Energy Perspective: Renewable resources abundant on ‘neighbor islands’
In an effort to identify the problems and propose solutions to Hawaii’s energy future, The Hawaii Independent proposed questions to individuals who could contribute their unique insight in the energy dialogue.
Robert Alm is Hawaiian Electric Company’s (HECO) Senior Vice President of Public Affairs. Alm oversees the overall operation of the HECO’s regulatory and government affairs, corporate communications, consumer education, and community relations.
Here are his responses:
1. What do you do to conserve energy?
On a personal level, we have solar water heating, no a/c, ambient lighting whenever possible, and nothing but CFL bulbs. We turn off lights and equipment when not in use and unplug plugs (phantom electricity) as much as possible.
On a company level the biggest pushes have been in the areas of lighting and the use of cold water whenever possible.
2. What do you think are Hawaii’s most pressing energy obstacles?
The mismatch of load (on Oahu) with the abundance of renewable resources (on the neighbor islands).
The lack of inter-island interconnection (i.e. the undersea cable).
NIMBYISM.
The length of time it takes to develop a project.
Any intramurals between renewable resources, there is plenty of room for all.
3. Are Hawaii businesses, organizations, and individuals on the right path in terms of reducing our energy consumption?
Use is down statewide (See the following chart). Much more needs to be done.
4. What do you see as Hawaii’s best source of alternative energy?
There is no silver bullet, no single resource that we should focus on. We should develop them all: Wind, solar, biomass, biofuels, geothermal, Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC), and Ocean Energy.
Geothermal and OTEC would be game changers if fully developed and could provide much of our energy.
5. Will the State of Hawaii reach its 2030 goal of 70 percent clean energy? Why or why not? And more importantly, at what cost?
Hawaii can reach these goals because the resources are there.
We will however need to pull together and get the projects done. There will be lots of opposition (NIMBY, resource fighting resource, etc.)
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