The Oil Drum

38 comments on Hawaii's "Energy for tomorrow"

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Glenn on January 18, 2006 - 10:53pm

It does look like a great experiment. Between geothermal, wind and sun, I bet they can make significant inroads to fossil fuel production.

As for the ethanol feedstock, my money is on sugar. Here is an excerpt from a study of ethanol feedstock alternatives in Hawaii

Two grass species, sugarcane and banagrass, and two tree species, Eucalyptus and Leucaena, were identified as the most promising crops for ethanol production. Sugarcane, which formerly dominated agriculture in Hawaii, produces very high quantities of fiber and fermentable sugars (sugarcane grown commercially in Hawaii has an average dry-matter yield of ~18 tons per acre-year, consisting of about 60% fiber and 40% sugar). Long cultivation history and well-developed infrastructure give sugarcane inherent advantages over other crops.

from our previous discussion of ethanol ideas in NY State, it does seem that cellulosic and sugarcane have inherent EROEI advantages over corn.

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ericy on January 18, 2006 - 11:10pm

My guess is also sugarcane.

They really ought to be able to do geothermal - especially on the big island.

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Leanan on January 18, 2006 - 11:23pm

They do have a geothermal plant - on the Big Island. They originally had grand plans. They were going to lay underwater cable to Oahu, where most of the population is, and export geothermal energy from the Big Island.

But it didn't work out as planned. The plant works, but is more expensive, more difficult to maintain, and more polluting than they imagined. Many Native Hawaiians object to the plant on religious grounds. Plans for more geothermal plants were shelved, as was the plan to export energy to Oahu.

Though maybe they'll dust them off again, if Lingle's serious about this.