MAKENA - Maui residents can meet the goal of getting 95 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2020, but the community will need to tap into all potential renewable power sources to do so, according to a report by the Maui County Energy Alliance.
That will mean finding ways of encouraging more conservation, more development of wind farms and more use of photovoltaic technology in the short term, and exploring how to develop geothermal energy in a way that is culturally sensitive in the long term, according to the report. It also encourages Maui County to look into harnessing hydroelectric power from its water systems, and developing biogas production and waste-to-energy systems in its sewage plants and landfills.
Members of the Energy Alliance's working groups presented their recommendations Thursday at the 2009 Maui County Energy Expo.
Maui currently gets about 15.4 percent of its power from renewable sources, said Lee Jakeway, director of energy development and planning at Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co., and chairman of the Energy Alliance's Renewable Resource Development working group.
The existing electrical system has a capacity of 270 megawatts, he said. But according to research by the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative, the county has the potential to generate 481 megawatts from entirely renewable sources, he said.
"Maui is renewable energy rich, and we're going to need all forms of renewables to reduce dependence on imported oil," Jakeway said.
That amount includes a potential 191 megawatts that could be harvested from photovoltaic systems on commercial and residential rooftops, he said.
It also includes a potential 140 megawatts from geothermal sources, and one of Jakeway's group's recommendations was to encourage geothermal energy development in Maui County.
Geothermal, which involves tapping heat from deep within the earth and converting it to electricity, is attractive because it provides a "firm" power source, meaning it doesn't fluctuate like systems that depend on the wind or sun. But proposals to develop geothermal sources on the Big Island have faced opposition, in part because Native Hawaiian groups see the deep drilling as a desecration of spiritually important volcano areas.
Jakeway said that if Maui does explore geothermal sources, it should learn from the mistakes of the Big Island.
"We need to proceed with caution and care, because of the cultural sensitivity surrounding this technology," Jakeway said.
His Renewable Resource Development group also recommended increasing the number of solar photovoltaic systems on island roofs, by removing the cap on the amount of excess power that can be fed from individual homes back into the electrical grid, and by setting up programs to help homeowners finance solar rooftops.
The panel also found the county could generate electricity to help run its water systems by harnessing hydro power from the water flowing downhill through its water transmission systems. And it recommended using "biogas" systems to generate power at wastewater plants, and accelerating plans for waste-to-energy systems at the Central Maui Landfill.
"The landfill gas is already being collected (and burned off)," Jakeway noted. "The missing piece is converting it to electricity."
But the group's top recommendation was to look for more ways to conserve energy.
"A megawatt saved is always going to be cheaper than a megawatt installed," he said.
The group also called for the formation and funding of a trust to support long-term energy policy and planning.
Other recommendations presented Thursday by Energy Alliance working groups included:
* Update building codes every three years to increase energy efficiency standards.
* Offer accelerated permitting and lower fees for environmentally friendly projects.
* Continue to expand the Maui Bus system.
* Create a county program that would offer "energy audits" to businesses and homeowners and provide suggestions for how they could reduce energy consumption.
* Concentrate new development in urban areas to reduce workers' drive times to jobs.
* Establish an annual renewable energy or sustainability "festival" to raise awareness about the issue and establish Maui as a leader in the field.
* Require new developments install photovoltaic systems on rooftops, similar to current requirements for solar water heaters.
For more information, view the full report online; go to www.co.maui.hi.us/index.aspx?nid=1439 and click on "Maui County Energy Alliance."
* Ilima Loomis can be reached at iloomis@mauinews.com.
* This story includes a correction to the original version published on Sept. 12, 2009, on a caption that misidentified HIEV partner Sabrina Sirt.
statements attributed to resident Marina Batham.
