- Hawaii's personal income average ranks as #19 and energy use/capita is #42.
- We are charged from 300% to 400% more for natural gas (which, in Hawaii, is high, because our gas is not natural, but synthetic).
- We ($3.37/gallon, click on right box) pay "only" 27% more for gasoline than the national average ($2.65/gallon).
- Hawaii homes (25.13 cent/kWh) are charged 209% more for electricity, commercial rates (22.88 cents/kWh) are 216% higher and industries (19.13 cents/kWh) 267% more. The average in Connecticut and New York is around 20 cents/kWh and California is at 16 cents/kWh. More than a quarter of our states pay less than 7 cents/kWh.
- We produced 0.3% of all the electricity generated (in the Nation) in August of 2009, but used 30.2% of the oil consumed by powerplants. Let me repeat, this tiny state is responsible for almost one third of all the oil for electrical generating facilities in the country. Other states, of course, largely burn coal and natural gas.
- With 0.4% of the national population, we account for 0.5% the amount of renewable energy, use 0.2% of the gasoline and release 0.4% of the carbon dioxide.
The item that caught my attention had to do with natural gas, electricity and gasoline. Hawaii residents moan about paying more than the national average for gasoline, and yesterday it was 27 % higher, but say almost nothing about the 300% for natural gas and 200+% more for electricity. Of course, there are reasons, for that gas is synthetic, and we are not connected to the national grid and primarily use oil. Amazingly, with less than one half of one percent of the national population, we use 30% of the oil consumed in electricity production.
Then there is the matter of aviation, which is poorly covered by the Department of Energy. Thirty percent of the petroleum used in Hawaii goes to power our air system. This is three times the national average. Our economy is dominantly dependent on tourism, which is significantly affected by the price of jetfuel. The most important challenge Hawaii faces today is to find, as soon as possible, a replacement for the current jetliner or a substitute for jetfuel.
Here we have an abundance of renewables, but don't do much better than the national average for using them. An excellent summary of Hawaii's current usage was written by Terry Surles and Milton Staackmann. (Terry/Milt: your pie charts only go up to 2003: do you have a more recent publication on this subject?)
Given the highest energy prices in the nation is reason enough, but the security of our state is in particular jeopardy. When oil prices jump, our electricity rates will soar and the Hawaiian economy will head into depression because tourists will stop coming. We are only beginning to convert to renewable electricity, are barely treading water for ground transport, and are doing almost nothing for sustainable aviation, our biggest problem. The Nation and World are also ignoring this topic. Yes, there is jet fuel from microalgae research, but my posting of November 30 indicated that, at best, in ten years, this renewable aviation fuel will probably still cost $150/barrel, or more, a level much too high to sustain our tourist industry.
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In the final half an hour of trade, the Dow Jones Industrials suddenly took a nosedive, dropping 87 for the day to 10,366.
(Hmmm, interesting...this DJI chart is REAL TIME, and does not represent 3Dec09. Learn something every day.)
World markets mostly went up, with the Japan Nikkei jumping 369 to 9978. Bet they sink tomorrow (which is today there, but because of the International Dateline...ah, you get the drift). Gold decreased $12/toz to $1212 and crude oil settled at $76/barrel. CNNMoney.com reports that cheap oil is here to stay. Note that they use the word cheap. Deutsche Bank predicts oil at $65/barrel next year and surmises that U.S. oil consumption has peaked (that is, into the future, use will only drop).
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