Climate Adaptation
Liquefied Natural Gas: A cleaner fossil fuel that’s cheaper than oil and pairs well with renewable energy
By Sherilyn Wee and Michael Roberts Spurred by low natural gas prices and a maturing market for liquefied natural gas (LNG), Hawai‘i Gas received their first shipment of LNG in containers in early April. In phase one of the gas utility’s plan, LNG serves as a backup fuel for locally produced synthetic natural gas (SNG). […]
Read MoreManaging a Grid with Green Energy
By Michael Roberts The calculator in the last post shows that installing solar is an incredibly valuable investment for households and businesses with the physical and financial ability to do it. The gains are so large that some wonder why the state is nearly breaking its budget to subsidize what would still, even without the […]
Read MoreCost Implications of GHG Regulation in Hawai‘i
The State of Hawai‘i and the U.S. are developing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction regulations in parallel. The State requires that economy-wide GHG emissions be reduced to 1990 levels by the year 2020 and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is developing new source performance standards (NSPS) for new electricity generation units. The State Department of […]
Read MoreThe Costs and Benefits of Installing Solar PV
By Michael Roberts Renewable energy presents many new challenges at the system level. Before we get to that, it helps to first look at things from a homeowner’s perspective. The Homeowner’s Solar PV Decision If you’re a homeowner, and you haven’t already installed PV solar, you may want to look into doing it very soon. […]
Read MoreChanging climate conditions threaten groundwater recharge. The potential benefits of conserving it are substantial.
By Kim Burnett and Christopher Wada Results from a recent statistical exercise suggest that by the end of the 21st century, Hawaii will likely see a 5-10% reduction in precipitation during the wet season and a 5% increase during the dry season (Timm and Diaz 2009). Given that approximately 70% of normal precipitation falls during […]
Read MorePublication: Optimal groundwater management when recharge is declining: a method for valuing the recharge benefits of watershed conservation
Demand for water will continue to increase as per capita income rises and the population grows, and climate change can exacerbate the problem through changes in precipitation patterns and quantities, evapotranspiration, and land cover—all of which directly or indirectly affect the amount of water that ultimately infiltrates back into groundwater aquifers. We develop a dynamic […]
Read MoreThe Challenges of EV Efficiency In Hawaii
Earlier this month, U.S. Department of Energy launched a website that calculates “the cost of fueling a vehicle with electricity compared to a similar vehicle that runs on gasoline”. The mission of this gadget is to encourage consumers to switch to electric cars by: • bringing greater transparency to vehicle operating costs • helping drivers determine how […]
Read MoreSustainable Development and the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative: An Economic Assessment
The connection between the emerging field of sustainability science and the economics of sustainable development has motivated a line of interdisciplinary research inspired by the notion of “positive sustainability.” This notion is founded on three principles or pillars: (1) adopting a complex systems approach to modeling and analysis, integrating natural resource systems, the environment, and […]
Read MoreHawaii’s Proposed 400MW Wind Energy Project Explained
HOW WILL THE PROPOSED 400 MW WIND ENERGY PROJECT CONTRIBUTE TO THE STATE’S RENEWABLE ENERGY GOALS? Hawaii has one of the most stringent Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS)* policies in the country as well as the highest electricity rates due to dependence on oil for electricity generation (Coffman et al., 2012). As such, renewable energy technologies […]
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