INDEX - ENERGY
www.islandbreath.org ID# 0807-13


SUBJECT: POST PEAK OIL

SOURCE: DAVID WARD sayjaz3@hotmail.com

POSTED: 19 JUNE 2008- 12:00pm EST

Lingle: Hawai‘i must ease oil reliance


image above: Erecting solar panels. Photo from Maui solar companywww.risingsunsolar.com

by Blake Jones on 18 Junje 2008 in The Garden Island News

Governor Linda Lingle yesterday said security trumps reliability when it comes to Hawai‘i’s energy production.

Speaking to a crowd of about 150 at a Kaua‘i Chamber of Commerce luncheon, the governor said oil-burning systems can no longer be considered the most dependable form of generation.

“If you can’t get the oil, reliable becomes a meaningless word,” Lingle said. Instead, energy security should take top priority for the state by focusing on independent and clean generation, she added.

Lingle called Hawai‘i the “biggest junkie” in an oil-addicted nation. Ninety percent of Hawai‘i’s energy production comes from oil, compared to the national average of 4 percent. In addition, 99 percent of the oil used by Hawai‘i comes from non-U.S. sources.

“The impact (of rising oil prices) on us is greater than anywhere else in America,” Lingle said.

Last year the state spent $5 billion on foreign oil; this year the figure is $7 billion — money that could be pumped into Hawai‘i’s economy through renewable projects.

Dennis Esaki, president of the Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative board of directors, didn’t agree with Lingle that reliability should take a back seat or with her description of oil dependence in Hawai‘i.

Esaki said Hawai‘i leads the nation in energy production from oil because most states use coal — also a fossil fuel, and far more damaging to the environment.
Esaki also noted that dependable power is of concern no matter what percentage of generation comes from oil, and particularly as the co-op transitions to new technologies.

“Reliability has to take into account everything to keep the power on,” he said.
Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative has committed to 50 percent renewable energy generation by 2023. When the strategic plan was passed last fall, the goal was the most ambitious in Hawai‘i. Seven months later, however, state and national targets have surpassed KIUC’s, and runaway oil prices have heightened the sense of urgency among some renewable advocates and consumers for faster implementation.

The KIUC board of directors has consistently responded that it has an obligation to keep the lights on, which it couldn’t guarantee if it hastily invested in new technologies that have not been thoroughly vetted. Furthermore, the board has said, KIUC is too small to research and pioneer each renewable idea that comes along.

Virtually undisputed, however, is a need to change the system that’s worked for so long. KIUC, the county and the state have taken their own steps to outline a plan for the next decade or two.

Earlier this year Lingle partnered with the U.S. Department of Energy to create the Hawai‘i Clean Energy Initiative, which pledges 70 percent clean energy production within a generation. Projects include solar installations on state buildings and expanding Hawai‘i’s capability to use locally grown crops as byproducts for producing fuel and electricity.

Yesterday Lingle said raising the cap on solar net metering customers — currently at 1 percent of a utility’s peak generation — is a means to reduce dependence on oil. Such customers sell the energy they don’t use to the utility and remain hooked up to the grid for undisrupted power.

Last month Kaua‘i reached solar net metering capacity, the first island to do so.
“We want to look at getting the (Public Utilities Commission) to take that cap off, not just on Kaua‘i but statewide,” she said.

For its part, the County Council this week passed the first reading of an energy sustainability plan, which aims to identify opportunities and threats, incentives and disincentives of energy efficiency and conservation, including education programs for the community.

The plan, introduced by council members JoAnn Yukimura and Jay Furfaro, will also focus on the development of renewable and alternative power and fuel resources within the county and the community.

Investment in the future
Lingle also echoed chamber President Randall Francisco’s message from the last few months that Kaua‘i businesses should invest in their employees despite unfavorable economic conditions.

“This is not a time for us to hunker down and weather the storm,” she said. Instead, businesses should invest in their employees and end up better prepared when the storm clears than when it arrived.

On the state level, this translates to infrastructure improvements, which she said are necessary to ensure a solid foundation for Hawai‘i’s economic growth. The state has projected 38 percent growth on Kaua‘i by 2035, bringing the population to 85,000.

An estimated $29 million will be spent on highway and bridge projects slated for completion this year. Another $86 million is pegged for nine upcoming projects, including a four-lane widening of Kuhio Highway in Wailua and a four-lane widening of Kaumuali‘i in Lihu‘e.

In addition, $58 million in improvements will be made to Lihu‘e Airport’s baggage claim, air-conditioning and parking. The harbors, too, will receive some attention, with $7.8 million already spent at Nawiliwili and another $3 million planned for 2010.

Lingle cautioned that the economic downturn, while present, is not all bad news. Hawai‘i’s revenue growth for the fiscal year ending June 30 is 3.3 percent, down from a projected 3.9 percent. However, Lingle stressed that growth is still occurring; unemployment is 3.3 percent and 3.2 percent for the state and Kaua‘i, respectively; Delta Airlines recently added transpacific service to the island; and Kaua‘i visitor days are up 1 percent even though arrivals are down.

“The short-term issues will pass,” Lingle said. “We need to make sure the fundamentals are addressed.”


Thank you Governor Lingle

by David Ward on 19 June 2008
Thank you Governor Lingle for you common sense speech at the Kauai Chamber of Commerce. You are spot on, that oil-burning systems can no longer be considered the most dependable form of generation. “If you can’t get the oil, reliable becomes a meaningless word,” Lingle said. I would add or afford the oil reliable becomes meaningless. The Governor said energy security should take top priorty by focusing on independent and clean generation.

It is no surprise that Dennis Esaki, the president of the KIUC Directors was not in agreement with the governor. Lingle called Hawaii “the biggest junkie” in our oil-addicted nation. I would add that KIUC is very much an oil junkie and the directors like junkies are in denial about the life threatening dependency. KIUC has been all talk and no action about kicking this dependency. We seem to be on a dead-end road to bankruptcy. Co-op members it is vital that we kick this dependency before it kills our economy and we are living in dark homes with no water in the pipes.

SUBJECT: POST PEAK OIL

SOURCE: DAVID WARD sayjaz3@hotmail.com

POSTED: 17 JUNE 2008- 1:00pm EST

Energy 'crisis is here,' Kaya says

image above: Photo of Hawaii Gateway Energy Center Kailua-Kona, Hawaii


by staff on 11 June 2008 in The Honolulu Advertiser

A former state energy manager is calling for Hawai'i to change its energy habits as costs spiral upward and the Islands maintain a potentially dangerous dependency on foreign fossil fuels."The crisis is here, and it's going to be a long one," said Maurice Kaya, now a strategic energy and management consultant.

"We are well beyond the time to act, and business owners need to be pro-active in demanding clean energy at predictable costs from suppliers. We are precariously dependent on oil, but there are some things we can do."

Kaya, former chief technology officer at the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, spoke Friday in Hilo at the Hawaii Island Energy Forum, which drew more than 100 state and local officials and business people.

Kaya noted the state now gets 99 percent of its fossil fuels from foreign sources, a change from the past when Alaskan oil was dominant.

Kaya said the state needs to achieve maximum efficiency through an emphasis on solar water heating systems, photovoltaic systems and energy-efficient homes based on federal standards.

The local government also needs to pressure Hawaii Electric Light Co. to use more renewable energy sources, such as geothermal, wind and hydro-generated energy, he said.

HELCO President Jay Ignacio said the island's electricity supplier has been moving toward becoming less dependent on foreign fuels by replacing them with renewable energy forms.

This year, 35 percent of Big Island electricity is derived from wind farms, hydroelectric systems and geothermal power sources, he said.


see also:
Island Breath: KIUC hits net metering wall
6/7/08
Island Breath: UH sees our "crude awakening
6/5/08
Island Breath: Ten assumptions of oil addicts
5/29/08
Island Breath: Kauai Over a Barrel
5/25/08
Island Breath: The Heinberg "Powerdown" 10/17/07
Island Breath: Looking Through Peak Oil Lenses 4/14/06
Island Breath: Peak Oil and Hawaii Economic Collapse 6/15/05


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