Tomorrow's common sense

The Molokai Times
Wednesday, July 23, 2008

By J. Kalani English

Over the past five years or so, it has become common to talk about "tipping points," those markers in our history when ideas or approaches take on lives of their own and begin to show large effects from small efforts. Yesterday's fringe idea becomes today's common sense.

Now that we are paying well over four dollars a gallon for gasoline — with prices over five dollars a gallon in some areas — the idea of generating energy in unusual places using new technologies is a lot less "alternative" than it was even a year ago.

Locally and nationally, there is a serious effort behind finding petroleum-free ways to meet our energy needs.

Nationally, billionaire businessman T. Boone Pickens is leading an effort to move our country away from its dependence on oil, and toward renewable technologies like solar and wind, and more plentiful domestic fuel sources like natural gas. The cynics among us may say that he is just taking an early position on technologies with the potential to make him even richer than he is today, but the fact is that he is lending his name and reputation to efforts that could have tremendous positive effects in just a few years.

Unfortunately for us in Hawaii, the Pickens Plan wouldn't change very much. Since he is talking about using these approaches to energy generation to develop what is essentially an alternative energy grid — one that is not going to stretch across the Pacific Ocean to our state — we won't enjoy most of the benefits.

However, there are local efforts to offer us alternatives as well. David Murdoch, our own billionaire businessman, is seeking permits that would allow him to generate substantial power on Lanai using alternative means, and distribute it to other islands.

Maybe the most interesting effort of all was announced this week by a group that includes HR BioPetroleum, Alexander and Baldwin, Hawaiian Electric and Maui Electric to produce an alternative to oil from algae. The group intends to develop their commercial-scale micro-algae facility on Maui.

When we consider those efforts alongside ongoing interest in locating a commercial wind farm on Molokai, it becomes clear that not only are we looking at our own homegrown approaches to energy independence, but that a great deal of that effort is taking place in Maui county. That gives us a lot to be proud of, and a lot to look forward to.

At the same time, while these new energy initiatives are promising, they are not magic. There will be a development process, a learning curve, and, invariably, many long hard discussions about what is right for our community and how we will balance new impacts with preservation. As a longtime supporter of alternative energy, I am confident that we will find a way to make it all work.

Still, since we are now at the point when we talk about new energy sources in the same breath as billionaire businessmen and established corporate interests, it is likely that we've passed the tipping point, and are riding the wave of tomorrow's mainstream.

Original article URL: http://www.molokaitimes.com/articles/872119280.asp

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