Incorporating many of the recommendations outlined in Rocky
Mountain Institute's (RMI) 2004 study,
Winning the Oil Endgame,
the Governor's bill is a comprehensive list of policy actions that
will accelerate society's adoption of efficient technologies and
biofuels.
"This bill embraces
Winning the Oil Endgame's strategy to
reduce oil dependence through efficiency, renewables, and biofuels
while strengthening the economy through agricultural
revitalization," said Kyle Datta, RMI Senior Director of Research
& Consulting, who coauthored the report.
According to Datta, the increase in oil prices since 2002 has cost
Hawaii more than $1 billion, and increased energy expenses more
then $1500 per household. Hawaii has no fossil fuel resources, but
it does have a full portfolio of renewable energy resources.
Four of the bill's five major components offer innovations of
national significance. First, Savings through Efficiency calls for
the creation of a Public Benefits Charge that will be used to
directly fund efficiency and distributed renewable energy through
a third party.
Second, Independence through Renewable Energy contains provisions
that strengthen Hawaii's renewable portfolio standard, setting it
at 20 percent and tasking the Public Utilities' Commission with
defining a methodology for valuing the long-run benefits of
renewable power in reducing fossil fuel risk.
Third, the centerpiece of Fuels through Farming is a 20 percent
Renewable Fuels Standard, backed with exemptions from the state
fuels excise tax and state preferences for biofuels procurement.
Finally, this energy bill could lead the 50th state to become a
world leader in hydrogen energy technology, Datta said. It calls
for the immediate establishment of a world-class renewable
hydrogen program.
The Democratic majority package mirrors the call for state
leadership in energy efficiency by requiring LEED (Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design) silver certification, and
providing significant funding for energy efficiency in state
buildings and photovoltaics in schools.
Implementation of all the conservation, renewable energy, and
alternative transportation fuels components of this package, Datta
said, is expected by the year 2020 to displace 110.5 million
barrels of imported crude oil-saving Hawaii's consumers $6.32
billion; and avoiding 48.9 million tons of carbon dioxide
emissions.
The Energy for Tomorrow bill also points the way to the
development of the Hawaiian biofuels industry and robust
agricultural sector. A 2003 study by Stillwater Associates
projected that Hawaii has an ethanol industry capable of producing
90 million gallons a year, which "could add as much as $300
million to Hawaii's economy in direct and indirect value."
"This really represents sweeping change for Hawaii, and it's an
affirmation of the hard work we put into
Winning the Oil
Endgame," said Datta. "Our energy future is choice, not fate.
This bill means Hawaii will define its energy destiny. RMI is
committed to working with the State of Hawaii to develop and
implement a forward-looking energy strategy."
RMI's
Winning the Oil Endgameestimated that moving the
United States off oil could stimulate a 750,000-job biofuels
industry worth tens of billions of dollars. RMI is a 24-year-old,
independent, nonpartisan, entrepreneurial, nonprofit organization.
Its mission is to foster the efficient and restorative use of
resources to make the world secure, just, profitable, and life
sustaining.
