11-03-2013, 04:14 PM
Talking about adapting to change. I noticed oil price rising around 2007 and that it caused our farming costs to rise. I went to learn about oil so we could adapt to changing oil price. First thing I learned was that the world had been using twice as much oil as it had been finding for 20-30 years. I subsequently went to five ASPO conferences on the mainland because the subject was so important. I also went to Iceland and the Phillipines to see geothermal in action. I noticed that the folks at the ASPO conferences were several years ahead of the general population about oil supply matters. One recent study by Citi Bank is noteworthy. It says that because of internal usage Saudi Arabia will no longer be exporting oil by 2030. http://www.abo.net/oilportal/topic/view....Id=2000557. There are many other studies that point in that general direction. The question is; how do we dodge the bullet?
Here in Hawaii we rely on oil for more than 70% of our electricity generation. The US mainland uses oil for only 2% of their electricity generation. This means that as oil price rise we become less competitive to mainland manufacturers/ growers who have electricity imbedded in their process. Our situation on the Big Island is that we have the lowest median family income of all the counties and the Puna and Hamakua districts have the lowest on the island. Can we find a solution that will help the rubbah slippah folks while we dodge the bullet? The answer to me is yes. But, we will need to leverage geothermal because it costs half that of oil to generate electricity and we will be over the hot spot for 500,000 to a million years. The other thing we can do is leverage whatever biotech solution comes along. We cannot afford to throw away the opportunity to leverage the Hawaiian sunshine which allows us to grow crops year round. I am talking about things we can actually do. I am not talking about biofuels because to date it is just talk. Imagine if our electricity cost was lower than Oahu's. Maybe, our kids would not have to leave for the mainland to find work. If anything I have learned by going to all the Peak Oil conferences, its that its about costs. Since two thirds of an economy is made up of consumer spending, taking care of the rubbah slippah folks so they have extra money, takes care of all of us. I think fooling around with bill 113 is wasting time and focus.