Tag Archives: Honolulu

Speaking at the Asia Pacific Clean Energy Summit

August 12, 2012 Richard Ha

Richard Ha writes:

At the Asia Pacific Clean Energy Summit and Expo 2012, which starts Monday in Honolulu, I’ll be part of a panel discussion where we each give a 10-minute talk, followed by questions and answers.

About the Summit and Expo

The 2012 Asia Pacific Clean Energy Summit and Expo will be held at the Hawai‘i Convention Center, August 13 – 15.

The event is the preeminent meeting place for international leaders and energy experts at the forefront of the clean energy movement. Securing energy independence and developing a clean energy industry that promotes the vitality of our planet are two reasons why it is critical to reaffirm already established partnerships and build new ones throughout the Asia-Pacific region and the world. The Asia Pacific Clean Energy Summit and Expo provides a forum for the high-level global networking necessary to advance this emerging clean energy culture.

I will talk about the Geothermal Working Group, which Wally Ishibashi and I co-chaired, and the group’s Report, which recommends geothermal as the primary base power for the Big Island.

TUESDAY GEOTHERMAL SCHEDULE

10:30-12:00

Power Generation & Management – I

Geothermal: Building to Utility Scale in Hawai‘i & Other Island Communities

Chair and Moderator: Guy Toyama, Friends of NELHA (Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawai‘i Authority)

Geothermal heat is considered one the most energy efficient, environmentally clean, and cost effective systems for electricity production and temperature control. Unlike solar and wind energy, geothermal energy is always available, 24/7 and 365 days a year and the technology is proven and has been used since the Roman Empire. If geothermal energy has so many advantages, why is its use not more widespread? This panel on Geothermal Energy has gathered experts from the industry to provide insights into geothermal development in the Asia Pacific region. The program will highlight geothermal projects, technologies, policies and development and will encourage interaction and discussion about government policies, projects developed and in development, market potential and the challenges/opportunities for a developer.

Richard Ha, Geothermal Working Group
Robert Harris, The Sierra Club
Carty Chang, Hawai’i State Department of Land and Natural Resources
Jon Lorentz, AECOM-New Zealand
Andrew Sabin, Geothermal Program Office, U.S. Navy
Hyung Kee Yoon, Korea Institute of Energy Research, Korea

Articles, Food Security, Games, Renewable Energy Sources

Richard Ha at Civil Beat

September 28, 2011 Richard Ha

Civil Beat asked Richard to write some opinion pieces for them, and his 3-part series on energy and food security in Hawai‘i is running right now. You can click the titles to read the whole article.

Part 1:

Trying to be Safe by Doing Nothing is No Longer Safe

I am Richard Ha, chairman of the board of Ku‘oko‘a. Ku‘oko‘a is trying to align the needs of Hawai‘i’s people with the needs of the electrical utility.

I want to start by telling you who I am and what my values are. My mom is Okinawan, Higa from Moloka‘i, and my Pop was half Korean and half Hawaiian. His mother was Leihulu Kamahele. Our family land was down the beach at Maku‘u in Puna. We were very poor but didn’t know it….

Read the rest

Part 2:

Expensive Electricity Threatens Hawaii’s Food Security

At the 2010 Peak Oil conference, held in Washington, D.C., a speaker pointed to a graph showing that oil is used for a very small portion of the U.S. mainland’s production of electricity.

He pointed out that Hawai‘i is responsible for a huge portion of the nation’s oil use. The U.S. mainland uses oil for less than 10 percent of its electrical generation, while Hawai‘i depends on oil for 76 percent of its electrical generation. So when oil prices rise, Hawai‘i’s electricity ratepayers are significantly more affected than mainland electricity ratepayers.

And as oil prices rise, any imported mainland product that has electricity usage imbedded in its production has a cost advantage over the same product produced in Hawai‘i. This is true for ice cream, bakery products and even jams and jellies….

Read the rest

Part 3:

What Works, Works

Farmers cut straight to the chase. We farmers are concerned about survival, the bottom line, people and the environment.

Although we do support maximizing other technologies available to us in Hawai‘i, here I am talking about “base power” electricity – stable, steady power. Eighty percent of our electricity needs to be stable, steady base power. Base power has the biggest impact on our electricity bills….

Read the rest

Geothermal, Iceland, New York City, Travel

Enroute to Iceland, With a Stop in New York

August 1, 2011 Richard Ha 1 Comment

Roald Marth (CEO of Ku‘oko‘a) and I just flew from Honolulu…

…to Los Angeles, and then got a connection to JFK, where we laid over for twelve hours. This gave us the opportunity to meet up with TJ Glauthier in New York City. TJ is on the Ku‘oko‘a Board of Directors, and at one time he was second in command at the U.S. Department of Energy.

He’s great, and it’s good that the timing worked to see him there.

At JFK:

We’re traveling light, for maximum flexibility. Instead of catching a limo into the city, we decided to explore and so we went by train. We took the Long Island Railway to Jamaica, Queens, and then to Penn Station in Manhattan.

This is when we were leaving Penn Station.

We walked down and checked in at the Hilton, where we showered and then did a circle tour of Manhattan Island by boat. We passed the exact spot that Captain Sullenberger landed US Airways flight 1549 on the Hudson River.

Then we caught a cab to meet TJ at the Algonquin Hotel. This next picture, left to right, is me, Ro and TJ.

photo Wikipedia

He told us about the rich history of the writers who used to meet there regularly in the heyday of print media. There is a mural on the wall of the famous people who hung out there. We even saw the Algonquin cat, who was stretching and lounging right next to TJ’s chair.

More about the cat Matilda.

Then it was back to the hotel, and then we caught a cab back to JFK and on to a Delta flight to Iceland.

It was nearly 17 hours in the air. Piece of cake!

Ro and I thought: We’ve got financing team people on the West Coast, we have a team on the East Coast and a team in Hawai‘i. We’re thinking about Europe as well as Asia. And we’re getting on a plane to Iceland.

It’s good to have clear goals.

(to be continued)