The Sustainable Paradise Of The Pacific

"CLEARLY, I'M MAKING A CASE FOR HAWAII AS PARADISE, SO LET ME BEGIN WITH WHAT IS A TYPICAL SUNSET (SYMBOLICALLY BEAUTIFUL, BUT LIKE THE SUN, DECLINING), MOVING ON TO A WONDER OF NATURE, A RESPLENDENT RAINBOW (TOMORROW, THE POTENTIAL TO BE REBORN IN SPLENDOR--GO TO THE COVER OF MY FIRST BOOK, SIMPLE SOLUTIONS FOR PLANET EARTH, FOR THE MULTI-SPECTRUM BRIDGE TO THE FUTURE IS SO OBVIOUSLY EVIDENT WITH A CONCERTED EFFORT AND A LOT OF HELP), AND THAT INCREDIBLE CHARTREUSE BLOSSOM (ACTUALLY, TODAY, JUST OUTSIDE MY CAMPUS OFFICE). THESE ARE WHAT MAKE HAWAII DIFFERENT AND BETTER. HOW CAN SOMETHING SO BEAUTIFUL BE SO CHALLENGED, RELATIVELY CLUELESS AND LACKING IN LEADERSHIP? I DIGRESS, BUT THE FOLLOWING IS PART 2 OF THE DISCUSSION INITIATED YESTERDAY ON HOW HAWAII CAN BEST DIVERSIFY:".What is, then, the answer? In short, we need to focus on where we have a natural advantage. Hawaii cannot afford billions of dollars to start new industries nor wean us off petroleum. To be blatantly frank, we need money from beyond our shores: people, companies and organizations eager to then market our success elsewhere. In this critical transition, they can enjoy our hospitality. Not an entirely bad bargain if they end up profiting..This is a crucial period when oil prices are in a temporary canyon between the 147/barrel oil of July 2008 and the 200/barrel price of circa 2012. What is it that Hawaii can offer to the national government and major corporations to want to invest in our state?.We are blessed with renewable energy, and the current White House and Congress will be supportive of our efforts toward energy self-reliance. We are in the middle of the largest ocean and neither Hawaii nor the Nation is doing anything about developing the riches of the sea. Tourism will continue to be the backbone of our economy for some time to come, so we need to either find a replacement for the fuel jetliners use, or help someone invent a new form of flight which uses hydrogen..As the first step, we need to get our Legislature, Governor, congressional delegation, private sector, academia, and, most important of all, the people, to agree that, unless we instantly work together to design and build a pioneering sustainable resource pathway for our future, we will be faced with sure catastrophe..Our best hope at saving ourselves is to become the national and world model for energy independence. Having about the highest energy prices in the nation make clean options closer to being competitive. Being relatively small (less than one half of one percent of the national population) means the investment can be more affordable. Our detachment from the national grid provides an urgency that is necessary to galvanize action..Here is what we must do:

1. Gain White House support to immediately host a World Summit to produce a plan of action as a symbol for the globe..2. Capture a greater share of the various stimulus packages to match industrial investments in wind power farms and solar energy (and conservation) retros to existing residences and apartments (with all new construction mandated to install solar water heaters and PV systems)..3. Augment the 70% in 2030 government-utility incentives. For example, as has been done in Germany (where something higher than a 50 cent/kWh rebate is provided for residences contributing electricity into the grid--making this country now #1 in PV) have the PUC orchestrate a similar payback of twice the cost of what the customer is charged for homes and entrepreneurs (open it up to them, with some sunsetting) so that the utility becomes the storage option (batteries and hydrogen are just too expensive to consider today).

4. Install a smart grid connecting all our islands, even Kauai, which might be easier said than can be done, but is not impossible. This will cost 2 billion, at least. Who will be paying for this tab? These are the details that need to worked out. Remember how we got all those bucks to build national defense highways? Easy, then, to justify national defense grids. And we got the right people in the White House and Congress to do just that. How lucky can we get?

5. Do everything possible to explore for and install geothermal power plants on the Big Island, and, perhaps, Maui. Develop industrial parks around these facilities, as there are various co-products worthy of commercialization. Geothermal is a particularly key part of the mix because it is baseload power not dependent of the availability of the sun or winds.

6. Provide every encouragement for ocean thermal energy conversion, for this technology not only provides baseload electricity, but freshwater, next generation fisheries, marine biomass plantations for materials and fuel, and more. The Hawaii problem is beyond energy...we also need to begin to export some commodities. Hawaii should be the leader of the Blue Revolution.

7. But all the above is mostly about electricity. More energy is used in ground and air transportation than for electricity. Because it is beginning to happen, initially use a mix of plug-in electric cars and flex fuel hybrid vehicles. A command decision must be made to bypass ethanol and biodiesel for methanol. In time, the direct methanol fuel cell could replace the lithium battery.

8. For aviation, continue the effort to develop jet and other biofuels from algae, for this microorganism is at least 5 times more efficient in converting sunlight into biomass than any terrestrial crop. In parallel, explore prospects for the Hawaiian Hydrogen Clipper, a hydrogen dirigible, advanced by Rinaldo Brutoco, president of the World Business Academy. Clearly, too, the tourist industry must re-invent itself to cater to more affluent visitors and expand eco- and mari-attractions, like Hawaiian onsens. A floating casino or two powered by OTEC and featuring something like Sea World or Disney at Sea might work.

9. Seek special status to become the national symbol for energy self-sufficiency. That should mean more federal-industrial partnerships with Hawaii. Become the national leader for developing marine resources: marine biotechnology, seabed resources, next generation fisheries, marine biomass plantations, etc. Find a way to get the Department of Commerce (wasn't Senator Inouye the past Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee chairman?) to designate Hawaii as a Special Sustainable Resource Zone to commercialize renewable energy and ocean resources. This will surely bring some tax incentives (what about the equivalent of Act 221/215 funded by Commerce just for this Zone?) and facilitate patent rights.

In time, the billions we currently spend on imported fossil fuels can be eliminated and the new sustainable resource industry can rival and someday exceed revenues from tourism. The next two or three decades will be trying. By 2100, but hopefully sooner, Hawaii should become the Sustainable Paradise of the Pacific.-The Dow Jones Industrials neared minus 200 in the first couple of hours, leaped to plus 55, then limped home minus 80 at 7271. By the way, the House today passed the spending bill (with less, but still, a lot, of pork) to keep the government operating, which was about half the size of the Obama stimulus package. Of course, Democrats largely voted in the affirmative, while most Republicans voted no and lambasted the beast. Crude oil jumped 2.57/barrel to 42.47. Gold dropped 13/toz to 954.