Renewable Energy Basics
What Is Renewable Energy? Electricity can be made from a variety of energy sources. Some are fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas. Over 90 percent of the energy used in Hawaii comes from imported fossil fuels, mostly oil but some coal. (The synthetic natural gas used in Hawaii is refined here from crude oil.) Fossil fuels were formed underground over millions of years; once used they are gone and can not be replaced. We call an energy sources "renewable" if it can be replenished -- such as biomass, biofuels or garbage -- or will never run out --the sun, wind, ocean waves and geothermal power. Why is renewable energy important? Two reasons: | • | To reduce Hawaii's consumption of oil. Oil is getting harder and more expensive to find and bring out of the ground. It must be imported to Hawaii at an ever increasing cost, often from unstable, turbulent places. To increase our energy security and to keep more of our energy dollars at home, we need to use local resources. | | • | To protect Hawaii’s environment and reduce our impact on global warming. Burning fossil fuels creates carbon dioxide and other emissions that cause global warming. As islands in the middle of the Pacific, Hawaii is very vulnerable to the effects of global warming, including a rising sea level. Although Hawaii’s contribution to global warming is small, we can not expect others to control their greenhouse gas emissions if we are not doing all we can to control ours. | Reducing our use of imported oil Hawaii depends on imported petroleum for most of its electrical energy needs. There's a good reason for this. Unlike mainland states, Hawaii does not have access to other fuel sources such as natural gas, or large rivers to produce hydropower. Petroleum is easy to transport and can be easily refined to create fuel for air, water and ground transportation, electricity and other uses. Until recently, oil was reasonably inexpensive, and Hawaii doesn't use nuclear power. Diversifying Hawaii's mix of energy sources by using more locally produced renewable energy to produce electricity (and for transportation when possible) is the best way to help Hawaii use less oil. Fact: Only about 27% of Hawaii's imported oil is used to make electricity. About one third goes for jet fuel and about one third goes for gasoline and diesel for our automobiles and boats. Fact: Although using renewable energy will reduce Hawaii's use of oil to produce electricity, it won't eliminate the need to import crude oil or refined product to Hawaii as long as fuel is needed for ground and air transportation. Helping Hawaii's environment Hawaii's air and water are among the cleanest in the nation. Hawaiian Electric, Maui Electric and Hawaii Electric Light companies work hard to keep them that way by monitoring air and water quality and by complying with stringent federal and state regulations governing emissions. Using renewable energy sources also helps Hawaii's environment because they generally produce less air emissions. Challenges to using more renewable energy Most people say they favor renewable energy, but when it comes to building a project like a wind farm in their area, they often say “Not in My Back Yard.” Renewable energy resources are not shared equally among islands. Oahu has the most people (thus the greatest electricity demand) but few renewable resources and little unused land suitable for renewable energy projects. Hawaii Island has geothermal energy, a resource no other island enjoys, but the Big Island can only use a fraction of its geothermal potential because of a small population. Each Hawaiian Island has its own stand-along grid as it is not possible at present to move electricity inter-island. Some renewables like sunshine, wind, even the water in our small streams ebb and flow naturally. Having a large percentage of variable or “as available” energy on a small, remote grid such as those in Hawaii is challenging, making it harder to maintain reliability and power quality. The electric utilities need firm, dispatchable energy sources to meet its customers' energy needs. Infrastructure -- or facilities – including power lines, substations, transformers and other equipment is also a challenge. Most renewable energy projects are built in remote areas, far from population centers. Infrastructure to bring the power from these places to the grid – and to store or “smooth” variable “as available” energy -- is expensive and adds to the cost of the electric power. Still, Hawaiian Electric, Maui Electric and Hawaii Electric Light companies are working hard to increase renewable energy. This includes encouraging other companies to develop renewable projects, adding power lines and substations needed for renewable projects and working on ways to smooth and store “as available” power. # # #
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