12-28-2012, 02:33 AM
HELCO does refer to their distribution as a grid, and the saddle does have transmission lines (with fairly high line loss...but not as high as the the N. Kohala lines ...
It would be great if the geothermal was "free". but there is infrastructure, personnel & constant maintenance which offsets the "free" element....
even the sourcing of the fiber would entail costs... right now, some on island are seeing the transport of eucalyptus logs up the Hamakua coast - running about one truck (really new looking) per ten minutes.... think of the infrastructure to cut, process, load, transport & unload that harvest rate....let alone the land costs & initial planting (which has been covered mostly by the taxpayers) and I think you can understand that "free" comes with costs...
The Kohala Center has some excellent resources looking at sustainable energy, and R. Ha, one of our forum members, has been active in looking at this...
Line loss is one of the horrible wastes that has not been adequately addressed, and until we have better distribution, will continue to waste our electrical production, no matter the source.... at a huge cost to all of us...
It would be great if the geothermal was "free". but there is infrastructure, personnel & constant maintenance which offsets the "free" element....
even the sourcing of the fiber would entail costs... right now, some on island are seeing the transport of eucalyptus logs up the Hamakua coast - running about one truck (really new looking) per ten minutes.... think of the infrastructure to cut, process, load, transport & unload that harvest rate....let alone the land costs & initial planting (which has been covered mostly by the taxpayers) and I think you can understand that "free" comes with costs...
The Kohala Center has some excellent resources looking at sustainable energy, and R. Ha, one of our forum members, has been active in looking at this...
Line loss is one of the horrible wastes that has not been adequately addressed, and until we have better distribution, will continue to waste our electrical production, no matter the source.... at a huge cost to all of us...