Report Title:

PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF ENERGY SUSTAINABILITY IN HAWAI'I

THE SENATE

S.R. NO.

92

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2001

S.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


SENATE RESOLUTION

 

REQUESTING A PRELIMINARY Assessment Of ENERGY SUSTAINABILITY IN HAWAI`I.

 

WHEREAS, sustainability refers to meeting current essential human needs for energy, food, and water of the present generation without compromising the ability to meet these needs for future generations; and

WHEREAS, for the first 1200 years of human inhabitation of the Hawaiian Islands, Native Hawaiians managed Hawai‘i's resources to provide for themselves and future generations; and

WHEREAS, after contact with Western civilization, resource use in Hawai‘i became more extractive and dependent on importation from outside sources; and

WHEREAS, the health of Hawai‘i's current economy is critically linked to the cost of energy; and

WHEREAS, within a relatively short period of time, Hawai‘i's energy sector has reached near complete dependence on imported fossil fuels and today ninety-three percent of Hawai‘i's energy is produced using imported oil; and

WHEREAS, the island nation of Iceland, concerned over dependence on imported energy sources, has committed to supplying their energy needs entirely through indigenous renewable energy sources within 30 years; and

WHEREAS, Hawai‘i, with its overdependence on imported energy sources, and with available petroleum supplies projected to be depleted within 50 years, has an equally important stake in supplying the majority of its energy through renewable sources; and

WHEREAS, with Hawai‘i's abundant renewable energy potential, combined with hydrogen energy technology, an economy supplied by sustainable energy is possible in the foreseeable future; and

WHEREAS, the government of Iceland planned a path for future sustainability by setting targets for its energy sector to meet; and

WHEREAS, Hawai‘i can move also towards a sustainable future by setting targets for its energy sector; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2001, requests that the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology of the University of Hawai‘i, in collaboration with other parties, prepare a preliminary assessment on developing a sustainable energy sector, which will:

(1) Present the current state of energy use in Hawai‘i;

(2) Analyze the current use and potential for renewable energy in Hawai‘i, taking into consideration the unique physical and other aspects of each island;

(3) Discuss challenges to meeting Hawai‘i's energy needs in the future as part of an overall commitment to a sustainable future;

(4) Review how impediments to greater energy sustainability are currently addressed;

(5) Recommend specific targets and dates for reducing dependence on non-renewable external energy sources and for growing the renewable sector; and

(6) Plan a conference on sustainability to be held in early 2002 to develop a detailed blueprint of the steps needed to achieve sustainability in Hawai‘i within 50 years;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED this preliminary assessment will include collaboration with relevant parties in the academic, government, non-profit, and private sectors, including, but not limited to: Hawaii Natural Energy Institute, University of Hawaii Sea Grant Extension Service, Center for a Sustainable Future, Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, Life of the Land, Sierra Club of Hawai‘i, Hawai‘i Renewable Energy Alliance, and Counterpart International; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the principal investigators from the University of Hawai‘i and Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, and other participants, are requested to report their findings to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2003; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to Hawai‘i Natural Energy Institute, University of Hawaii Sea Grant Extension Service, Center for a Sustainable Future, Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, Life of the Land, Sierra Club of Hawai‘i, Hawai‘i Renewable Energy Alliance, and Counterpart International.