nuclear-news

100% renewable energy for Hawaii by 2040

Hawaii aims for 100% renewable energy by 2040, REneweconmy By Ari Phillips on 13 March 2015 Hawaii is on track to pass legislation this year requiring the state to go 100 percent renewable by 2040.

Earlier this month, committees in the Hawaii House and Senate both unanimously recommended bills that would raise the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) from the current target of 70 percent by 2030 to the ultimate goal of 100 percent by 2040. Hawaii has 100% renewabl eenergy had an RPS since 2001, and right now the state gets just over 21 percent of its power from renewable sources — a 12 percent increase in just six years.

“Even our utility is saying we can hit 65 percent by 2030, so 100 percent is definitely doable,” Sen. Mike Gabbard (D), sponsor of the Senate bill, SB 2181, and chair of Hawaii’s Energy and Environment Committee, told ThinkProgress. “This is huge for our state’s future. Each year, we spend $3 to $5 billion importing fossil fuels to power our economy. Our electricity bills are roughly three times the national average.”

The Aloha state is 2,500 miles from Los Angeles — about the same distance as New York City to L.A. — and its energy situation bears little resemblance to the mainland’s. Along with Alaska and Texas, it is one of only three states to have its own electricity grid — in fact, it has three of them for three different islands. In 2013, the state had the highest electricity prices in the nation due to its heavy reliance on imports. More than two-thirds of electricity generation on the island archipelago comes from imported oil; in the rest of the U.S., oil accounts for less than one percent of electricity generation.

As recently six years ago, more than 90 percent of Hawaii’s yearly electricity generation came from coal and oil. With renewable technologies rapidly advancing, Hawaii’s abundant solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal sources are moving in quickly as replacements for costly fossil fuels.

“We are on the leading edge of the 21st century renewable energy transformation,” Chris Lee (D), Sponsor of the House version of the bill, HB 623, and chair of the House Energy and Environment Committee, told ThinkProgress. Lee said he’s been pushing for a 100 percent RPS bill for three years, but that this is the first year there’s been overwhelming support to move forward……….http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/hawaii-aims-for-100-renewable-energy-by-2040

March 18, 2015 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | renewable, USA