01-21-2010, 04:04 AM
quote:There are a few reasons that come to mind.
Originally posted by tada
which begs the question- "what are we waiting for"[?][?][?]
There is a cultural hurdle on the island to overcome. Some people believe that it is akin to stealing something from Pele. Taking a piece of lava from the volcano is a no-no, but is apparently OK for a local firm to blast and grind up lava and ship it by the barge-full to other islands or the mainland. It is a nice double standard.
The state of Hawaii lays claim to all mineral rights and they claim steam to be a mineral that they own. Therefore, they actually tax the steam that the geothermal company brings out of the ground even though the steam is (water) is injected right back into the ground after it is used to power the turbines.
There are also some environmental concerns which I do not fully understand. They drill a basketball sized hole in the ground - not any larger than the large wells that are drilled to obtain water. They pull out steam, run it through the turbine and produce electricity and put the water back. Those wells pull out water and put nothing back. (anyone care to help out here?)