08-13-2013, 07:28 AM
Geothermal could support or spin off a number of local industries using waste heat or geothermal heat that, compared to fossil resources, is far cheaper once the production infrastructure is installed. To name a few: processing of produce; dried foods; drying of hardwood (all who knew that koa, Hawaii's signature wood, has to be shipped to the mainland to be properly kiln-dried please raise your hands...); sterilization of growing media; production of ice (for the fishing industry); conditioning of greenhouse production systems. All these things were discussed, and many successfully tested, in the early days of geothermal and/or are in use in other states and countries. All would stimulate economic development that is accessible to individual entrepreneurs or small huis in the Puna district or island-wide (e.g. coffee drying) if geo developed in other parts of the island. Many would support the agriculture industry on the island. If power production can be developed without absurdly excessive regulatory and monitoring requirements and costs, it might even lower the cost of electricity (PURPA, which required the original tie to the cost of oil is now only a distant memory) and attract other desirable industries to Hawaii - but I know that is the last thing some who live in Puna and elsewhere on the island want... while poverty seems to be the most abundant product of our current reliance on oil.