In the Year 2100, Hawaii will be an energy paradise:
o We will be energy self-sufficient with our winds, sun and ocean providing 100% of our electricity.
o Our ground transport will be include plug-in electrical vehicles, direct methanol (from biomass) fuel cell cars and biodiesel from marine algae.
o The Blue Revolution will be in full blossom, with renewable marine energy, green biomaterials, sustainable fisheries, marine biomass plantations and exciting new habitats on grazing platforms.
o Aviation will be powered by jet fuel from algae and the latest hydrogen jetliner.
However, the pathway to independence will be rocky and difficult, for the air travel solution is at least 50 years away. If oil prices can be maintained under $100/barrel, we will slowly, and arduously, get there. If crude jumps to $200/barrel in two to five years, Hawaii’s economy will calamitously suffer worse than virtually anywhere else. There are serious people already planning for what could well become pure survival.
An almost expected bad case scenario is that we will muddle along to replace oil/coal with renewables for electricity. It will be expensive, but some combination of ethanol, biodiesel and methanol will ultimately partner with plug-in transport for terrestrial applications. That was the easy part.
Our economy is almost totally dependent on tourism. Already, the recession has reduced travel 20%. This condition will probably worsen a bit, but the national and world economy will recover, and China/India will then truly expand oil consumption. If petroleum reaches $200/barrel, as predicted by Goldman-Sachs, in combination with Peak Oil, jet fuel will become so expensive that only the very rich will be able to afford a trip to Hawaii. Aviation fuel from coal or oil shale will not be possible if global climate warming is real. Are we doomed in this 50th State? Can a replacement be found for jet fuel?
Let us look at the positives:
Hawaii-born and reared Barack Obama will become the next President of the United States. U.S. Senator Daniel will become Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, while retaining his chairmanship of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. Propitiously, an innovative next generation renewable hydrogen aircraft patent was filed last week, and the inventor would like to use Hawaii as his developmental base.
Thus, while the next decade or two will still be painful, there might be hope, for what better than a dire emergency to galvanize action? If, because Hawaii will have unprecedented power in D.C., we are selected to lead an Apollo-like effort, in partnership with Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Airbus and Mitsubishi, to develop the next generation hydrogen aircraft, that will add a billion dollars to our economy and hopefully produce a commercial plane capable of flying on hydrogen in ten years. This is ridiculously optimistic, but not impossible. Sometime before the year is over, I hope to present a full report on this program.
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Hurricane Paloma, at 140 MPH, is possibly the strongest Atlantic storm ever in November. Lenny in 1999 was of similar strength. Paloma is expected to weaken a bit, making landfall on Cuba early Sunday, and continue to lose strength after returning to the ocean, turning slightly west, then dissipating. Tropical Storm Maysak is at 50 MPH, and meandering in the South China Sea. While still heading for China, it is expected to turn south and weaken.
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o We will be energy self-sufficient with our winds, sun and ocean providing 100% of our electricity.
o Our ground transport will be include plug-in electrical vehicles, direct methanol (from biomass) fuel cell cars and biodiesel from marine algae.
o The Blue Revolution will be in full blossom, with renewable marine energy, green biomaterials, sustainable fisheries, marine biomass plantations and exciting new habitats on grazing platforms.
o Aviation will be powered by jet fuel from algae and the latest hydrogen jetliner.
However, the pathway to independence will be rocky and difficult, for the air travel solution is at least 50 years away. If oil prices can be maintained under $100/barrel, we will slowly, and arduously, get there. If crude jumps to $200/barrel in two to five years, Hawaii’s economy will calamitously suffer worse than virtually anywhere else. There are serious people already planning for what could well become pure survival.
An almost expected bad case scenario is that we will muddle along to replace oil/coal with renewables for electricity. It will be expensive, but some combination of ethanol, biodiesel and methanol will ultimately partner with plug-in transport for terrestrial applications. That was the easy part.
Our economy is almost totally dependent on tourism. Already, the recession has reduced travel 20%. This condition will probably worsen a bit, but the national and world economy will recover, and China/India will then truly expand oil consumption. If petroleum reaches $200/barrel, as predicted by Goldman-Sachs, in combination with Peak Oil, jet fuel will become so expensive that only the very rich will be able to afford a trip to Hawaii. Aviation fuel from coal or oil shale will not be possible if global climate warming is real. Are we doomed in this 50th State? Can a replacement be found for jet fuel?
Let us look at the positives:
Hawaii-born and reared Barack Obama will become the next President of the United States. U.S. Senator Daniel will become Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, while retaining his chairmanship of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. Propitiously, an innovative next generation renewable hydrogen aircraft patent was filed last week, and the inventor would like to use Hawaii as his developmental base.
Thus, while the next decade or two will still be painful, there might be hope, for what better than a dire emergency to galvanize action? If, because Hawaii will have unprecedented power in D.C., we are selected to lead an Apollo-like effort, in partnership with Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Airbus and Mitsubishi, to develop the next generation hydrogen aircraft, that will add a billion dollars to our economy and hopefully produce a commercial plane capable of flying on hydrogen in ten years. This is ridiculously optimistic, but not impossible. Sometime before the year is over, I hope to present a full report on this program.
-
Hurricane Paloma, at 140 MPH, is possibly the strongest Atlantic storm ever in November. Lenny in 1999 was of similar strength. Paloma is expected to weaken a bit, making landfall on Cuba early Sunday, and continue to lose strength after returning to the ocean, turning slightly west, then dissipating. Tropical Storm Maysak is at 50 MPH, and meandering in the South China Sea. While still heading for China, it is expected to turn south and weaken.
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