With a goal of 100%
renewable energy
by the year 2045,
Hawaiian Electric claims
that as of 2018, 22%
of Oahu’s electricity
is generated from
renewable energy.
But other estimates,
that use Energy
Information
Administration
(EIA) data
suggest more
like 14%.
Using EIA data
for January 2020,
close to 75% of Oahu’s
electricity generation
was from expensive
petroleum liquids.
The big problem is that
in Oahu, generating 1 MW
of power using wind and
solar requires about
154 acres of land.
Using wind / solar
to produce the same
amount of electricity
Oahu utilities
produced in
January 2020
would require
almost one-third
of Oahu's land
for solar panels,
wind turbines, and
battery storage
systems !
On Oahu’s west side,
the biggest electric
power producer
is the Kahe
Power Plant.
Built in the early 1960’s,
the 651 megawatt (MW)
plant provides over 40%
of Oahu’s power.
Kahe runs on oil.
Residual fuel oil,
to be exact.
Biofuels, which Oahu’s
new Schofield Generating
Station is “capable”
of using, are produced
using fossil fuels.
Biomass includes
wood chips,
whose harvesting
must be causing
deforestation
somewhere !
"Biomass” also means
household trash and
sewage sludge?
Oahu’s H-POWER
facility runs off
these two products.
Plus some fossil fuels.
Biomass plus coal
plus fossil fuel liquids
account for 92%
of Oahu’s electricity
generation, all of which
give off greenhouse gases.
Google Earth revealed
the recently-completed
Kawailoa wind and solar
project sprawls across
2,900 acres on Oahu’s
North Shore.
It has a combined generating
capability of 118 MW (49 MW
for solar, and 69 MW for wind).
Actual output is
more like 18.8 MW.
On Oahu, generating 1 MW
of power using wind and solar
requires 154 acres of land.
That’s more than
800 times
as much land
as the Kahe
petroleum-fired
power plant requires
to generate the same
amount of power.
Using wind/solar projects
to produce the same amount
of electricity Oahu utilities
produced in January 2020,
would require 119,735 acres,
almost one-third of Oahu.