Tag Archives: Kuokoa

Biofuel, Food Security, Geothermal, Iceland, Renewable Energy Sources

Iceland, In Conclusion

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I want to conclude my “Iceland Series” by pointing out something very simple and straightforward that they have learned in Iceland and put into practice, but that we in Hawai‘i have not:

Cheap and proven technology, and clean energy projects, protect an economy from oil crises.

If what the International Energy Association says is true – that we have come to the end of cheap oil – then the bottom line is that by decoupling from expensive oil, we protect ourselves. It is the cost that’s important, not the color or anything else.

In Hawai‘i, we are trying to replace fossil fuel oil with biofuels. But if the replacement is as expensive as oil – which biofuels for electricity generation is – this doesn’t do us any good.

Geothermal, on the other hand, would totally disconnect us from the high cost of energy. It’s the cost that is the most important. And because it’s safer to diversify, we should also maximize our other energy sources, such as wind and solar, without destabilizing the electric grid.

When you go over to Iceland, you see that they have inoculated themselves from rising oil prices. In doing so, they have also made themselves food secure, because their electricity is cheap relative to other sources of energy. For instance, when they export aluminum, which is electricity-intensive, as long as their electricity costs are lower than that of their competitors, they will always have money coming into their economy.

Iceland’s economy depends on cheap energy and fishing as its base. (And Iceland’s tourism increased when the country devalued its currency, so cheap energy had a double benefit.) Hawai‘i’s economy depends on the military and tourism. We need a third leg to give our economy some stability and security.

It was interesting for me to see how a native people, left to their own devices, coped. As of today, Iceland is more energy and food secure than Hawaii! This is why Ku‘oko‘a needs to purchase HEI. The rubbah slippah folks all know this to be true.

Cheap electricity makes an economy competitive in the world. This is where the people’s needs and the utility’s needs should coincide.

Everybody knows that Iceland’s economy crashed in 2008. That happened because they privatized their banking industry, the banks went crazy, and they got caught by the downturn. But because the country has cheap energy, they are pulling out of their recession and the excesses of their banks – while we are struggling to forestall a double dip recession.

This shows us that if you’re in a competitive position relative to energy, and you don’t do anything stupid, you can withstand any oil-induced depression or recession, which is where the world is headed.

Iceland is also concerned about its dependence on fossil fuel for transportation. It has a commercial hydrogen refueling station, and I rode in an SUV powered by methane from municipal waste. They are even looking into making liquid fuels from geothermal electricity and CO2.

Iceland is like a little lab. You go over there and look at the country and say, “Holy smokes! It can be done.”

Now to do it here.

Geothermal, Iceland, New York City, Travel

Enroute to Iceland, With a Stop in New York

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

HNL DL LAX

…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:

Landed JFK headed to Manhatten to meet TJ

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.

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.

Richard Ro & TJ

Algonquinphoto 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.

Cat

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.

On plane 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)

Geothermal, Iceland, Renewable Energy Sources, Travel

Heading to Iceland

This is Part Two of a series; see Part One here.

Along with Ro Marth, CEO of Kuokoa, I have been invited to go to Iceland.

We want to find out how Iceland went from being a developing country in the 1970s to one of the most productive countries in the world today. With fishing, geothermal and hydro, they have food and fuel in abundance.

From Wikipedia:

While Iceland is a highly developed country, until the 20th century it was among the poorest countries in Western Europe….

In 2007, Iceland was the seventh most productive country in the world per capita (US$54,858), and the fifth most productive by GDP at purchasing power parity ($40,112)…. 

Renewable sources—geothermal and hydropower—provide effectively all of Iceland’s electricity[83] and around 80% of the nation’s total energy,[83] with most of the remainder from imported oil used in transportation and in the fishing fleet.[84][85] Iceland expects to be energy-independent by 2050. Iceland’s largest geothermal power plants are Hellisheiði and Nesjavellir,[86][87] while Kárahnjúkavirkjun is the country’s largest hydroelectric power station.[88]

If it’s true that an increasing energy supply due to oil is mostly responsible for the work that goes into manufacturing things – in other words, the world economy – then declining oil supplies will result in less manufacturing of stuff.

For the last 20 to 30 years, the world has been using twice as much oil as it’s been finding, and this trend will likely continue. Since the world’s oil supply is declining, rather than increasing, we cannot expect to rely on government grants, because governments rely on growth to get their revenues. This raises the question of how Hawaii State and County governments will balance their budgets.

We will have to tax the people who cannot bear the taxes when the economy is not growing. Or we need to grow the economy. Growing the economy is clearly the best alternative. But how?

I’m very interested in seeing what they are doing in Iceland.

Canoe, Hawaiian Role Models, History, Sustainability, Travel, Where We Live

They’re Here! Vaka Welcome Ceremonies Are Sunday

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There’s something historic, and very interesting, going on in Hilo this weekend. Do you know about the vaka? The canoes?

Vaka

They are seven Polynesian-style canoes, representing different Pacific Islands, and all built in the last two years for this particular mission. Their crews have spent the past two months voyaging from Aotearoa (New Zealand) to Hawai‘i, and Hilo is their first landfall. They arrived yesterday at Hilo Bay.

They are calling their journey Te Mana O Te Moana. “The Spirit Of The Sea.”

“…Several thousand years ago, the Polynesian ancestors traveled the Pacific on great voyaging canoes, called vaka moana, using only the stars, the ocean, and the surrounding wildlife to navigate, and lived closely connected to the sea. In crossing the Pacific from Aotearoa to Hawai’i, we aim to sail in the ancestors’ wake and learn from their wisdom. We want to teach young people about this old bond with the sea.”

Richard went by yesterday, and saw five of them already moored and latched together. “I watched the last two canoes, with their sails down, tie up,” he said. “They had someone blow the conch shell as they approached. People seemed very much aware of the historical nature of this event.

Pua
(Renowned hula master Pua Kanahele)

“The canoe folks stayed on board and some did special ceremonies, ending with each person hugging the rest individually. I left after they all arrived,” he said. “But more and more people were coming by to participate in history being made.”

Patrickk
(Sitting: Patrick Kahawaiola’a, President of the Keaukaha Community Association)

The public is invited to be a part of the official welcoming ceremony on Sunday at Hilo One (“Hilo O-nay.” “One” is the Hawaiian word for sand). Ceremonies at the bayfront beach start at 8 a.m. on the water. Then the vaka will sail to shore, anchor, and come ashore for on-shore activities at 10 a.m., which are scheduled to run through about 2 p.m.

Palekai
(Palekai is the beach park near where the canoes moored yesterday.)

Kalepa Baybayan, Navigator-in-Residence at Hilo’s ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center, said that the welcome ceremony is both so the community has a chance to see the seven canoes on the water, and also as an official exhange between our community and the ones arriving. “To formally welcome them to Hawai‘i, and Hilo,” he said.

“It’s a rare event,” he said, “and will probably never happen again in our lifetime. Seven canoes from the south Pacific sailing to Hawai‘i. This is a first.”

From the website:

“We’re sailing across the Pacific to renew our ties to the sea and its life-sustaining strength.  The ocean is the origin of life, and it continues to give us air to breathe, fish to eat, and nourishes our soul as well. As threatened as the ocean is now, however, it soon can no longer provide us with these essential life services.  Sailing together, we seek the wisdom of our ancestors and the knowledge of scientists to keep the Pacific healthy and give our grandchildren a future.”

Sailing across the Pacific on seven vaka is to raise awareness about the state of the ocean developed gradually. Dieter Paulmann, the founder of Okeanos – Foundation for the Sea, has felt a strong connection to the sea for his whole life.

Richard met and had lunch with Dieter the other day, and said they have some things in common. “Mostly around how to deal with finite resources in a way that is beneficial for future generations,” he said.

“Dieter’s using the vaka voyage as a way to educate the people of the world about the urgency of changing our approach,” he said. “We are living in a world of limited resources. We need to utilize our resources in a wise way, in a way that benefits future generations. We all know this deep in our na‘au.”

“I told him that here in Hawai‘i we are trying to maximize the use of geothermal for the benefit of future generations,” he said. “We both agree that people are starting to look at things in a different way. No one feels comfortable about the prospects that one’s children and grandchildren will live a lesser life than we did.

“We need to do what we can to ensure their lives are fulfilling,” he said. “And we can do that, but we need to take action now. I thought to myself, That is why I am involved with Ku’oko‘a. It is a way for our children, grandchildren and future generations to have a better life.”

Before he knew anything about this voyage, Richard wrote these words on the Ku‘oko‘a website: “We are embarking on a great journey, much like the ancient people who sailed to Hawai‘i hundreds of years ago. Like them, we are searching for a better tomorrow for our children, grandchildren and generations to come. We will find the place where the Aloha Spirit can thrive because we go with open hearts and minds.” Kind of fitting and cool, huh?

The Voyage’s Goal:

The vaka will sail to raise attention for the bad state of the Pacific, the crew will transport a message to the world, saying that we have to act now to be able to preserve a healthy ocean for us and our children. Otherwise, if the ocean dies, we die. The crew will carry this message to our conference “Kava Bowl” Ocean Summit 2011 in Hawai’i about the consequences climate change on ocean will have if we go ahead with our business as usual. The crew will participate in the conference, contributing with their experience and their thoughts, learning from other people at the conference at the same time.

The Motto:

The motto for the whole project, which reflects the spiritual thinking in Polynesian culture about the sea, which has the same life-force running through its water as runs through our bodies, and how to treat this precious resource to not disturb Tangaroa, the God of the Sea. The following saying is a poetic way to say “be respectful and gentle:” “Move your paddle silently through the water.”

Here’s a video about how they set up the voyage. Richard commented, “It’s very technically proficient. Looks like the objective is to encourage sailing this way – without using oil.”

Baybayan says this event represents a transfer of knowledge from Hawai‘i, which was really the leader of the modern-day voyaging revival. “It’s a transfer to all these different offspring, these families that have sprung up,” he says. “The seven different canoes represent seven different island groups.”

Read more about some of these islands’ preparations, and their journeys, in these articles from around Polynesia:

Samoa News

Samoa Voyaging Society blog

Fiji Islands Voyaging Society

Cook Island News and also this

Tahiti Times 

Waatea 603AM – Auckland’s Urban Māori Radio & News Station

Does anyone sketch? Check out this great sketch of one of the canoes, and see a challenge to sketch it here in Hawai‘i!

See you down at the Bayfront on Sunday morning? I’ll be there!

Geothermal

Kuokoa’s Goal For HECO

Ku‘oko‘a’s goal is to transform HECO so it becomes an economic engine instead of an economic anchor.

Our plan is to retool HECO by purchasing HEI’s outstanding stock. This will allow us to shut down oil-fired plants, and bring cheap and stable geothermal electricity on line.

In a world of volatile oil prices, stable electricity costs will attract capital to Hawaii. And as oil prices rise and geothermal costs stay stable, our standard of living will rise relative to that of the rest of the world.

In modern Hawai‘i, the economy has taken, taken, and taken, while the culture has given, given and given. We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make changes so that the economy can give and the culture can receive. This will strengthen our cultural heritage of aloha spirit, which is what makes Hawai‘i work.

And aloha spirit is what we need to help us face an uncertain future of rising oil prices.

From the Maui News:

Haku Mo‘olelo

March 18, 2011 – By EDWIN TANJI, former City Editor

When a partnership, Kuokoa Inc., proposed to acquire Hawaiian Electric Industries to take it private and pursue renewable energy initiatives that reduce Hawaii’s dependence on oil, the partners suggested that traditional capitalist systems fail to support innovation.

They are not the first to argue that publicly held companies, compelled to aim for short-term earnings, can’t engage in long-term product development that provides greater social and economic utility. It would be a milestone in economic analysis if they prove their point.

More than a decade ago, David Murdoch posited the same argument in taking private the Castle & Cooke division that “owns” the island of Lanai. He said demands for dividends and growth in share value would not allow the planned development he envisioned for the island with clearly finite resources.

Kuokoa partners are even more visionary in seeking a new level of energy independence for the islands. Hawaii consumers should applaud the effort, if they are paying any attention to the fuel adjustment portion of their monthly electric bills…. Read the rest

Geothermal, Peak Oil, Renewable Energy Sources

Ku‘oko‘a Partners Speak at Crowded Kona Town Meeting

Richard and some of his Ku‘oko‘a partners spoke at a well-attended Kona Town Meeting the other day, and what an interesting meeting it was.

Richard Ha

Watch a video of the talks, taken by Big Island Video News: Ku’oko’a details bid to buy HEI at Kona Town Meeting.

Geothermal energy touted as last hope for Hawaii energy future

Video by David Corrigan | Voice of Stephanie Salazar

Its been several weeks since the Geothermal Working Group submitted their preliminary report to the 2011 State Legislature.

Its also been weeks since the co-chair of that effort, Hamakua farmer Richard Ha, made public his lofty goal of buying  HELCO, the island’s power company, along with some partners.

At a well attended Kona Town Meeting on Tuesday night, residents got the chance to hear the details about both of these developments, first hand….See the rest

The whole thing is worth a listen. You’ll hear Richard start speaking at 3:41 and then enthusiastic applause breaks out at around 4:50 when he says, “Maybe what we need to do is buy the electric utility out.”

Geothermal, Peak Oil

Kuokoa, Geothermal & Standard of Living

In modern Hawaiian history, the economy has taken, taken, taken and the culture has given, given, given.

Right here, right now, we have the ability to change this.

We can change things so the economy will give, give, give, and the culture – the people – will receive.

If we are successful in supplying the biggest proportion of our electrical base power from stable and inexpensive geothermal resources, thereby replacing oil, Hawai‘i will become relatively more competitive to the rest of the world, and, relative to the rest of the world, our standard of living here will rise.

I’ve written here before that I am involved with Ku‘oko‘a. It’s an idea whose time has come.

Lots of people have asked how they can help. Check out the Ku‘oko‘a website, where we will be posting ways you can help free Hawai‘i from fossil fuels, and at the same time help to raise the standard of living for our keiki.

I wrote more about The Geothermal Working Group’ Interim Report here at the blog:

There is an urgency to developing new energy resources because Hawai‘i, like most of the world, is overwhelmingly dependent upon depleting supplies of fossil fuels. The consensus among credible resource scientists and many economists is that petroleum prices will rise to unprecedented levels in a few years. Since Big Island uses oil for 90 percent of its power, this is of the utmost concern to leaders in government and business. Hawai‘i is the most petroleum-dependent state in the nation; the Big Island alone exports $1 billion annually to purchase oil for power. Geothermal is viewed as an important component in a suite of local and available energy resources. Read the rest

This is not about us. It is about future generations.

Geothermal

Why Are We Buying HEI?

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Why are we buying HEI?

It’s not complicated. HECO cannot provide inexpensive electricity without closing its oil-fired, electricity-generating plants. And it cannot close its oil-fired plants without hurting its stockholders.

So the answer is to buy the stock, and then replace the oil-fired plants as we bring inexpensive geothermal on line. We want to transform HECO from an economic anchor into an economic engine.

See this video, which explains why I got involved in this project.

It’s not something I wanted to do, but I asked myself: If not me, then who?

Folks who feel like me are starting to join up. I think people will be surprised to find out who and how many folks support us. More on that in coming days.

Geothermal, Peak Oil, Television, Video

Richard Explains On Video Re: Kuokoa Takeover Of HEI

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This video talks about why we, as Kuokoa, are buying HEI: It is to retool HEI, so the utility can help us all cope in the future. I filmed it for Eco TV a few days ago. It’s in four parts, each 4 or 5 minutes long.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

This video will be going out on the social media circuit and on mainstream TV.

Although some folks are attacking “the messenger,” the average person we talk to says, “It’s about time something is done.”

We are serious! Our data shows that this will work, and the higher oil prices climb, the better it will work.

This is about taking care of everyone. The result will be to lower electricity costs across the state, keep some money in our pockets as prices skyrocket everywhere else, and to strengthen the aloha spirit. For that is what we will need to help us cope with an uncertain future.

Peak Oil

Kuokoa Wants to Buy Hawaiian Electric Industries

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Richard has a lot going on right now. This article from Pacific Business News has a good overview of what’s happening at the recently formed company Ku‘oko‘a Inc., where he has been named chairman of the board:

Kuokoa wants to buy HECO’s parent; it would sell American Savings

Pacific Business News – by Sophie Cocke, Pacific Business News

Date: Thursday, January 6, 2011, 8:06pm HST

A company called Kuokoa Inc. has been formed for the purpose of buying all the shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries and converting the publicly traded company into a private concern.

Honolulu-based Hawaiian Electric Industries is the holding company for American Savings Bank, Hawaiian Electric Co. on Oahu, Maui Electric Co. on Maui and Hawaii Electric and Light Co. on the Big Island.

If successful, Kuokoa CEO Roald Marth said the company would sell American Savings Bank.

Kuokoa is being led by Chairman Richard Ha, who is owner of Hamakua Springs Country Farms on the Big Island; President Ted Peck, who has resigned his position as the state’s energy administrator; and CEO Marth, who is a venture capitalist with an international reputation. Peck’s last day as Hawaii’s energy administrator is Friday.

Read more: Kuokoa wants to buy HECO’s parent; it would sell American Savings | Pacific Business News