![]() ![]() In the coming years, the world’s electric grids will face daunting challenges. Jeff described the state’s unique position when he told me, Hawaii is like a “postcard from our future.” Much of his career has been spent helping shape the policies that have made Hawaii the leader in clean energy. Jeff Mikulina is the Executive Director of Hawaii’s Blue Planet Foundation. Hawaii is a postcard from our electric future In fact, the state is already leading the country in clean energy and they have ambitious plans to achieve a 100% clean energy grid by 2045. They are disproving conventional wisdom by showing that intermittent power from the sun and wind can successfully provide affordable and reliable electric service.Ĭlean energy grids may work for small islands, but can their success scale to mainland-sized communities? Can clean energy provide affordable, reliable power for the homes, offices and industries for a million people? The leaders of Hawaii believe so. In Part 1 of this series, we looked at how small islands are pioneering the path to clean energy. Island power grids are a microcosm of the vastly larger grids that criss-cross the planet. “When you consider Hawaii has more than doubled use of renewable energy and cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20% in just a few years, we think that’s better than C work.Waikiki beach in Honolulu, Hawaii. “We see a lot of positive momentum behind these numbers and some challenges, too, which the report points out,” he said. ![]() Hawaiian Electric Company Vice President of Corporate Relations, Jim Kelly thought the state deserved a higher grade. “As the cost of renewables and particularly battery storage continues to drop, we think that will accelerate even more quickly,” she said. Miyashiro says that “we are generally on track,” to fulfill the state’s goal of having 100% renewable energy by 2045. Two areas where the state improved is in its ability to store clean energy for later use and the declining price of renewable energy. Miyashiro mainly attributes the state’s stalled progress to the closing of the Puna Geothermal plant on Hawaii Island after lava threatened the facility. The renewable energy category also had a lower grade from the 2017 report. “Those living outside of urban Honolulu where homes are more affordable don’t have public transit options so as people move outside the urban core, they’re driving more.” “Most of the public transit options beyond the bus are concentrated in the urban core of Honolulu,” she said. Miyashiro explained that new forms of public transportation, such as bike sharing hasn’t been able to make up for that deficit. Public bus ridership has dropped about five percent since 2014. The report shows that people are choosing less energy efficient vehicles, increasing their driving mileage and using public transportation less. It still accounts for almost two-thirds of our fossil fuel consumption and we have a lot of work to do.” ![]() ![]() “Fossil fuel transportation hasn’t gone down. “That’s the lowest grade in all the report card so we’re actually headed in the wrong direction,” she said. Managing Director at Blue Planet Foundation, Melissa Miysashiro explained that the transportation category was the main reason that the state’s overall grade dropped. The grades are based off of five different categories: transportation, efficiency, renewables, smart grid and economics. The last report card the foundation released was in 2017 and gave Hawaii an overall grade of B. Only projects currently operating, and not proposed ones, such as the controversial Na Pua Makani wind farm in Kahuku, factor into the report card grades. The foundation releases energy report cards semi-yearly to grade the state’s progress to 100% renewable energy. The Blue Planet Foundation, an environmental non-profit, lowered Hawaii’s overall clean energy grade from a B- to a C. ![]()
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