One down. Forty-nine to go.

This makes a lot of sense - win-win-win for pretty much everyone except big oil......but they've been making tens of billions of dollars in profits recently & have Hugo Chavez on their side - so who cares about them.

@ ejj -

not so fast. While Exxon and other US oil companies are still focussed almost exclusively on extracting fossil oil & gas, others cannot afford that luxury because their proven reserves are much smaller.

For example, Shell is very active in the dirty tar sands of Alberta. However, they are also investigating algal oil production in Hawaii. Perhaps in a decade or so, Hawaii will be producing its own biofuels from algae grown in pools on the otherwise useless small island of Kaho'olawe, which is uninhabited, devoid of flora and fauna and also a former Navy bombing range (with some unexploded ordnance still in the ground).

Hawaii has one the highest costs of electricity in the US. Obviously no coal or other fuel deposits worth mentioning that I know of, especially with the recent volcanic origins of island. Fuel is shipped in.

It lies within the equatorial belt. Of all the US states, it probably receives on average some of the highest levels of solar energy. It lies in the trade winds. This is a no brainer. With renewables, the state should be able to be self sustainable in terms of energy easily. There should be plenty of waste biomass to produce ethanol or biodiesel to suppant the needs of the state.

Why not geothermal? It's a volcano for crying out loud.

Not to mention lots of waves.

Go for renewables Hawaii. We'll see tho, how you integrate wind turbines, solar cell fields, tidal & wave machines with the concentrated beauty of your landscapes. Hope I can get used to all the wind turbines in every Hawaiian tourist photograph I see after 2020. ha ha ha

Hawaii used to grow large amounts of coffee, but most of the land has been idle for some time now, since they couldn't compete with cheap imports. Sugarcane grows well in Hawaii.

So why aren't they growing more sugarcane to fuel electricity and biofuel needs, ala Brazil? Put that idle land to use and idle poeple to work.

Darwin...Funny how business people call land & other people idle when business people come up with ways for other people to make money for business people.

If the Grand Hyatt in Dubai can produce 800-1000 KW of its own electricity and all of it's own hot water through solar, why not? Not only that, the payback is only 3 years.

Alternative doesn't neccessary mean in your face. A 10000 square mile solar installation in Nevada can supply all the US energy needs. That's only about 10% of the state. Who says you have to put it in large single use arrays? It can be integrated onto the surface of permanent structures.

How many people look at roof-tops. Besides which, when did air conditioning units beome sceanic?

http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.hotelmanagement-network.com/projects/hyatt/images/img1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.hotelmanagement-network.com/projects/hyatt/hyatt1.html&h=400&w=600&sz=45&tbnid=NDIP2BvhaRFIGM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgrand%2Bhyatt%2Bdubai%2Bpictures%26um%3D1&start=3&sa=X&oi=images&ct=image&cd=3

Unfortunately this has nothing to do with competition from other companies. The Islands used to grow a large amount of the worlds sugarcane. However, a handful of activist complained that the 'black snow' irritated their asthma, and a billion dollar industry was shut down. The idle land and people that you speek of are the local people, mostly Hawaiians and Samoans and their farms. There are very specific laws, written when the Islands became a state, regarding 'local property' that override any form of Eminent Domain.

Think of the 'local property' as little reservations, the people also get a monthly stipend, it's meager, but it means they don't have to work if they don't want to.

We, in our brilliance PO'ed the only people in real control of the land. So they gathered up their toys and went home, that is why the land is IDLE.

Its funny when these articles mention "renewable energy", and "clean energy" as interchangeable within an article. We all know this is not true.

But back on subject, yes Hawaii can be a model for the other 49 states, as well as other island nations to aspire to be like, if they handle this correctly. Mandate BEV and hybrid commuter cars, along with mass transportation. Perhaps the "Magnums" will have to trade their Ferrari's, for Volts and Prius's, when they drive their Interstates. (And whats up with an interstate highway in Hawaii??)

What this article fails to mention is how the majority of Hawaii's power currently generated? What percentage is currently clean. Perhaps 50% is already clean, with the other 50% renewable? I dont see them dotting their pristine horizons with windmill farms. Perhaps the next big generating idea is in unseen wave power. Or, perhaps an unobtrusive, state of the art nuclear power plant on one of the surrounding islands. Hawaii can be a leader here.

Joseph, I direct you to Article VI of the Unites States Constitution:

"This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding."

There is nothing about the property laws of Hawaii that overrides federal Eminent Domain. If the land is indeed idle, the Kelo decision makes it even easier to seize the land for constructive use.

There are windmills on the southern tip of the big island. When I saw the wind farm, probably 8 years ago, they where already in a state of disrepair, with only a hand-full in use. The state could definitely have a huge wind farm in the same area, it was very remote, sparsely populated and wind blows all the time. All of Hawaii is not a beautiful resort with stunning beaches.

If there is anywhere where the ridiculously expensive and inefficient "renewable" energy sources can make an economic go of it, Hawaii is it.

I wish them well in their efforts. But I fear that this will be yet another one of the endless subsidies paid to a theology of "renewable" energy sources, that are neither clean nor truly renewable.

It seems that volcanic Hawaii is a natural site for geothermal energy exploitation. Geothermal is one of the few "renewable" energy sources that actually has a prayer of meeting other than tiny inconsequential demand because it is a concentrated energy source.

Yet has been somehow blessed by the theologians and prophets of the great god, Gaia. Theologians who have never had a single day of any kind of training in the physical Sciences, and so nothing of thermodynamics, engineering or economics, feel free to mouth fool's platitudes. They speak authoritatively, as if I they actually had a clue, but I no more trust them to build an energy source, than to perform brain surgery with a Swiss army knife... in the dark.

@Bill W,

Why do you think the windfarm was disused and in need of repair? Becaue the wind as a source of energy is uneconomic and discontinuous,even in energy costly Hawaii. Wind can only provide relatively meager amounts of energy for the capital investment required.

These disused windmills are but another example of the subsidies and religious sacrifices, demandeb by and offered to the Theologians and Prophets of Gaia. The priestly robed Knot-heads, who know nothing, except the art of human manipulation.

The religious sacrifices of the worshippers, in the form of tax subsidies, have expired; and the windmills could not afford the relatively tiny operating expense of simply being maintained.

So these monuments rot in the sun, representing a collossal waste of iron, steel, copper, concrete and money. But the great god Gaia, and more importantly, his prophets, must be be appeased with sacrifices.

"Total cane acres have continuously declined since 1968 when 242,000 acres were cultivated for cane production, to about 160,000 in 1990."

"In 1998, sugarcane was grown on 62,251 acres in the State of Hawaii on the Islands of Maui and Kauai, making Hawaii the third largest sugarcane producer in the U.S. after Louisiana and Florida."

You can see that sugarcane acreage declined 75% in only 30 year. Maybe ADM and high fructose corn sweetener had something to do with the sugar market as well.

Brazil had a shortage of ethanol in the early 90s, because farmers could make more money in sugar. It seems like Hawaii could revive some of this production as well as wind and solar.

Stan, have you ever heard of a place called Denmark? Or Texas, for that matter?

Mike, there was an Exception to Article VI made with land owners when Hawaii became a State. Look specifically at the area between Mililani and Waipahu, Wahiawa and Waialua and the Kaneohe side. That's just on Oahu. That land is worth millions per square yard and is 'protected'. The owners can not be forced to sell, even by Eminent Domain. Multi billion dollar corporations have be trying to get the land for 3 decades. The Dole Corporation tried to force the land owners to simply renew their leases and got slapped like a redheaded stepchild. It is some of the most fertile land on the planet and it is currently sitting empty.

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/geothermal/hawaii.html

Hawaii already gets some energy from geothermal power. Why they haven't developed it more aggressively, I can't figure out. They're sitting on the world's most active volcano, after all. It seems like it should be an ideal location for enhanced geothermal.

Also, as others have mentioned, it seems like a nearly perfect locale to introduce electric cars.

@StanPeterson,

Why do you think the windfarm was disused and in need of repair? Becaue the wind as a source of energy is uneconomic and discontinuous,even in energy costly Hawaii. Wind can only provide relatively meager amounts of energy for the capital investment required.

Wrong Stan. Not surprising though. Who knows what caused the failure. You can point to any number of abandoned projects and things and say in retrospect it was caused by so or so. Look at any number of nuclear power reactors or their financial histories and see what some bad decisions can do.

As for the Kamaoa wind farm. It was a 20 year old project composed of 37 turbines supplying only 7.5 MW. It was shut down and replaced by the Pakini Nui project which consists of 14 turbines supplying 20.5 MW just 1.5 miles away in April 2007. My guess is they didn't want to spend the resources maintaining the old farm with the newer one on the way. This represents 6.5% of the Big Islands 300 MWe need (2006 figures). Wind power not viable? On the contrary.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ka_Lae

http://www.wind-watch.org/news/2007/07/19/big-isle-wind-farm-generates-power-but-bills-about-the-same/

Wind power cost was estimated at $55.80 per MWh, coal at $53.10/MWh and natural gas at $52.50 for the continental US (2006). On Hawaii, the costs of NG and coal power are even higher. Residential energy cost is around 28-29 cents/KWh in Hawaii. This excludes the external costs we know from the use of fossil fuels.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/pdf/0484(2006).pdf

If anyone has a bias Stan, look in the mirror. You accuse others of worshipping some ideal mindlessly, well you are even worse. You let yourself be blinded by your own preconceptions. Alternative power is a viable exploitable technology which is underutilized and which people come to this site to get information on.

Additional Info

Wind resource map

http://www.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/windpoweringamerica/maps_template.asp?stateab=hi

Other Hawaiian alternative power projects.

http://www.shell.ca/home/content/us-en/news_and_library/press_releases/2006/swei_hawaii_063006.html

http://www.power-technology.com/projects/hawaii/

Geothermal has been a source of great controversy in Hawaii both from ancient tradition (magma and volcanic activity is the body of the god Pele) and from opponents who dislike noise and potential effects on rain forest. At some point we need to bite a bullet and say lets make a commitment to Hawaii demonstrating the viability of renewable energy.

As Raphael points out there is interest by a major oiler in developing algal oil - where better than the warm waters of Hawaii? And lets remove the superstition of geothermal fears by enlisting local leaders in building a Hawaiian State leadership position in geothermal energy.

There is abundant sunshine in Hawaii, abundant rainfall, abundant wave and tidal energy, ability to grow feedstock (cane sugar) - all of which should be elevated into a comprehensive plan that demonstrates these resources as viable in the present economic environment.

Stan's point about wind should be considered also. There must be enough of a business plan and investment in place to support even the minimal maintenance costs of wind farms. They need to be combined with new energy storage systems, PV and perhaps geothermal to provide multidimensional systems that augment one another.

Hawaii is a near perfect test bed for all these new ideas. Lets support the HCEI and independent projects around it to make Hawaii a new world energy success.

With regard to the "idle land and idle hands" commentary - most environmentally conscious people respect our idle, intelligent lifeforms like whales and dolphins, elephants and simians without expectation of achievement through "work." When was the last time you saw any but the human species on Earth engaging in the idle-less pastime called "work?" (Those restricted by classification need not consider)

@Stan,

I feel bad for you that you have so much unresolved frustration that you feel the need to vent your anger on people simply trying to change the world in a positive way.

Denmark is 20% powered by wind farms, set to increase. Older wind turbines are significantly less efficient than today's. In analyzing the economics of new wind farms, the expected life is only 20 years, and the initial investment can be profitabe and competitive, depending on the situation. That is why older wind farms now sit there idle.

BTW, I am a mechanical engineer, as well as a forest ecologist. I suggest you spend more time discussing real physical facts, and less time trying to pigeon-hole anyone who has an opinion other that yours.