Conservation Hawai‘i

Implementing Alternative Energy Sources in the Hawaiian Islands

Solar Energy
The sun’s energy can be harnessed with various solar technologies.  Photovoltaic (PV), also called solar electricity, utilizes cells made up of semi-conducting materials to turn sunlight into electricity.  PV cells can be also combined into modules that can power appliances and electronic equipment.

Federal tax credits are available to partially subsidize PV systems. Recently, the state increased the credit for single-family residential PV systems to $5,000 while commercial photovoltaics are now eligible for credits up to $500,000. PV-equipped homes and business that produce more solar electric energy than they use may be connected to the utility grid and use surplus power to offset their electricity bills.

Solar water heating
Solar water heating uses heat from the sun to produce hot water. Since 1996, HECO, HELCO, and MECO have used cash rebates to encourage homeowners to install solar water heating systems, helping keep down installation costs. The rebates, along with State and Federal tax credits, are significantly lowering solar water heating installation costs.

Today, Hawaii’s utilities have one of the largest and most successful solar water heating programs in the nation.

Biodiesel
Biofuel is solid, liquid, or gas fuel made from recently living biological matter.  Many plant materials and some animal products are used to manufacture biofuels that can be used to power vehicles and to create electricity as biodiesel or ethanol or even in its pure form, alone or blended with other fuels.

Biodiesel, a renewable fuel, is made by a chemical reaction of alcohol and vegetable or animal oils, fats and greases. It can be used in any diesel engine in pure form,  or instead may be blended with petroleum diesel at any level without modification of the engine.

A Maui-based firm called Pacific Biodiesel produces biodiesel from waste restaurant oils in Hawai‘i.  Most of this biodiesel is used to power diesel vehicles.

On O‘ahu, Maui, and the Big Island, biodiesel can be used in place of petroleum diesel to generate electricity in existing power plants, reducing our need to import fossil fuels.

Biodiesel is already used in the diesel truck fleets at Maui Electric, Hawaiian Electric, and Hawai‘i Electric Light companies and also in two of Maui Electric Company’s generating units during start-up and shut-down operations.

Biofuels for electricity generation – Oahu
The State Public Utilities Commission (PUC) approved Hawaiian Electric Company’s plan to build the new Campbell Industrial Park Generating Station, which is planned to go into service by mid-2009.

The PUC also confirmed an agreement between Hawaiian Electric and the Consumer Advocate to fuel this new 110-megawatt peaking plant completely with renewable biodiesel.

Biofuels for electricity generation
In 2007, Hawaiian Electric Company and Maui Electric Company announced plans to build a biodiesel processing plant biodiesel processing plant in eastern Maui at the site of a future Maui Electric generating station.

The plant will be developed and operated by BlueEarth Biofuels, LLC and will supply green, clean renewable biodiesel fuel to power Maui Electric’s generators. About 85 percent of Maui Electric’s generating capacity could potentially be converted from petroleum diesel to renewable biodiesel.

The Future of Biodiesel
A number of experiments are underway at the Hawai‘i Agricultural Research Center, at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources and at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo College of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resource Management to determine which biodiesel feedstocks are best to grow in Hawai‘i.

Products being studied are kukui nuts, jatropha, and local palms. Jatropha is hardy, needs little water, and is resistant to drought and pests.  Jatropha also grows well on marginal quality lands and produces seeds containing up to 40 percent oil.

In 2006, Kamehameha Schools, Grove Farm Co., and Maui Land & Pineapple Co. announced the formation of Hawai’i BioEnergy, LLC to research the viability of a large-scale biofuels industry in Hawai‘i.

Ethanol
Ethanol is a clear and colorless grain alcohol that is a renewable biofuel made from plant sugars. Sugar cane and sorghum are among the best sources for making ethanol, which is already being used in Hawai‘i due to a 2006 State mandate which requires that 85 percent of all gasoline sold in the State must contain at least 10 percent ethanol which most engines can use without modification.

There are some concerns about the environmental impacts of using a valuable food crop like corn to produce energy, so studies are being done on a technique called cellulosic ethanol.

Air Conditioning
Air conditioning is one of the biggest uses of electricity in Hawai‘i homes and businesses. About half of the energy consumed in Waikīkī is for air conditioning.

A sea water air conditioning (SWAC) system can be a cost-effective use of a renewable energy source to offset the conventional air conditioning, which consumes about 4 to 12 times more electricity.

The process of sea water air conditioning involves pumping cold sea water from hundreds of feet below the surface to a cooling station on shore. This station then transfers the salt water’s coldness to fresh water circulating in a closed loop which carries it to customer buildings. The cooling station also ensures that sea water and fresh water never mix. The warmed sea water is then returned to the ocean through another pipe and diffuser located at a much shallower depth.

This SWAC system is a proven technology, and is already in use on the Big Island at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawai‘i Authority in Kailua-Kona.

Wind Energy
New wind farms: Wind flow can be harvested by wind turbines to make electricity, and its use has increased in recent years largely due to new technology as well as federal tax credits for wind production.

The state offers 20% tax credits for wind power installations, and residential customers may receive up to $1,500 in tax credits. Commercial customers may receive up to $500,000 in tax credits. Commercial wind turbines can be connected to the electric utility grid to bring wind power to customers.

The Apollo Energy Corporation’s Pakini Nui wind farm is now operating on the Big Island at South Point.