Tag Archives: Geothermal

Geothermal, Government, Peak Oil

My Testimony Against Resolution 42-18

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Richard Ha writes:

I testified before the County Council against Resolution 42-18. That’s the resolution that asks the Legislature to repeal Act 97, which allows geothermal resource zones in certain land classifications.

This was my testimony:

I think we can make things work to everyone’s satisfaction by amending Act 97, instead of repealing it.

I am testifying as a farmer who has attended five Association for the Study of Peak Oil (ASPO) conferences. Most of the time, I was the only person there from Hawai‘i.

The world has been using two to three times the amount of oil as it had been finding, for 30 years. Oil is a finite resource and there will be consequences. It’s not a matter of if. It is just a matter of when.

More Information can be found at the ASPO website.

A report done by an economic research team of the IMF was presented at the last ASPO conference.

They modeled five declining oil scenarios. They found that under declining oil scenarios of between one and four percent – when oil price exceeds $200 per barrel of oil – it could not be modeled. That would be uncharted waters.

The report said when two of three of the following conditions occur, then all bets are off.

  1. If the minimum amount of oil necessary to maintain infrastructure is not met
  2. If a minimum amount of oil necessary to maintain essential technology is not met
  3. Or if the relationship of supply to demand exceeds 1-1, and the oil price rises faster than supply

If two or more of these issues occur simultaneously, the results could be dramatic or even downright implausible. These words in an economic report are very worrisome, especially for us living out here on an island.

We on the Big Island could be in jeopardy from outside forces. Robert Rapier, an International energy expert, lives right here on the Big Island. I highly recommend that the County Council ask him to give a presentation.

I also recommend that we start to focus on solutions. Just saying no is not enough.

Biofuel, Food Security, Geothermal, Lowering Electric Rates, Peak Oil, Renewable Energy Sources

Energy & the Future of the Big Island

Richard Ha writes:

This past Friday I participated on an energy panel at the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel called “Energy: Facing the Reality of Renewables.” Panel members were Jay Ignacio, President of Hawaii Electric Light company; Mike Kaleikini, who is General
Manager of Puna Geothermal Venture; and myself, as steering committee member of the Big Island Community Coalition.

From the Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce: “The 2013 Summit will further explore those initiatives via ‘panels of conversation’ on each topic. Three guests per topic have been invited to participate on panels to discuss their work with the Summit audience, ideas that inspire them and what they see as the future for Hawaii Island. Each panel will have 45 minutes of discussion followed by questions from the audience. We are pleased to have Steve Petranik, Editor of ‘Hawaii Business Magazine’ as our moderator again this year.”

There were five panels: Education, Sustainability, Employment, Energy and Health Care.

West Hawaii Today wrote about it in an article called Prospects of an All-Geothermal Isle Unlikely.

I started out by saying mixed messages are being sent out. Some say that the U.S. has enough oil and gas that we will soon replace Saudi Arabia as a world energy supplier. Using data and scientific methods, the Association for the Study of Peak Oil-USA (ASPO) has come to different conclusions. Its agenda is merely to spread the best information it has on this topic. You can learn more by viewing video at the ASPO-USA.org website.

I described the Big Island Community Coalition’s mission, which is to achieve, for the Big Island, the lowest-cost electricity in the state. Striving for a low cost solution hedges our bets. It is better to be safe than sorry. I told them that those interested in supporting this group can get on the Big Island Community Coalition mailing list.

I related how food and energy are inextricably tied together. Food security has to do with farmers farming. And if farmers make money, the farmers will farm! But while only two percent of the mainland’s electricity comes from oil, more than 70 percent of the electricity in Hawai‘i does. The mainland, of course, is our main supplier of food and our biggest competitor. As oil prices rise, Hawai‘i becomes less and less competitive.

As oil prices rise, and electricity prices rise, and farmers and other businesses become less competitive, local families have less spending money.

The answer is to find the lowest electricity cost solution. For if people have extra money, they will spend it. Two-thirds of our economy is made up of consumer spending.

Provided that the expensive and ill-advised Aina Koa Pono biofuel project does not go forward, we have a bright future ahead of us. In the pipeline is Hu Honua’s 22MW biomass burning project, and
next is 50W of additional geothermal. Add to that 38MW of present geothermal, and, assuming the old geothermal contract is renegotiated, that would amount to 110MW of stable affordable electricity. This would be more than 60 percent of the peak power use on the Big Island. Even if we do not count wind and solar renewables, this would put the Big Island on a trajectory of achieving the lowest cost electricity in the state.

What would happen if our electricity costs were lower than O‘ahu’s? We can’t even imagine it.

  • It would change our economy.
  • It would help our County government preserve services.
  • Fewer of our kids would have to go to the mainland to find jobs.
  • More of our money could be used for education, instead of paying for oil.
  • More people would have money to support local farmers.
  • Single moms would have less pressure than they do now.
  • Folks on the lowest rungs of the economic ladder would not be pushed over the edge.
  • There are lots and lots  of younger folks who want to farm. Maybe they could actually make money so they could farm.

I told the audience that we on the panel were all friends. But there is too much at stake for the BICC to give ground on our goal to make the Big Island’s electricity the cheapest in the state.

During the Q & A, someone asked what we each thought about an undersea cable to connect all the islands. I replied that our primary objective is to bring low cost electricity to the Big Island before we do anything else.

The audience liked that a lot and spontaneously applauded.

Geothermal, Government

More Opposition to Bill 292

Richard Ha writes:

There’s more testimony against Hawaii County Bill 292 re: Geothermal Drilling Restrictions.

The Geothermal Resources Council’s testimony:


November 6, 2012

Hawaii County Council
c/o Office of the County Clerk
County of Hawaii
25 Aupuni Street

Hilo, Hawaii 96720

Re: Opposition to County of Hawaii Bill No. 292, Geothermal Drilling Restrictions

Dear Hawaii County Council Members:

The Geothermal Resources Council, as a representative of numerous geothermal
educational institutions and development companies hereby expresses its concerns about
Bill No. 292. The drilling restrictions in this Bill would inhibit and could ultimately
prohibit the further development of geothermal on the Big Island.
Screen Shot 2012-11-09 at 12.21.47 PM

Developing geothermal power will help Hawaii reach its goals of energy independence and minimizing global warming emissions. Indigenous geothermal development and operation will help Hawaii reach these goals. Local jobs will be created to develop,
construct and operate these geothermal plants.

We have reviewed the testimony of one of our member companies, GeothermEx. The Geothermal Resource Council agrees with this expert’s conclusion that project risk and cost will be dramatically increased if the Bill is approved.


Noise issues have been addressed for over 30 years at other drill sites all over the world. Drilling has always been allowed without 12 hour daily curtailments. We join with the opposition to this Bill.

Please oppose Bill No. 292

Best Regards.

Steve Ponder
Interim Executive Director 

About the Geothermal Resources Council:

The Geothermal Resources Council (GRC) is a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization, educational association 501(c) organization. Formed in 1970, the GRC was incorporated in the state of Washington in 1972, and in California in 1981.

With members in over 40 countries, the GRC is a professional educational association for the international geothermal community.

Goals:

▪Encourage worldwide development of geothermal resources through the collection and timely distribution of data and technological information.

▪Promote research, exploration and development of geothermal energy in ways compatible with the environment.

▪Serve as a public forum for the world geothermal community, providing transfer of objective and unbiased information on the nature of geothermal resources and techniques of geothermal development.

▪Cooperate with national and international academic institutions, industry and government agencies to encourage economically and environmentally sound development and utilization of geothermal resources. Read more about the organization

Biofuel, Community, Geothermal, Peak Oil, Renewable Energy Sources

Rubbah Slippah Folks Turn Out at Kona PUC Meeting

Richard Ha writes:

The Kona PUC hearing we’ve been talking about here took place on Tuesday evening.

From West Hawaii Today:

Powerful resistance to PUC

By Erin Miller

West Hawaii Today

West Hawaii residents described to the Public Utilities Commission how they have cut back on energy usage, and questioned why Hawaiian Electric Light Co. shouldn’t have to bear the costs of upgrading its own equipment.

The questions continued as the PUC heard comments from residents Tuesday evening on a proposed contract between HELCO, Oahu’s Hawaii Electric Co. and Aina Koa Pono for a biodiesel project in Ka‘u.

Albert Prados, manager of the Fairway Villas at Waikoloa Beach Resort, was one of more than 20 people who testified against HELCO’s rate increase request, which HELCO officials would raise rates 4.2 percent, or about $8 per an average 500 kilowatt hour monthly bill. Prados described the measures he has taken in his own home, including shutting everything off except the refrigerator at night, to lower his electricity bill. Read the rest

Mayor Kenoi took a very strong stand on renewable energy. He
made clear that it is not sufficient that it be renewable; it also needs to be affordable. He is concerned about the most defenseless among us.

He said, This is the kind of project that 20 years from now, we will be asking, “How did we let that happen?” He also said that we are doing this for the benefit of HEI and HECO – but that there is no benefit for the Big Island. The Mayor is very aware that high and rising electricity costs threaten our economy and also the folks on the lowest rungs of the economic ladder.

Rep. Denny Coffman asked, “How is it we are here? This is not even proven technology.” He pointed out that the electric utility is setting the state’s energy policy, and that that should stop while we finish the Integrated Resource Planning process that’s happening right now. Rep. Coffman understands the energy situation worldwide and he knows it’s foolish to be chasing unproven technology. It is both a waste of time and money. In Hawai‘i, we do have proven technology that is affordable.

My testimony:

To answer the Consumer Advocate’s question, “Would we change our minds if all the costs were given to the Oahu rate payers?,” the answer is no! I think that giving AKP a 20-year contract will forego the opportunity of developing lower cost alternatives. And it will take up valuable time. Liquid natural gas is an option. Ocean energy might be ready within the 20-year period. Geothermal is an affordable, proven technology. For instance, there is an 11 cent difference between geothermal and oil today. We could replace liquid fuels with 80MW of geothermal electricity, and apply that savings to pay the remaining debt of the Keahole 80 MW liquid fuel burning plant.

(80 MW is equal to 80,000 kilowatts. That 11 cents/kilowatt hour savings multiplied by 80,000 kilowatt hours equals $8,800 that you save each hour. And the savings per day is $211,200. That times 365 days equals an annual savings of $77 million. That is enough to write off the plant and still give the rate payers a break.)

Jeff Ono

Consumer Advocate Jeff Ono asked: “If O‘ahu rate payers would pay the cost, would you still be against the AKP project?”

Most of the time, making electricity has to do with making steam to turn a turbine. You can burn coal to make steam, or you can burn oil to make steam. You can burn firewood to make steam, or use the steam from underground – that’s geothermal.

AKP takes the long way. They grow plants using fossil fuels,
then they use electricity to make microwaves to vaporize the plants, then take the liquid that rises and convert it to a burnable liquid, and haul it to Keahole, where they burn it to make steam.

It isn’t surprising that it is expensive.

More than a few engineer folks tell me that this process
uses more energy than it makes. And if that is the case, it will always be more expensive than oil. This is not a good bet for us.

Palm oil is the only biofuel today that can compete heads up
with petroleum oil. It produces 600 gallons of oil per acre. AKP strives to produce 16 million gallons per acre, plus another 8 million gallons – or 24 million gallons from 12,000 acres. That is 4 times as productive as palm oil, the only biofuel that competes straight up with petroleum oil. If it works, they don’t need any subsidy from us. If it works, they will all end up billionaires.

We cannot predict the price of oil. But people are hurting right now. And if oil prices reach $200 per barrel, the tourism industry will be devastated and everything connected with it will shrink. We do not have the luxury of time. We need a lower cost alternative right now.

Well-respected Council of Revenues economists Paul Brewbaker, of TZE Economics, and Carl Bonham, Executive Director of the
University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization (UHERO), agree that low-cost energy is a key component of our economic future. 

There are alternatives to $200/barrel biofuel. Geothermal is the equivalent of $57/barrel. Liquid natural gas is low cost now on the
mainland, and maybe ocean energy will be an alternative within the time period of the contract.

We need lower cost electricity, not higher, and AKP is not the answer. The AKP project is wasting valuable time, and we need to put it to bed so we can focus our attention on the next projects.

I agree with the electric utility from here forward. The next PUC hearing will be on the Hu Honua biomass plant at Pepe‘ekeo. They will use wood chips to boil water and make steam. This is proven technology and it looks to be cost effective.

After that will be a proposal for 50MW of geothermal. Geothermal does not have to burn anything. It just uses the steam underground to make electricity and it is cost effective.  

At that time, HELCO with its leverage should be able to successfully renegotiate the old contract that is tied to oil. Then we will be well on our way to protecting ourselves from the volatility of world oil prices. Those two projects will result in a total of 110 MW of stable, affordable electricity using proven technology. 

We need to strive for balance and common sense as we try to make things work for everyone. Hospitals, schools, hotels and businesses need the electric services provided by the grid. Fifty percent of our people rent and so cannot get off the grid. We need to be practical, and help to make sure the electric utility is healthy as we strive for a lower cost to the rate payer.

Biofuel, Peak Oil, Renewable Energy Sources

The Big ‘Aina Koa Pono’ Risk

Richard Ha writes:

Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) and Hawaii Electric Light
Company (HELCO) are asking for PUC approval to pay Aina Koa Pono $200/barrel for biofuel, and they are asking for approval to pass the cost straight through to the rate payers (us).

Should we rate payers accept the risk and provide the
subsidy? No!

We need to attend the upcoming PUC hearings and testify against assuming the $200/barrel cost of biofuels. Please consider attending. The hearings are:

East Hawai‘i:

  • Monday, Oct. 29th, 6 p.m. at the Hilo High School cafeteria

West Hawai‘i:

  • Tuesday, Oct. 30th, 6 p.m. at the Kealakehe High School
    cafeteria

O‘ahu:

  • Thursday, Nov. 1st, 6 p.m. at Farrington High School

Should we rate payers pay for biodiesel that costs $200/barrel, starting in 2015 and lasting until 2035? There is a great risk that the price of oil will not follow the Annual Energy Outlook 2012 ‘high price forecast’, and if that’s the case, we will be paying more for electricity than we would be otherwise.

Very risky.

There is also a technology risk. Fuel has not yet ever been produced using the feedstock that Aina Koa Pono proposes to grow. So far, the feedstock being used experimentally is white pine. The Micro Dee technology Aina Koa Pono wants to use is still experimental.

Risky.

There is a risk that this process might use more energy than it generates. Generating electricity is generally about boiling water and making steam that turns a turbine. It’s cheaper to burn the product to boil water. Aina Koa Pono’s proposed process – making electricity to make microwaves to vaporize the cellulose to get the liquid and then refine it to make it burnable, and haul it down to Keahole in tanker trucks to make steam – is extremely energy intensive.

Very risky.

Mid-year last year, on the mainland, the EPA drastically decreased its 2011 estimate for cellulosic biofuel from 250 million gallons to a paltry 6 million gallons. Almost all the cellulosic biofuel companies went bankrupt.

This makes this project risky as well.

In 2010, cellulosic biofuel companies needed to buy their feedstock for $45/ton. But because farmers were making $100/ton for hay, the biofuel firms got a $45/ton subsidy. I asked how much Aina Koa Pono expected to pay for feedstock, and the AECOM Technology Corporation consultant said between $55 and $65/ton. The problem there is that Hawai‘i farmers have been earning $200/ton for hay for 10 years now.

The supply of feedstock is a risk.

There is agriculture production risk, as well. Palm oil is the only industrial-scale biofuel that can compete with petroleum oil. In the tropics, it produces 600 gallons of biodiesel per acre of production. Say Aina Koa Pono can produce 500 gallons of bodiesel, since we are located 22 degrees north of the equator. To produce 16 million gallons a year at 500 gallons per acre would require 32,000 acres of productive land. Add 10 percent more for roads and unusable land and you would need 35,200 acres. But we only have 12,000 acres to use. Is the feedstock throughput adequate to cover the capital costs? We don’t know. They have not decided on a feedstock yet.

Risky.

Imagine the 12,000 available acres could produce 16 million gallons. Then each acre would need to produce 1,333 gallons to get the required throughput.

This would be twice as productive as the best biofuel producers in the world.

It’s a risky assumption.

Ka’u Sugar relied on natural rainfall. Depending on natural rainfall makes achieving optimum production very risky, due to the very real possibility/probability of occasional drought.

According to Energy Expert Robert Hirsch, in his book The
Impending World Energy Mess, the best model is a circular one, where processing is done in the center of a field (which does not exceed a radius of 50 miles) that consists of flat land, deep fertile soil with irrigation and lots of sun energy. This situation exists in Central Maui, where Hawaiian Commericial & Sugar Company (HC&S) is located. That is exactly why HC&S is the sole surviving Hawai‘i sugar plantation.

If Aina Koa Pono is supposed to serve as an example from which to expand, then there is very limited suitable land on the Big Island
that meets the criteria. To compete heads up on the world market will require the best possible combination of production factors. These are not them.

Locking into a 20-year contract would preclude lower cost alternatives. Geothermal, for example, is the equivalent of oil at $57/barrel. Oceanthermal has the possibility of being significantly lower in price than $200 oil. Water-to-liquid fuel is a possibility, too.

The amount of risk involved is just far too great. In the investment world, the reward is generally commensurate with risk. Except for protection from $200 per barrel oil in the later years, there is little reward for all the risk we would assume.

This is a very bad deal for consumers.

Biofuel, Geothermal, Lowering Electric Rates, Peak Oil

Try Wait – Comparing costs for Geothermal vs. Aina Koa Pono Biofuels

1 Comment

Richard Ha writes: 

It’s all about the cost.

What if we substituted geothermal electricity for Aina Koa Pono’s biofuels proposal, in order to replace the 80MW that the Keahole liquid fuel-fired plant produces?

Aina Koa Pono’s proposed plan would cost rate payers the equivalent of $200/barrel of oil.

The “barrel of oil equivalent” for geothermal-produced electricity is $57/barrel, and this price will be stable for 500,000 to a million years. (Geothermal is competitive with – though cheaper than – natural gas, which is $5.16 per million BTUs and breaks even with oil at $57/barrel; and nuclear power, which breaks even at $6.26 and $69).

At today’s oil prices, there is an 11 cent difference between oil- and geothermal-produced electricity. Geothermal is cheaper by far.

The Keahole plant’s capacity is 80MW, which is 80,000 kilowatts per hour. Using geothermal would save $8,800/hour, $211,200/day, and $6,336,000/month. In a year, the savings would be $76 million.

Why can’t we split the difference? Part of the savings goes to lowering rate payers bills, and the other half to retire debt?

The electric utility should not be punished for trying to achieve its renewable energy goals. But we have to realize there may be alternatives that better prepare us for the future. Let’s not lock ourselves out of these opportunities by signing a 20-year contract just because of an arbitrary time schedule.

In the end, with geothermal we would pay the oil equivalent of $57/barrel on our electric bills. If we go Aina Koa Pono’s route, we pay the equivalent of $200/barrel.

Am I missing something?

Big Island, Community, Peak Oil, Philippines, Renewable Energy Sources

Kenoi Can Guide Big Island into Uncharted Future

Richard Ha writes:

Big Island Mayor Billy Kenoi has consistently made the point that in this changing world, we, too, must change. He pointed that out again recently: That our highest-in-the-nation electricity cost – which is 25 percent higher than O‘ahu’s – is too heavy a burden for the Big Island’s people to bear. To help the most defenseless among us, as well as our local businesses, we need lower cost renewable electricity; not higher cost electricity.

The mayor has consistently been in favor of finding lower cost alternatives to the status quo (which is, of course, dependency on
expensive fossil fuels). The Geothermal Working Group, co chaired by Wally Ishibashi and me and authorized by the Hawai‘i State Legislature, could not have carried out its work without the mayor’s backing. It was an unfunded mandate implemented by volunteers. The mayor just told his people, “Make sure they have what they need.”

Mayor Kenoi is a quick learner; one who gets both the big picture and the small one.

He led a delegation to Ormoc City, Philippines to see how 700 MW of geothermal energy was developed in a place with a population size similar to the Big Island. I was on that trip and saw how the Philippines is way ahead of us in assessing and utilizing its resource. It’s a great credit to Filipino leaders that, as the Philippines incorporates more geothermal into its grid, the country will be very well-positioned to cope in a world of rising oil
prices.

The Philippines produces a large percentage of the food its people eat, too, as compared to Hawai‘i. Our trip also resulted in a university-to-university relationship.

It’s not that geothermal is the only solution. But because we have geothermal here on the Big Island, that fact-finding trip was a responsible thing to do. That was a very practical, useful and cost effective trip Billy led.

Sitting in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Hawai‘i is vulnerable to events out of its control, and is sailing into uncharted waters. It’s similar to when our early predecessors sailed up from the south to find a better life.

Who can I see leading today’s expedition that carries the Big Island to a better tomorrow?

I see Billy Kenoi as that leader.

Geothermal, Peak Oil

Up, Up & Away: Our Electricity Rates Increase Again

5 Comments

Richard Ha writes:

Front page article in today's Hawaii Tribune-Herald:

HELCO seeks rate increase

By COLIN M. STEWART

Tribune-Herald Staff Writer

Hawaii Electric Light Co. has requested a 4.2 percent rate increase.

The request, which was submitted to the state Public Utilities Commission on Thursday, would generate about $19.8 million in additional revenue, but would not go into effect until 2013, at the earliest, according to a HELCO press release….

Read the rest here

I'm sure there are reasons and justifications for the rate hike. But when will it end?

We need to see a reversal in electricity costs. Why should the Big Island's electricity rates be among the highest in the whole state, when we have all these resources here? 

Biofuel

Why Aina Koa Pono Biofuels Isn’t In Our Best Interest

1 Comment

Richard Ha writes:

The Aina Koa Pono (AKP) biofuels experiment will saddle us with expensive electricity costs when there are other, better, alternatives.

  1. It costs way too much. Generating electricity from oil today costs 21 cents/kWh. AKP will charge us the 21 cents/kWh plus a surcharge until oil reaches some target price in the future. In comparison, geothermal costs approximately 10 cents/kWh, according to a 2005 GeothermEx report.
  2. It uses more energy than it generates. An independent third party should do an analysis of the whole Aina Koa Pono process, especially its Energy Return on Energy Invested (EROI). The process uses fossil fuel energy to grow its crops, then uses electricity made from fossil fuel to run its microwaves to get pyrolysis oil. That oil (which is more like vinegar) is then sent through a refinery to make it into a fuel, which will be trucked to Keahole, where it will be burned to make electricity. If the objective were to make electricity with biomass, it would be cheaper to burn the biomass, make steam, turn a turbine and make electricity that way.
  3. It is speculative. Did you know there is no industrial-scale project in the world using this process to produce electricity? We are trying to be first in the world. Very frequently, a better strategy is to copy the first in the world. It greatly reduces the risk of failure.
  4. It will tie us to a 20-year contact, during which rate payers will have a difficult time investing in other alternatives. We need to invest in the smart grid, so we can bring more solar and wind on board.
  5. Rate payers (that’s you) should not be made to be venture capitalists.
Geothermal, Government

Video about Community Opposition to the Geothermal Bill; Tomorrow is the Vote

Richard Ha writes:

Tomorrow morning is the vote about overriding Mayor Billy Kenoi’s veto of Bill 256. Please come to the Hilo County Building tomorrow morning at 8 a.m., if you can (details about where to meet us, etc. here) and show your support to leave the veto in place.

There’s lots of background about this at the links above, if you haven’t been following the topic. And here’s some more about it. See the video and/or read about the issue at Big Island Video News:

VIDEO: Leilani Estates group opposes geothermal bill

July 31, 2012

Residents concerned about geothermal buffer zone in Bill 256

LEILANI ESTATES SUBDIVISION, Hawaii: On the eve of an important veto override vote at the Hawaii County Council, both sides of a “heated” geothermal issue are planning to make a strong showing during the meeting to voice their opinion. Read the rest or see the video here