Overview of Energy in Hawaii

In this short blog entry, I hope to impart both appreciation and insight about energy, exposing important energy-related concepts. Next I discuss the challenges and opportunities for energy in the state of  Hawaii.

Electrical energy basics

In general, people don't have the same intuitive knowledge about electrical energy as we do about other physical things like, speed, distance, time, and perhaps more closely related: horsepower. For example, everyone knows the same car but with a bigger engine will go faster and use more gas, and easily understand the concepts of “how much faster”, “how much more fuel”, as well as “how much more money spent on fuel”. A thorough understanding of the concepts of energy and power as they relate to electricity are not as common.

Below I list some basic facts about electricity, energy, power, and how they are related:

Electrical Energy

• Energy is what makes thing go, for example, what is stored in a battery.
• Energy is measured in watt-hours (Wh) or kilowatt-hours (kWh).
• 1 kWh = 1000 Wh.
• Energy is what you are billed for each month.
• Energy = power * time.

Electrical Power

• Power is the rate at which energy is being used measured in watts (W) or kilowatts (kW).
• 1 kW = 1000 W.
• Power = energy/time.
• Power usage is important because it usually more well-known than energy.
• For example, the power usage of a fluorescent light bulb is 13 watts, and a microwave oven uses about 1300 watts.
• Conserving energy requires an awareness of both power usage of a device, and how long devices are turned on.

Building intuition about electrical energy and power by example:

Consuming Electrical Power (examples)

• Cell Phone: 1-5 W
• Laptop: 50-100 W
• Microwave Oven: 1000+ W

Generating Electrical Power

• Stationary bike: 200 W
• Single solar panel: 175 W
• Single large wind turbine: 2 MW
• Oil-based power plant on O’ahu: 88 MW
• All power plants on O’ahu: 1.2 GW

Using Electrical Energy in Hawai’i

• Average home uses 20kWh per day
• Single solar panel generates about 1 kWh per day, so a house would need about 20 panels
• Hale Aloha Tower Dorm building uses about 1,500 kWh per day
• Entire UH Manoa campus uses about 260,000 kWh per day
• Entire state of Hawaii uses about 27 million kWh per day

Political climate and choices in Hawai’i

In Hawai’I, the cost of 1 kWh is the highest in the nation at about 20 to 30 cents, and up to 60 cents on neighbor islands. As seen in the news and ads about energy, it would seem there are easy options for reducing costs, such as solar and wind power. However, there is controversy about renewable sources of energy on the Hawaiian Islands. Why? On Kaua’i there is a debate centered in large part around the decision to engage a Mainland developer (read more here).

And wind power is not embraced by all residents. For example, on Lana'i people are scared of the impact of the invasion of 170 turbines, each 410’ tall, on one-quarter of the island's land (see video). As can be imagined, there will be people both for and against tax increases to fund renewable energy initiatives.

Energy challenges we face in Hawaii:

Hawaii's set of energy challenges and opportunities are unique. We must find the answers for ourselves, and cannot depend on the mainland to understand our cultural, political, financial, and other factors. Energy costs here are about 3 to 6 times more expensive than the mainland, providing a lot of incentive to find real solutions.

We have two main drawbacks compared to the mainland:

1) Mainland power plants can be much larger and can share energy.

2) Raw materials are more expensive in Hawaii: oil counts for 77% on Hawaii vs 1% on the mainland and this high cost is likely to grow.

But unlike any mainland state, Hawaii has more modest needs, and almost every source of renewable energy: wind, wave, ocean thermal, geothermal, as well as the potential to generate all its power from renewable resources. They become cost effective here long before they become cost effective on the mainland because of the drawbacks stated above. The energy choices we make will also affect climate change. Finally, the current high cost on Hawai’i is a motivating factor.

The Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative

Hawai’i currently sends $6B a year outside Hawaii to purchase oil.

Baseline demand in Hawaii is expected to grow to 1,200MW by 2030.

The HCEI is the most aggressive goal for clean energy in the nation.

The goal is to achieve 70% clean energy by 2030.

The first goal is to obtain 40% of projected energy demand through renewable energy.

The second goal is to save 30% of power needs through conservation and efficiency.

How can we make a difference?

Ideas for personal reduction of energy consumption include: driving a more efficient vehicle, taking the bus, bicycling, skateboarding, or walking, as well as replacing light bulbs with lower watt alternatives.

We can support approaches like: solar, wind energy, ocean thermal, geothermal, and bio-fuels. We can get involved in projects in Hawaii that address any of the issues discussed!