Hawaii is getting greener

I read an interesting article online about the energy situation in Hawaii. I agree with the author Shermakaye Bass who says that Blue Hawaii needs to go green in order to be energy self-sustaining state.
Currently, Hawaii gets 90 percent of its energy from imported oil, while its isolation makes it vulnerable to frequent power outages. Price for electricity here is from 25 to 55 cents per kilowatt hour which is - three to five times the national average. Gas prices are the highest in the US..

On the other hand, Hawaii has some of the best wind, some of the best solar, some of the best access to the ocean to use wave power, a lot of waste-biomass, and one of the most volcanic activity to use for geo-thermal power.
All of these sources can and will be used to produce alternative energy for the island, says Kimura, solar-tech pioneer and the founder of clean-energy/eco-friendly Sopogy company. His company recently introduced a new rooftop Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) collector which are about 30 percent cheaper than traditional solar collectors.
These new solar power collectors represent one of nearly $1 billion in clean energy projects which will be implemented in Hawaii during the next two decades.

The article says that in January 2008, during her State of the State address, Gov. Linda Lingle told constituents she would make energy a priority. Within a few days after her speech, Honolulu had signed the historic Clean Energy Initiative with the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE), whereby America’s 50th state would shift from a fossil-fuel driven economy to one that buzzed with power from wind, sun, water (and biofuel and geothermal tech and hydrogen fuel…) by 2030. Specifically, the plan calls for Hawaii to get 70 percent of its power from clean energy – 40 percent from actual renewable power, 30 percent from energy efficiency and consumer conservation.

To read the rest of the article you can go to this website: http://www.greenrightnow.com/kabc/2009/10/28/blue-hawaii-getting-greener-every-day/
-Peter Y.