04-08-2012, 07:34 AM
Hawaii island no longer refines oil, so none of this islands fuel is from locally produced residual oil (re: "Moreover, sixty percent of the petroleum used to generate electriity is ‘residual fuel oil’ ") HELCOs largest & "most efficient" fuel oil plant runs on diesel...
With any system mentioned for this island, it must be remembered that we do have a very limited population, slightly skewed peak production requirement, and a fairly old & inefficient distribution & production infrastructure.
Geothermal electrical energy production is not new technology. Most of the residents of the SF bay area have utilized geothermal produced electricity since 1921, from the Geysers. ( http://www.geysers.com/ ) HELCO is decoupled from most non-fossil fuel production, but does own & run the oldest electric production on island from a run of the river hydroelectric plant.
No matter what production you chose, there are cost/benefit analysis that must be looked into. One of the benefits of high energy costs is that most of us have really looked at our electric consumption, and most everyone I know has done due diligence to eliminate some of our energy waste. The avoided costs basis does give incentive for innovation in production, and we have seen some early innovation technology here.
There is no magic elixir to our energy production. Most systems have front end energy & environmental expenses are just beginning to be looked at (one of the things most of us looking at PV tend to want to negate... the environmental cost of the panels, the storage & the backup...) To every electric generation system I have heard mentioned, there are a number of environmental costs, some close to the consumer of the electricity, some at the point of production...
With any system mentioned for this island, it must be remembered that we do have a very limited population, slightly skewed peak production requirement, and a fairly old & inefficient distribution & production infrastructure.
Geothermal electrical energy production is not new technology. Most of the residents of the SF bay area have utilized geothermal produced electricity since 1921, from the Geysers. ( http://www.geysers.com/ ) HELCO is decoupled from most non-fossil fuel production, but does own & run the oldest electric production on island from a run of the river hydroelectric plant.
No matter what production you chose, there are cost/benefit analysis that must be looked into. One of the benefits of high energy costs is that most of us have really looked at our electric consumption, and most everyone I know has done due diligence to eliminate some of our energy waste. The avoided costs basis does give incentive for innovation in production, and we have seen some early innovation technology here.
There is no magic elixir to our energy production. Most systems have front end energy & environmental expenses are just beginning to be looked at (one of the things most of us looking at PV tend to want to negate... the environmental cost of the panels, the storage & the backup...) To every electric generation system I have heard mentioned, there are a number of environmental costs, some close to the consumer of the electricity, some at the point of production...