Aloha Oil: Hawaii Targets 70% Renewable Energy by 2030
by Stacy Feldman - Jan 30th, 2008
Hawaii, the most oil-dependent state in the nation, has taken an unprecedented stand: it has pledged to get at least 70% of its energy from home-grown clean sources -- the sun, the wind, the waves, geothermal -- by 2030.
Hugely ambitious, considering that right now oil and coal power about 90 percent of the state. And renewables comprise only eight percent.
The new goal is part of an agreement between Hawaii and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) called the Clean Energy Initiative. And the DOE is propping it up as the renewable test model for the whole nation. Interesting that it coincides with its decision to cancel all funding for the FutureGen project in Illinois, the nation's first and only "clean coal" plant. That technology was supposed to be America's energy gift to the world. Looks like wiser counsel has finally prevailed.
The fine points of the Hawaii initiative:
- Design cost-effective approaches for 100 percent use of renewable energy on smaller islands.
-
Design systems to improve stability of electrical grids operating
with variable generating sources, such as wind power plants on the Big
Island and Maui. -
Integrate renewable energy, including solar, wind, energy storage and
advanced vehicle technologies, into existing systems to meet the
islands' energy needs. -
Minimize energy use while maximizing energy efficiency and renewable
energy technologies at new large military housing developments. - Expand Hawaii's capability to use locally grown crops as byproducts for producing fuel and electricity.
- Develop comprehensive energy regulatory and policy frameworks to promote clean energy technology use.
We should be grateful for Hawaii's big green initiative and the DOE's embrace of it. Especially given the other climate news that's expected to emerge out of Honolulu this week: the Bush administration's second meeting of the world's top 16 greenhouse polluters.
You may recall the reactions from the first one held back in September. Here's a dinger from the Guardian:
A senior European diplomat attending the conference, speaking on condition of anonymity..."It was a total charade and has been exposed as a charade. I have never heard a more humiliating speech by a major leader. He [Mr Bush] was trying to present himself as a leader while showing no sign of leadership. It was a total failure."
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