PGV at 30% production

[leilanidude]

Really happy to see them getting back to full production. Also to note in the article is that the PUC is finally considering to eliminate the price of oil clause, which puts the burden of renewable energy costs, to the consumer. Looking forward to lower electric costs. Lower electric costs would help this island to get more electric vehicles on the road and if we are lucky, could get more hydrogen powered trucks and buses replacing those big, nasty diesels.

Snipped from the article:
"An application for an amended power purchase agreement between the power plant and Hawaiian Electric — which includes a proposal to modify plant equipment — is still under consideration by the state Public Utilities Commission.
Under the new agreement, the rate paid by the utility to PGV will be fixed and no longer linked to the price of oil.
By eliminating the volatility of oil prices from the rate paid to PGV, the new fixed-price contract will ensure that bills are more stable, Hawaiian Electric said previously. This new pricing arrangement follows guidance provided by the PUC."

"As part of the amended agreement, PGV agreed to modify its current facility to provide an additional 8 megawatts of energy and firm capacity, which will further reduce electric bills and the use of fossil fuels to generate electricity."

* On a side note, as someone who lives close to the plant, I am very happy with the noise reduction efforts over the last year. It has become somewhat rare to hear the plant, even on still nights.

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/202...-capacity/

[terracore]

Diesel engines can run on hemp oil. The hemp fanatics spent 40 years telling us that if it was legal then we'd all have flying cars with zero emissions. Well it's been legal for a few years now, but a gallon of hemp oil is still $70. The big island has a lot of sugar land that would probably make great hemp fields. If they could get the price down 10x then it would compete with petro fuels. After the oil is pressed from the seed the remainder would make good livestock feed which borders on unaffordable here compared to the mainland.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

The big island has a lot of sugar land that would probably make great hemp fields. 

Sugar cane took (if I remember correctly) 18 months to grow a crop.
Hemp takes 6 months.
A Big Island grade schooler can do the math.

[terracore]

I wonder if succession planting hemp would clean the soil from all the arsenic they dumped into the soil during the sugar years.

[kalakoa]

1. Hemp isn't "legal enough".

2. It's not cost-effective to produce anything locally.

3. Hydrogen power is a scam.

4. Electric vehicles will remain unaffordable for most, even with generous subsidies.

5. The ancient HE grid isn't up to the task of charging all those electric vehicles (see also: brownouts caused by rail testing).

We need a completely different paradigm instead of more roads and different power sources for cars.

[terracore]

"We need a completely different paradigm instead of more roads and different power sources for cars."

The automotive companies have already figured this out. They are going to stop selling cars and start selling rides. That's the real push behind autonomous navigation. The new paradigm is that we will own nothing, have no privacy, and be happy with it.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

... not cost-effective...
... a scam...
... remain unaffordable...
... isn’t up to the task...

What we have isn’t sustainable in the long run.
Our plans for the future won’t work.
What we need a paradigm.  Any idea how many cup holders it will have?

[kalakoa]

What we have isn’t sustainable in the long run.

It never was. "Sustainable" really means "until the next generation". The people in charge have enough for themselves, today, and that's all they care about.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

It’s difficult to predict the future.  We don’t know what will or won’t work for Puna in the future.  At this moment people are busy devising possible solutions, for problems that seem overwhelming.  Big Island could have a reliable, long term, almost unlimited source of electricity from geothermal if people would get their facts straight.  At a low enough price point, which is in the realm of possibility, we could affordably power anything.  

In 1894 the problem was horses, their manure, urine, carcasses, flies, typhoid.

The London Times newspaper predicted… “In 50 years, every street in London will be buried under nine feet of manure.”
The streets of London were beginning to poison its people.
https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/Hi...s-of-1894/

[Obie]

It’s difficult to predict the future.  We don’t know what will work for Puna in the future, or won’t work.  At this moment people are busy working on possible solutions, for problems that seem overwhelming.  Big Island could have a reliable, long term, almost unlimited source of electricity from geothermal if people would get their facts straight.  At a low enough cost, which is in the realm of possibility, we could affordably power anything.  

In 1894 the problem was horses, their manure, urine, carcasses, flies, typhoid.

The London Times newspaper predicted… “In 50 years, every street in London will be buried under nine feet of manure.”
The streets of London were beginning to poison its people.
https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/Hi...s-of-1894/

The technology is there and we can't drill because !!!