvy, the long-time OTEC proponent has titled his lecture “The Poseidon Adventure: A Down-Side-Up Story of Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion.”

More information is available by calling (808) 956-8246.

A Vacation Interrupt for a Few Words on OTEC

Our “research trip” to probe recent developments in ocean thermal energy conversion has bogged down in France, where OTEC was first theorized, and we’re frankly not getting much research done along those lines.

It therefore was encouraging to receive word on this Defense News article on “Electricity From the Sea – U.S. Navy Plans Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Plants” From the story:

“The Navy thinks ‘ocean thermal energy conversion’ may be the answer to Guam’s future electricity needs – and Diego Garcia’s Kwajalein’s and Hawaii’s, too.”

There hasn’t been much out there on OTEC developments lately, so this fairly long article is good news. That said, we’re heading to Mont Ventoux in Provence today to see if we might encounter an “atmospheric thermal energy conversion” project that’s heretofore gone unreported.

Looking for Any Excuse To Visit “La Belle France”

We really do appreciate the visits to this blog by readers from around the world, and we often wish we knew why some of you visit – what your recurring interest in Hawaii energy issues is that brings you back to our little site.

Who are you, “army.mil” -- and why did you click in four times today? We can understand the passing interest of Hawaiian Electric Industries; thanks for stopping by. And you there – Level3.net: Why are your listed locations always out-of-the-way places like Hanford, CA and Schurz, NV? Shurz? You have got to be kidding. Don’t you ever hang out in metro areas?

By now it should be obvious we’re filling space today as the hours count down to our vacation in France. We appreciate our readers’ visits, and we apologize in advance for not posting much (if at all) over the next three weeks.

But since it’s France we’re visiting, maybe we can swing into some obscure museum somewhere that features the work of French inventor George Claude, the 19th Century proponent of ocean thermal energy conversion who lost his fortune attempting to make the technology work. If it’s any comfort to you, M. Claude, wherever you are -- they’re still trying.

Perhaps an OTEC breakthrough will be announced while we’re traveling so we’ll have to play catch-up from halfway around the world. If that happens, we’ll consider it justification to write off this trip!

What's with Concern over ‘Green Energy Bubble’?

Some people are worrywarts. Take the concern over a so-called “green energy bubble” -- please. What’s next – “too much” swine flu vaccine?

Can we really have too much non-polluting energy? Is there a danger the United States – the biggest user of destructive fossil fuels on the planet – will over-commit to new technologies that don’t pollute and warm the atmosphere, melt Greenland, disappear the polar ice caps and raise sea levels?

From where we sit, concern over this alleged bubble is just more evidence of an anti-green agenda, and if this offends the bubble boys and girls, we can’t muster an apology.

Want something real to worry about? Spend time with the writing of Dr. James E. Hansen, including this page-turner – his article on “Scientific reticence and sea level rise.” His summary:

"I suggest that a 'scientific reticence' is inhibiting the communication of a threat of a potentially large sea level rise. Delay is dangerous because of system inertias that could create a situation with future sea level changes out of our control."

We’re just a tad sensitive about this particular topic, out here in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, so don’t expect any hand-wringing about the “green energy bubble” in these quarters. We side with Dr. Hansen, who wants to pop the denial bubble about what’s in store for coastal and island societies in the decades ahead. It isn't good.

Electric Cars (cont.): ‘Better Place’ Makes News

A Better Place electric car pulls into the dock of a
fully automated battery transfer station.

• May 14 Update: Chevron may close refinery

The marketing and PR savvy of Better Place, the company intent on wiring cities around the globe for electric car hookups and battery changes, was evident on the Internet today. The company seems to have made news just about everywhere, including a blurb in the Honolulu Advertiser and a longer piece in the Star-Bulletin.

The big event was a Yokohama, Japan demonstration of the company’s automated battery switching technology. It’s frankly nothing like we had envisioned and looks more like a NASA “clean room” than a service station.

The above image is from a YouTube video of the demonstration, and if the switch routinely happens that fast, it will be quicker than a full-tank fill-up. The procedure happens while the driver sits in the car.

We confess to being more than a little impressed, and we look forward to seeing similar demonstrations here on Oahu, where the so-called mileage limitations of electric cars won’t scare away prospective buyers. You can drive nearly everywhere on the island well within the range of a single charge.

Electric Cars Only as ‘Green’ as Generation Source

Today’s “Business Daily” feature on the BBC World Service mentions Hawaii as one of the locations Better Place intends to build a network of electricity charging stations for a new generation of electron-powered vehicles. CEO Shai Agassi unveiled his plan here with considerable fanfare last December.

The radio clip is worth sitting through for its main point: An electric vehicle that takes its electricity from a power plant fired by fossil fuel doesn’t help much if at all in reducing carbon pollution of the atmosphere.

France is cited in the piece as an ideal location for the electric car revolution because it uses non-carbon-polluting nuclear power to generate the vast majority of its electricity. We’ll nominate Hawaii for the same reason – eventually. Once the state's vast solar and ocean power potential is realized, Hawaii will become a showcase for Better Place and other electric car industry movers and shakers.  It can’t happen soon enough.

Work Already Underway on Next Year’s Legislation; Busy Summer Ahead on Renewable Energy Topics

The work of the 2009 legislative session won’t be completed until legislation clears the Governor’s desk one way or another, but there’s hope for optimism that several “green” energy bills will become law.

The Blue Planet Foundation is tracking several measures at its website, including urging followers to send notes of appreciation to legislators who voted for new renewable energy portfolio standards and other legislation.

The failure to pass a ban on future fossil fuel-fired power plants is the major disappointment of the session, and we can expect it to be high on the priority list in 2010. A summer-long series of renewable energy and sustainability happenings will help build support.

UH Manoa as Center Stage

The Sakamaki Extraordinary Lectures series on the University of Hawaii Manoa campus will offer a summer-long opportunity to increase your renewable energy and sustainability knowledge. A sampling:

• May 20 – A screening of The Sky’s the Limit: Energy Opportunities for Hawaii, an award-winning film with “simple, practical, affordable solutions to America’s energy crisis,” followed by a presentation from Kanu Hawaii’s Darren Kimura.

• June 6 – Hawaii Clean Energy Day. An impressive list of participants will focus on the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative and its goal of revolutionizing how energy is produced in the state over the next two decades.

• June 17 – Ocean thermal energy conversion could be a major contributor to the Hawaii’s energy mix by 2030. Long-time OTEC advocate Dr. Hans Krock will be the featured speaker – The Poseidon Adventure: A Down-Side-Up Story of Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion.

• June 24 – Native Hawaiian Perspectives on Renewable Energy Development, a panel moderated by Ramsay Taum that will “discuss policies and actions to ensure a sustainable energy future for Hawaii.”

Additional lectures will round out the series and help prepare the agenda for even more far-reaching legislative action during the next session.

Keeping Tabs: Oil Price Jumps to 6-Month High

It’s nothing to be alarmed about, say the economists. The recent price rise to above $58/barrel has nothing to do with supply and demand and most likely reflects optimism among investors.

That may be reassuring elsewhere but not Hawaii, where the cost of virtually everything depends on the price of oil. Sure, the price is only about 40% of the high mark last July, but it’s 20% more than it was in early April and 54% higher than in late December. No wonder the electric bill is creeping up, month by month.

T. Boone Pickens has a piece at Huffington Post’s Green site today that promotes his natural gas solution to getting off imported oil. That aside, when Pickens takes note of an upswing in “the oil price roller coaster,” we probably ought to pay attention.

Another 25-percent increase in the price from where we are today and we’ll be back to half of last summer’s all-time high. All of which is to say, now that the drama of the legislative session is behind us, it’s time to refocus on renewable energy developments in Hawaii.

So whatever happened to plans to build a pilot ocean thermal energy conversion plant here? It’s been six months since the Governor popped the cork on that one while on a trade trip to Taiwan – and there’s been nothing official about it since.

Legislature’s Final Days Include Votes to Increase Oil Tax, Promote Renewable Energy Development

4:45 pm Update: “HONOLULU (AP) – Hawaii’s per barrel tax on distributors of petroleum is due to rise under legislation that the House and Senate passed Thursday and sent to the governor.

“The measure would raise the levy from 5 cents to $1.05 and generate $31 million annually for alternative energy projects and food safety programs. It could cost consumers 2 to 3 cents more per gallon of gasoline.”

The Governor today vetoed other tax hikes passed by the Legislature, but since renewable energy advancement is one of her priorities, there’s no reason to believe she'll veto this one.

The egg we had for breakfast two days ago after wiping it off our face had a bad taste, so we’re treading carefully in assessing the status of energy-related bills in the last days of the Hawaii State Legislature's 2009 session. Over-reliance on government websites can be humbling.

Nevertheless, two bills are up for final passage on the floors of both houses today. HB 1271 increases the per-barrel tax “…on each barrel or fractional part of a barrel of petroleum product sold by a distributor to any retail dealer or end user, other than a refiner, of petroleum product….” The bill splits up the proposed $1 increase into several funds that support energy and agriculture sustainability in the islands.

The bill’s introduction is a good description of Hawaii’s fossil fuel energy dependence problem, beginning with: “Hawaii is at a crossroads. As the most geographically isolated state in the country, we are dangerously dependent on imports for basic food and energy needs.” It’s a sobering reminder of why renewable energy development must happen here.

Getting By on Half a Loaf

HB 1464 was the cause of our aforementioned chagrin. Its original form would have banned construction of future fossil fuel power plants. Had it passed, Hawaii would have gone boldly where none had gone before, sending a clear message to the world that the state is open for green energy business.

But timidity prevailed over courage, and the watered-down version is a shadow of its former self. Still, the renewable energy portfolio standards have been strengthened.

We await today’s floor action in the Legislature and will post on the results – after obtaining triple confirmation. Our taste for egg isn't what it used to be.

The Fossil Fuel Plant Ban that Was, then Wasn’t

Some of you may be under the mistaken impression that the Hawaii State Legislature is about to ban construction of new fossil fuel plants in the state. You would be thinking that because you read it here.

My mistake. I took my cue from the online post of the next-to-last draft of HB 1464 that was under discussion by a conference committee as the deadline hour approached Friday night. That draft remained online after the committee’s midnight deadline and through the weekend. Alas, the committee reported out this final version without a ban. (Regrettably, my incorrect May 2 post, which has been deleted, will probably remain online as a cache until the end of time.)

So forget the effusive wording in that earlier post. Here’s a newspaper report on some of the late action on this and other bills, including the Governor’s disappointment over the ban’s demise. We share her view.

You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby; Once-Ignored Ocean Technology Is Finding Its Place in the Sun

Advocates of ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC), which extracts solar energy trapped in the sea for use on land, have to be somewhat surprised by OTEC’s sudden emergence into the mainstream of renewable energy media coverage.

OTEC was being overlooked so consistently that we started this blog to write about it, as noted in post #1. And just two days later we complained that OTEC had been left off a local editorial’s list of renewable technologies that Hawaii needs to lessen oil’s grip on the state.

But that was then. OTEC has gone from completely left out of editorials to being the sole subject of one in today’s Honolulu Star-Bulletin that was inspired by a New York Times story published last week and reprinted in yesterday’s Bulletin.

This well-deserved attention is important because it makes the average citizen aware of OTEC’s potential, something we’ve always thought is necessary. It’s not enough for scientists and engineers to believe in the technology; voters also have to understand something about OTEC to help elected officials appreciate its importance, too.

Bill to Ban New Fossil Fuel Plants Deferred Again

• May 1, 3:50 pm HST Update: HB 1464 has been pushed back to late afternoon for consideration by conferees.
The guessing game continues about what Hawaii legislators will do with the bill that would prohibit construction of new fossil fuel generation here. Word from the Capitol this afternoon is that lawmakers have deferred the bill yet again – the third deferral this week. Tomorrow is the deadline on this session's legislation.

Keep reading below for our take on what passage of this legislation could mean. In the meantime, read what The New York Times said this week about ocean thermal energy conversion, one of the baseload technologies that could revolutionize the way Hawaii generates its power in the decades ahead. Shutting off fossil fuels for Hawaii's future plants could only hasten introduction of this and other breakthrough technologies.

Getting Real on Wind and Solar

James Schlesinger and Robert L. Hirsch authored a piece for the Washington Post a week ago that just came to our attention. Under the above headline, they present a tutorial on why intermittent forms of renewable energy can't get America off fossil fuel for electricity generation.

They stopped short and did not introduce the concept of baseload renewable energy in their commentary. We've been hammering away since March 2008 about the potential for ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) to become such a baseload renewable. The New York Times piece on the status of OTEC that's linked above is worthy reading -- and while you're at it, check out our first post on Hawaii Energy Options to get a flavor of why we're so high on OTEC. (We have to chuckle that the headline above that post also used the "get real" angle.)

Decision Day: Legislators Could Set New Course by Banning Future Construction of Fossil Fuel Plants

• April 30, 4 pm HST Update: Still waiting on word on the fate of HB 1464, which was taken up again today by a conference committee.
Will they or won’t they? What Hawaii legislators do in conference committee today with HB 1464 could make headlines across the country and around the world starting about an hour after their vote.

Approval of the anti-fossil fuel legislation would be one of those “crossing the Rubicon” moments – no turning back from a course once begun. In this case, the state of Hawaii would declare no turning back from a decision to make it the global focal point in the elimination of fossil fuel from our daily energy diet.

If they’re still on schedule, the conferees will meet today to make that stand or shy away from it. A full-page ad in today’s Honolulu Advertiser sponsored by Blue Planet Foundation lists more than two dozen co-sponsors and carries photos of Governor Linda Lingle and congressional representatives Mazie Hirono and Neil Abercrombie.

One thing seems certain: If shyness prevails over courage today at the Capitol, courage would win out in next year’s session. So why wait?

Renewable Technology Spurt Would Be Likely Result of Law To Ban New Hawaii Fossil Fuel Plants

Blue Planet Foundation head Henk Rogers

addresses rally today at the Hawaii State Capitol.

April 28 Update: According to a Honolulu Star-Bulletin report, a conference committee will resume negotiations on HB 1464 on Wednesday, April 29. The bill would prohibit the construction of any new electricity generation power plants that burn carbon-based fuel. The bill was debated in a conference committee session that began Monday afternoon.

Proponents of the ban gathered at the State Capitol at a rally sponsored by the Blue Planet Foundation within earshot of legislators’ offices. Speakers included Foundation creator Henk Rogers, Governor Linda Lingle and Senator Gary Hooser. Entertainer Henry Kapolo’s electric guitar was powered by solar energy gathered on PV panels provided by Sunetric.

Baseload Renewables in Urgent Demand

A ban on new carbon-based fuels would concentrate everyone's attention on the critical need regarding Hawaii's ongoing energy crisis. It's appropriate to use that word, because a place that relies on burning oil products to generate nearly fourth-fifths of its electricity is in one. This particular crisis has gone on so long that people tend to become desensitized to the problem. Oil prices near $150 per barrel also tend to concentrate one's attention on this issue.

But no crisis exists in meeting power generation requirements anywhere in the islands. Hawaiian Electric Company's new plant on Oahu is intended to use renewable fuels, so it's not as if Honolulu will face brownouts or rolling blackouts over the next decade. What could happen in that time would be the construction and test of Lockheed Martin's planned ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) plant.

Hawaii Energy Options began advocating for OTEC in our very first post in March 2008. HB 1464 could be what pushes OTEC to the forefront -- first in test mode, and if successful, as a baseload 24/7 technology that can tap into the inexhaustible supply of stored solar energy in the tropical ocean around Hawaii. (A report today details the military's adoption of green technology, including the Navy's use of OTEC -- a matter of more than passing interest in light of the Navy's presence in the islands.)

A ban on future carbon-based power plants and the development of a clean baseload technology would be the one-two punch that frees Hawaii from oil's grip and sets a course to achieve and even surpass Hawaii's current goals for the development of green energy in the decades ahead.

Here are scenes from Monday's rally:

The Governor said passage of HB 1464

would be a message to the world.

The message was clear enough.

Petition by T-shirt.

The proposed ban on future fossil fuel power plants

would concentrate efforts to develop baseload

renewable energy technologies, advocates say.

Rally Supports Bill To Bar New Fossil Fuel Plants; Recalling the Frog that Couldn’t Until He Had To

The Blue Planet Foundation is sponsoring a rally at the Hawaii State Capitol at noon tomorrow to support HB 1464, which would prohibit construction of new power plants in Hawaii that burn coal or oil.

Making it impossible to build new fossil fuel plants here will hasten the state’s development of renewable resources, supporters say, and they may be right. But they have a big task ahead of them in the short time remaining in this legislative session.

Media reports suggest lawmakers are backing away from the proposed ban, reasoning that even the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative’s 2030 goal includes conventional non-renewable electricity generation for 30 percent of the state’s needs.

This issue reminds us of the corny story our dad, Paul J. Carlson, was always telling decades ago back in Iowa. Seems there was this little frog that had gotten himself trapped in a deep highway chuckhole. No matter how hard he tried, the little guy absolutely, positively, unquestionably could not get out of that hole…..not until “a truck came along and he had to.”

The story always brought groans all around, but the moral is clearer today than it ever was. Years later, Hawaii is stuck in one big energy hole, having barely survived last year’s Mack truck attack – $147 per barrel oil.

Some say we absolutely, positively, unquestionably must retain the option of building more coal and oil power plants – that we simply can’t get along without them. 

What would they do if HB 1464 were to become law? They’d probably find a way to climb out of this hole we’re in.

Lanai Wind Plan Takes Bloomberg News Hit -- Twice

The folks over at Castle & Cooke knew their plans to build a 300-MW wind farm on Lanai would produce some negative ink over concerns for the island’s relatively quiet and unspoiled environment. There’s been a local story here and there about residents’ fears that the wind farm would change their island, which just two decades ago was the world’s largest pineapple farm.

But those localized stirrings were nothing compared to the widespread publicity David Murdock’s wind plans have received thanks to the Bloomberg News Service. The story appeared in Friday’s Honolulu Star-Bulletin and landed a punch right from the top:

“LANAI CITY – First, he ripped out the pineapples. Then he put up Four Seasons hotels and luxury homes. Next, he envisions 200 windmills towering next to the beach.”

The Bloomberg piece continues in that aggressive vein, but unlike earlier stories that focused on long-time local residents, it mixes in comments from residents wealthy enough to own a luxury home: “I am not going to live on an island that’s the biggest wind farm in the Pacific,” said a founding partner of a Woodside, CA venture fund.

The Bloomberg piece has quotes from a company representative and the state’s energy administrator on the importance of growing Hawaii’s renewable energy industry, but the story had a negative slant. And if that wasn’t a bad enough start to the weekend for Castle & Cooke, the exact same story appears today in the Honolulu Advertiser (along with the Bloomberg photo of a Lanai beach, above).

Every project that could significantly reduce the state’s dependence on imported oil deserves strong consideration. The Lanai wind farm proposal is one of them, but whether it can overcome the environmental and financial challenges is yet unknown. Not every proposal can, as we saw last week.

Obama’s Iowa Speech Could Well Have Been about Hawaii’s Unparalleled Requirement to Get Off Oil

We especially like story lines that link Iowa and Hawaii – one the state of our youth and the other our adopted home for 36 years. We were practically delirious with joy when the University of Iowa traveled to the Aloha State for two football games in the 1980s. Iowans transplanted to Hawaii had a dilemma, however: Do we cheer for our alma mater in this one game or for the team we support all season long? Our family of “Hawaiowans” eventually cheered for both, and each team claimed a victory.

Hawaii-born President Obama yesterday visited Iowa, where his presidential campaign sprang to life early last year, and his remarks had particular relevance to his home state’s energy plight.

The President selected Newtown as the location for his speech on renewable energy. Newton’s economy has crashed since Maytag left town, but wind turbine towers are now built in the old Maytag plant, and turbine blades are manufactured elsewhere in town. (The photo shows him inspecting a wind turbine tower.)

Bringing It Home

The President’s remarks about the importance of reducing the nation’s dependence on oil played well in Hawaii. The state’s congressional delegation, the governor and other state officials, numerous other politicians, business people, environmentalists, editorial writers, citizens and bloggers have all been communicating the same goal for the state.

“The choice we face is not between saving our environment and saving our economy,” the President said. “The choice we face is between prosperity and decline. We can remain the world’s leading importer of oil, or we can become the world’s leading exporter of clean energy.”

Right there is Hawaii’s mantra. No other state is as dependent as Hawaii on imported oil (there are no natural oil deposits in the state). Oil provides more than 90 percent of the state’s energy; electricity generation alone accounts for 78 percent – far and away the highest percentage in the country (Florida is #2 at about 10 percent).

An Imperative To Change

Tourism is the state’s economic engine and is wholly dependent on air travel for virtually every tourist’s visit. The overwhelming majority of goods consumed in the state arrive by oil-burning ships. And when the oil price shoots above $100 per barrel as it did last year, Hawaii’s economy goes into free-fall faster than just about anywhere, with the possible exception of Michigan.

Renewable energy development that eventually produces alternatives to jet fuel and bunker oil is absolutely essential for Hawaii’s long-term survival. But even before those breakthroughs are achieved, the state is an ideal location for aggressive development of vehicles powered with electricity generated by green energy technologies, including baseload ocean thermal energy conversion that eventually will tap the sea’s stored solar energy.

The Hawaii-Iowa connection was perfectly evident during the President’s visit yesterday, and his speech did more than set a tone for the nation’s goal to achieve energy independence. In Hawaii, it amounted to a validation of the course we’re already on by necessity and more inspiration to lead the nation in the effort to get off oil.

• There are political reasons to loosen oil's grip on our economy, too, including this one.

It’s ‘Game Over’ for Penguin Bank Wind Project

Grays Harbor Ocean Energy Company has pulled the plug on its proposed 80-square-mile wind and wave power project in the middle of Hawaii’s most important whale sanctuary.

Wind and wave technology obviously can help Hawaii reduce its dependence on imported fossil fuels, but as we asked when this proposal first surfaced, “does every ‘green’ proposal merit implementation?”

Beyond the regulatory challenges the company faced, you have to conclude Grays Harbor failed to appreciate the extent to which humpback whales are revered in Hawaii. Anything that appears to threaten these winter visitors is headed for trouble.

Feedback from residents might have saved the company from all the unfavorable publicity it created for itself. As the leader of a local environmental group observed:

“We hope that any future proposal will involve the community early on in the process and be mindful of Hawaii’s fragile environment.” 

That’s good advice for any company with plans for Hawaii, including renewable energy developers.

‘Honolulu Weekly’ Preps for Earth Day in Hawaii

On this weekend before Earth Day, we’re moved to publicly note our admiration for the quality journalism displayed week in and week out in Honolulu Weekly. We’d like to think it has nothing to do with son Ragnar Carlson being the editor, but most independent observers would agree. (Yes, for those who’ve wondered: I'm proud to say he's my relative, not publisher Laurie Carlson’s!)

Honolulu Weekly is an essential resource here – an alternative print media voice that’s free to readers but priceless for the stands it takes and criticism it levies at deserving targets, including legislators unable to rise above self interest on some major issues this year.

This week’s issue highlights sustainability in the islands and includes a guide packed with events leading up to and during Earth Day, as well as year-round volunteerism opportunities.

Here’s hoping advertisers continue to recognize this paper's value and are plentiful enough to sustain the Weekly itself during our temporary economic downturn.

Letter to Editor Merits Attention for Energy Action

The daily media provide more than their share of inspiration for Hawaii Energy Options. A letter in today’s Honolulu Star-Bulletin is such a case.

Here’s the submission by Alex Woodbury of Kamuela, HI. In the spirit of former Honolulu Mayor Frank Fasi, Alex deserves a “Good Guy” award for recognizing the problem, then doing something about it:

Carbon cap can bring big benefits

Here in Hawaii nearly 90 percent of our electricity is generated from burning fossil fuels. All of the goods shipped to Hawaii are done so by sea or by air with fossil fuels. We are an economy hinged on the availability of fossil fuels. We are an island economy with a huge carbon footprint. It is time for a change.

I decided to do something about it. I installed PV net metering systems on my residence and my office, and I run my company vehicles on biodiesel locally remanufactured from used cooking oil. To date my home and office PV systems have offset more than 25,000 pounds of carbon dioxide and my fuel-efficient biodiesel powered vehicles have reduced my fossil fuel consumption by 10,000 gallons.

A cap on carbon pollution will create tens of thousands of good-paying American jobs that can't be shipped overseas.

Consumers and businesses will benefit from stable energy prices, and with greater energy efficiency, we can get more from the energy we have, which will mean lower electricity bills. My family and my business have benefited thus far; however, in order for our economy to truly benefit, our leaders need to step in and force change.

Alex Woodbury

Kamuela, Hawaii

Hawaii Would Be 1st in USA To Enact Feed-In Tariff

Germany’s great success in developing renewable energy projects is attributed to its “feed-in tariff” (FIT) in a Star-Bulletin commentary today by the executive director of Blue Planet Foundation.

The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission is now pondering the nation’s first FIT, and enactment would let Hawaii “stake a claim as a global leader in developing strategies to integrate renewable energy into power grids,” writes Jeff Mikulina.

The commentary details advantages Hawaii’s FIT could deliver while addressing the so-called “green premium” ratepayers might have to pay:

"Germany established more aggressive FITs in 2000, with some of the tariffs paying clean energy providers four times or more than the going rate of electricity. What did this cost German ratepayers? Not much, it turns out. Analysis shows the average ratepayer paid an extra penny per kilowatt-hour — or about 3 percent of their household electricity costs. That's not bad, considering the 5- to 10-cent increase per kilowatt-hour in Hawaii during last summer's oil price spike."

That oil price spike reached $147/barrel. Hawaii simply can't handle prices anywhere near that level, let alone above it.  Oil's cost is passed on to consumers in virtually every product we buy and deliver, including air fares for incoming tourists. FITs and other well-conceived policies are essential for this isolated community to transition to a non-fossil fuel economy and in the process show others how it’s done.

Ends of the Energy Spectrum - Efficiency and OTEC

Forget our earlier suggestion. “Waikoblowa” has been calm for two straight days, so tearing down the hotels here to build wind farms maybe isn’t such a good idea after all. We just wish the weather gods would give us back our sunshine; the satellite image suggests several more days of grayness.

So let’s get serious about two opposites on the energy spectrum – relatively low-cost efficiency and admittedly high-cost ocean thermal energy conversion. Science Applications International Corp. has been awarded a multi-year State of Hawaii contract to manage ratepayer funded energy efficiency and conservation programs.

Hawaiian Electric Company previously ran the program, which looked to some like a conflict of interest – an electron-selling company overseeing a conservation effort. SAIC’s contract will run for nearly five years and is subject to renewal.

East of Africa in the Indian Ocean, Reunion Island is studying OTEC for its potential to help meet the island’s energy needs. Reunion, a French overseas department, joins French Polynesia in showing an interest in OTEC.

As noted here last October, Xenesys Inc. of Japan and the Pacific Petroleum Company group of Tahiti are studying OTEC’s application in French Polynesia, New Caledonia and Vanuatu. We’ve heard nothing more from that venture since the Fall and hope no news is good news.

Waikoloa – a Terrible Waste of Wind Farm Space

Maybe our relaxed mode these past few days has eroded the seriousness with which we normally address energy issues in Hawaii, but here’s a thought:

Why don’t they just tear down the hotels, restaurants and timeshare condos at Waikoloa on the Big Island’s kona coast and convert the space to wind farms? The resource must be enough to power all of this island and one or two more!

Seriously, folks…..the wind here is relentless. We love it here and enjoy our timeshare once a year to kick back and relax in this beautiful location, but the wind!  It’s truly nothing to write home about if you’re affiliated with the local chamber of commerce.

But back to the serious issues and something to sober us up:

According to a recent survey of Arctic sea ice, it’s getting thinner and less likely to survive the summer season. Scientists are now predicting that “the entire Arctic could become nearly ice-free in less than 30 years.”

And that can’t be good. Read the upsetting details in this online report in the San Francisco Chronicle. And forget about actually reading a real newspaper outdoors in Waikoloa. The wind…………!

Land-Poor Hawaii Must Build ‘Solar Farms’ at Sea

For the second time this week, National Public Radio provides the subject matter for a post here at Hawaii Energy Options. Morning Edition today carried a story on what will be one of the world’s largest solar thermal plants.

They’re planning 38,000 “sun catchers,” described as looking like “enormous satellite dishes with mirrors” that will be spread over 10 square miles of southeast California desert.

That’s what they do on the mainland – find open space not suitable for just about anything else and build on it. It sounds relatively simple compared to what we have to do out here in land-scarce Hawaii to capture the sun’s energy.

Hawaii’s “sun catchers” likely will take the form of ocean thermal energy plants once a 10-megawatt pilot plant proves the OTEC concept. The tropical ocean captures enough solar energy each day to easily meet the entire state’s current electrical energy demand and its future electric vehicle requirement, to boot.

The NPR story ends by noting the 25-percent unemployment rate in Imperial County where the energy projects are taking shape: “The challenge now is to train this potential work force for jobs in this industry and build the controversial transmission corridors it will take to carry this clean energy to the coastal cities that want it.”

Hawaii has its own unemployment issues as tourism continues its slide and faces an uncertain future when oil prices rise to last year’s levels, as most observes think they certainly will. A clean energy industry would shape our future positively and provide employment to the next generation of young people – a worthy goal if there ever was one.

Electric Vehicles Get the Brush-Off by TOTN Guests

Today’s "Talk of the Nation" show on National Public Radio had a segment on fixing Detroit – as in, what do we do with GM and Chrysler? In the course of the discussion, host Neal Conan’s guests – Micheline Maynard, senior business correspondent for The New York Times, and Dan Neil, automotive critic for The Los Angeles Times – more or less dissed the idea of electric vehicles having much impact in the nation’s future car mix.

Here are excerpts from the program, starting with a quote from Maynard:

"So much emphasis is being put on the Volt, and the Volt is a niche vehicle. They’re going to sell 10,000 in the first year. It’s gonna cost $40,000. This isn’t something that’s going to be an everyday car for you and me. It’s going to be a third or fourth car for a lot of wealthy people."

Neil picked up the thread:

“You want to see losing money? Wait until the Volt comes out (Maynard chuckles), because the Volt is a money loser, and that’s the problem. There’s a fundamental tension between what people say they want. They want these companies to reinvent themselves and make these high-mileage, fuel-efficient next-generation technology and all of that, and all of that is a money loser. There is no commercial case for that. I’m not saying we shouldn’t build them. In fact, I’m saying we should build them as fast as we can because they would serve a larger national strategic interest – namely oil balance of trade, global warming. But to require these companies on top of everything else they face to revolutionize their product portfolio and expect them to bear the burden of those costs is unrealistic….”

So here we have two widely read car industry observers who pretty much laughed off the whole idea of electric vehicles, even though they serve a “larger national strategic interest.” You have to wonder whether they’ve absorbed, chameleon-like, the same mindset of the industry they watch.

They’re only two people, but their comments weren’t encouraging for the future of electric cars in Hawaii, a state with an overwhelming economic interest to get off oil. That’s what Hawaii residents want, and we expect car manufacturers – American or otherwise – to get us there.

Making the Hawaii Case

Beyond the “larger national strategic interest” electric vehicles can serve, Hawaii needs to get off oil because the state is more dependent on oil than any other; electrifying transportation is a big part of what has to happen here.  

According to Hawaiian Electric Company, 63 percent of the oil imported here is used in transportation. The biggest slice goes to air transportation – admittedly a tougher nut to crack than ground transportation – but on the ground is where companies Better Place and Phoenix Motorcars have something to prove.

Oahu is the perfect test laboratory for their electric vehicles; almost all car commutes here are less than 30 miles, and most are appreciably shorter than that. If Better Place and Phoenix actually roll out their projects here as they’ve asserted they will, Hawaii could be the showcase for the first wave of electric cars to hit the street.

And if that happens, maybe even the Times newspapers on both coasts would notice.

Keeping Tabs: Oil Stays Above $50/Barrel for Week

We’ve been showing the Crude Oil graph in the right column for months now thanks to the folks at oil-price.net. They make it easy to stay informed on the biggest influence on Hawaii’s cost of living.

Oil passed $50 a week ago today for the first time in three months, and it hasn’t fallen below that level since. Residents here already are talking about the rising price of gas over the past two months, and we’ll soon see the influence of oil’s higher price in our electric bills.

Anecdotally, our own electric bill was above $180/month in late summer after oil reached $147/barrel in July. Our most recent bill was about $75, which shows oil’s great impact in a state that generates about 78 percent of its electricity by burning it.

President Obama mentions the importance of developing the country’s renewable energy potential in nearly every press conference and town meeting. Perhaps more than the rest of the nation, Hawaii residents support him in achieving that goal. No other state is as dependent on oil or has more to gain by loosening oil’s grip on our economy.

Energy Stimulus Funds Coming

The Obama Administration is sending more than $15 million to Hawaii for energy efficiency and conservation projects, according to an announcement today.  Keeping track of the various stimulus packages flowing from Washington can be confusing, though; headlines two weeks ago said Hawaii is receiving $30 million for energy programs. And can we even be sure the funds will end up where they've been designated?  (We've just been assured by a State official in a position to know that there's no possibility of the energy funds being diverted as apparently is happening with other monies.  "We're working with the feds, counties and the PUC to make well thought-out decisions on where this money should go," he said. So forget the earlier speculation.)

UH’s ‘Sustainable Saunders’ Is Good Model for State

One of the overlooked components of the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative is the huge role conservation will play in achieving HCEI’s goals.  As we’ve noted here recently, the 2030 goal includes a big slice of energy conservation into what fossil fuel generation could grow to, a cut almost as large as what new renewable energy projects will provide.

Energy efficiency needs all the promotion it can get, such as yesterday’s Honolulu Advertiser feature on Sustainable Saunders, a student-led University of Hawaii initiative to make Saunders Hall a model of energy efficiency. The story contains numerous links to energy conservation websites and is highly recommended.

Sustainable Saunders is just the kind of young adult leadership that our new energy-oriented show on Hawaii Public Radio will want to feature (keep reading immediately below).

HPR to Launch Energy-Related Weekly Show in July

We don't often "break" news here, but this is one of those times: Hawaii Public Radio is developing a weekly “live” one-hour program that will focus on energy-related issues in the Aloha State. We’ll host the show.

Topics will range from renewable energy development, utility regulatory issues, energy policy initiatives, climate change implications for Hawaii, the next generation’s views on these subjects and many others.

The format will include in-studio guests on the show’s weekly topic, a listener call-in segment, current energy-related news and more. The show's launch date is Monday, July 6; it will be aired “live" from 5 to 6 p.m. each Monday on KIPO-FM, 89.3.

Hawaii Public Radio streams is programming “live” on the Internet, so the show’s potential audience is in the billions. For starters, we’ll be happy if you pass the word to a few of your friends.

Replacing Fossil Fuel Generation with Renewables Surest Way to Cut Toxic Releases to Environment

Here’s a fun fact from the Environmental Protection Agency’s just-released report called the Annual Toxic Release Inventory (TRI):

“Electric power generating facilities accounted for 67 percent of Hawaii’s TRI chemical releases, including 83 percent of the air releases.”

Of the “top facilities in Hawaii for chemicals releases,” which totaled 2,440,684 pounds of toxics, generation stations contributed 1,920,431 pounds, or 78.6 percent.  Those are 2007 totals.

Oil Passes $50 Mark for First Time Since January

The price of oil may have fallen below $50 per barrel by the time you read this, so we captured the graph at the $51.36 mark. (And maybe it'll be higher; one dollar's value vs. one euro has already fallen 7 cents today.)

We can’t fail to note the unmistakable upward trend in the price of oil beyond $50/barrel. It may be no more than just another unpredictable (for the average person) economic event, but in a state that relies on oil to deliver electricity, food, clothing and tourists, the upward price creep will soon affect everything we buy -- if it hasn't already.

Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative Efforts Expanded; HECO Clears Path for Lanai, Molokai Wind Farms

Governor Linda Lingle today announced additional support for the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative (you can watch her press conference). Two senior engineers/project leaders from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado will be stationed here to work on HCEI, which has a goal of supplying 70 percent of the state’s energy from renewable sources by 2030.

(That’s the “shorthand” version of the goal and the one favored by the media – and even by the Governor’s office on occasion; HCEI apparently gets to 70 percent by reducing demand and adding new clean energy – a mathematical plus-minus contortion that we accept on face value.)

Also today, Hawaiian Electric said it has cut a deal with two wind energy developers to supply 200 MW each from their projects on Lanai (Castle & Cooke) and Molokai (First Wind). Both companies had proposed 400-MW farms, but HECO says by scaling back those plans, both can proceed without winding up in a court fight over the total package.

Of course, both projects are fantasy without undersea cables to transit their power to Oahu’s population center, and all those details have yet to be addressed – including the cost of laying the cables and the means to pay for the investment. One way or the other, customers will pay this "green energy" premium -- the price for reducing Hawaii's carbon emissions and drastically reducing fossil fuel consumption.

Noting a Birthday -- Belatedly

The press release announcing the wind arrangements prominently mentions the intermittent nature of these projects, and that leads us back to this blog's beginnings on March 14, 2008. That’s when we first touted ocean thermal energy conversion as the baseload power game-changer for Hawaii.

We’re pleased of course that wind energy projects appear to be gathering momentum, but without development of steady baseload renewable energy sources or radically improved storage capabilities, intermittent wind power projects will only get us part-way to our goal of eliminating fossil fuel dependence in the islands.

Precious little has been said publicly in the past four months since the Governor’s high-profile announcement about the proposed Lockheed Martin pilot plant off Oahu’s west coast. So please, Lockheed, Governor Lingle, HECO, anybody: Give us some good news about OTEC!

(This greeting isn't belated: Happy Birthday, Grandson Jack!)

PGV Eyes Adding 8 More Geothermal Megawatts

The timing is coincidental but couldn’t be better. Puna Geothermal Ventures, which celebrated its 15th anniversary in December, is working to add 8 megawatts of generation capacity to its Big Island plant.

Today’s story in the Honolulu Advertiser arrived a few hours before today’s Business Game Plan seminar, which includes Henk Rogers’ presentation on the status of renewable energy progress in Hawaii and the challenges ahead to expand green energy here.

The story ends with this observation: The contract being negotiated by the Big Island utility and PGV’s owner “will be based on business costs, plus a reasonable profit and other factors.”

Gone will be the “avoided cost” formula, which has determined what renewable energy developers are paid based on the cost of fossil fuels the utility avoids burning to generate power on its own.  This new approach presumably is part of the new way of doing business announced with considerable fanfare in October.

New Predictions of Irreversible Climate Shifts Hold Dire Warning for Hawaii; a 1-Meter Sea Level Rise?

Have you ever had your ears rung after someone crept up behind you and crashed a pair of marching band cymbals together? We think the latest predictions of “irreversible climate shifts” should have that kind of attention-getting jolt. Scientists now meeting in Copenhagen say: 

"The worst-case IPCC scenario trajectories (or even worse) are being realized. There is a significant risk that many of the trends will accelerate, leading to an increasing risk of abrupt or irreversible climatic shifts."

Among the predictions: Sea levels could rise 39 inches by the end of the century – i.e., during the lives of our children's grandchildren. That would be nearly twice as high as the earlier predictions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Computer models have shown that a 23-inch rise would drastically alter life in Hawaii, so we can only imagine what a one-meter rise would do – inundate Waikiki, wash away Kamehameha Highway, submerge the airport’s reef runway, destroy innumerable seaside homes, etc.

Attend This Seminar!

The scientists’ report is good timing for Monday’s seminar in Waikiki that will include a call to action to eliminate the use of climate-changing fossil fuels in Hawaii by 2020. Henk Rogers, founder of the Blue Planet Foundation, will be among three outstanding speakers at this year’s Business Game Plan, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Honolulu Sunrise.

Island residents seemingly have every reason to heed the Copenhagen warnings; our homes and habitat would be changed forever if sea levels were to rise as much as predicted. As a member of BGP’s sponsoring organization, we hope those predictions will move a few more Oahu residents to attend Monday’s seminar.

Red Flags Are Flying over Ocean Energy Project; Does Every ‘Green’ Proposal Merit Implementation?

Honolulu Advertiser graphic shows location of proposed ocean energy project.

We’re written repeatedly here about the three D’s that describe Hawaii’s relationship with imported fossil fuel – a debilitating, dependency that at times seems desperate. But how desperate?

Is Hawaii’s desperation so great that the community will endorse building an 80-square-mile wind and wave energy project in the middle of the state’s most important humpback whale sanctuary?

Other proposed energy projects have stalled over presumably much less potential impact. A proposed wind farm in West Oahu’s Waianae Mountain range died because of community opposition to its presumed visual pollution.

Today’s Honolulu Advertiser describes the proposed Grays Harbor Ocean Energy project in the Penguin Bank region of open ocean southwest of Molokai. In a story of more than 9,000 words, these six about company president Burton Hamner stand out:

“He has yet to contact HECO.”

That seems almost unbelievable and, if true, questions this company’s depth of understanding about how Hawaii works, let alone its appreciation for Hawaii’s enthusiasm for protecting its whale visitors.

Two other D words are pertinent here – distance and disadvantage. With their home base on the mainland, too many entrepreneurs have come to town with a big idea that never had a chance simply because they didn’t understand the islands and how business here works.

A Host of Questions

But those two Ds are essentially about protocol. Other issues are more pertinent, including whether we’re prepared to take chances with the whale sanctuary and whether the amount of the as-yet unknown “green energy premium” we’d presumably have to pay is worth the price. Wind turbines the size envisioned by Grays Harbor aren’t in service anywhere, and wave energy technology also is largely unproven.

Here’s another one we’ve asked before: Will building intermittent energy projects like what Grays Harbor has proposed (wind isn’t a reliable energy source) actually impede progress in developing other renewable projects that could provide baseload generation around the clock?

Details presumably are being worked out for Hawaii’s first small-scale ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) plant – the first step in the potential development of much larger offshore plants that could provide an unlimited supply of baseload electricity generation 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Building many intermittent wind projects now could make regulators reluctant to approve future baseload projects.

And this side note: Backers of the pilot OTEC plant know how the game is played; they've met all the key people here so often they may well already have keys to the executive washroom.

Grays Harbor calls its Penguin Banks plan the Hawaii Ocean Energy Project. Until all the questions are answered, we prefer a different name – the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Energy Project.

It provides essential perspective from the get-go.

Rotary Speaker Seeks Broader Public Support for Clean Energy Transition in Hawaii to ‘Get Off Oil’

We’re pulling out all stops today for some shameless promotion:

The Rotary Club of Honolulu Sunrise’s fundraising event on March 16th – “Business Game Plan ‘09” – will feature a leading renewable energy advocate, a multiple Academy Award winner and a leader who leads by serving.

They’re not the same person. Game Plan each year mixes three outstanding speakers, and this year’s lineup is perhaps the most dynamic in the event’s 14-year history.

The green energy advocate is Henk Rogers, creator of the Blue Planet Foundation of Honolulu, a frontline organization in the fight for renewable indigenous energy development in Hawaii. The Foundation’s goal: to end the use of fossil fuel on the planet, starting in Hawaii.

From Russia with Love

Rogers will update his Game Plan audience of several hundred on progress made so far toward that goal and what must happen next. Game Plan is also about passing on lessons learned from successful business careers, and Rogers’ presentation will include how he has made the Tetris video game the most popular electronic game in the world. (In 1988, he spotted Tetris at a Las Vegas trade show, flew to Moscow and won the distribution rights. More than 70 million units have been sold, as well as online gaming portal and cellular phone applications.)

Bring on the Oscars

The Academy Award winner is Dr. Ed Catmull, co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios, who heads the creative team that has produced blockbuster favorites including WALL-E, Ratatouille, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, and Toy Story. Catmull has received several Academy Awards, including the 2009 Gordon E. Sawyer Award, a Technical Achievement Award, Scientific and Engineering Awards and an Academy Award of Merit. He is one of the architects of the RenderMan rendering software, which has been used in 44 of the last 47 films nominated for an Academy Award in the Visual Effects Category.

Serving by Leading

Also appearing at Game Plan will be Dr. Kent Keith, author of Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments, based on a booklet he first published in 1968 for Harvard student leaders. Anyway became a National bestseller that was translated into 17 languages. The Commandments were also a fixture in Mother Teresa’s orphanage in Calcutta, India. Keith currently is the CEO of the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership in Indiana.

We’ll venture our subjective opinion that three more dynamic and inspirational speakers won’t be found on the same Hawaii stage in the foreseeable future. If you’re a renewable energy promoter or involved in green energy development in any way, come to BGP ’09 to support Henk and be inspired by all three.

An additional incentive: Your attendance will support Sunrise Rotary’s ongoing community and international service projects – including stamping out polio on the planet. It doesn’t get much more important than that.

Federal Help Needed To Speed Hawaii Renewables

Hawaii’s renewable energy industry is going to require major federal investment to realize its full potential.

Private investment has stepped up to develop wind farms and solar arrays primarily in Maui and Hawaii counties. But the ocean’s energy potential is still unrealized despite decades of commitment and research by private industry.

Federal funding for local initiatives is being touted perhaps more than ever in these early days of the Obama Administration, so now’s the time to focus on maximizing federal support. If ocean thermal energy conversion has as much promise as its backers suggest for Hawaii and later the nation, we can’t be satisfied with the slow pace of these private initiatives despite some indications of progress.

Among the states, Hawaii is the nation’s most dependent on fossil fuels – for electricity generation, to ship food and goods to the islands and to transport the millions of tourists who sustain the state’s economy.  (Jay Fidell assesses algae's potential, including as a replacement for jet fuel.)

Oil’s price has been fluctuating between $35 and $45 per barrel, but only eight months ago it was $100 higher. The rising price had already crippled Hawaii tourism, producing double-digit declines in tourist arrivals, and that trend has continued during the recession even as oil prices have fallen dramatically.

What Will You Do?

Hunter Lovins was a featured speaker at the Blue Planet Summit last April. The sustainable development promoter had this sobering challenge for the Hawaii residents in her audience:

"What are you, each one of you, going to do if oil is $300 a barrel? What is it going to do to your family, to your community, to your business, to the economy of these islands? I can guarantee you, you’re not going to have tourists coming here. So what are you going to do?"  

Hawaii must find the fast track to develop all feasible renewable technologies, and that includes the high-cost alternatives like OTEC and initiatives to develop renewable alternatives to jet fuel. We’ve come to believe that only a major federal commitment will put us on that track.

Our government leaders must dedicate themselves to making that happen. Governor Linda Lingle’s piece in today’s Honolulu Advertiser touches on these initiatives.