Stefanie Cabamongan
Renewable Energy for Oahu
The islands of Hawai’i are in dire need of alternative sources of energy in order to preserve the environment and promote economical, cost effective renewable energy. Hawai’i relies on imported petroleum for about 90% of its primary energy, making us the most oil-dependent state in the nation. In addition, the residents of Hawai’i pay among the nation’s highest prices for electricity and fuel. Of all the petroleum consumed by Hawai’i, approximately 63% is used for transportation purposes and 30% for electricity. The state of Hawai’i has the potential of solving these problems by extensively testing different forms of renewable energy sources. Hawai’i, especially the island of Oahu, has the conditions and resources to develop a society that can run mainly on renewable energy. Through the ocean, land, and climate of Oahu, our society has the capacity of developing a new way of life: living off of renewable energy.
Subsea ocean current turbines and current-based generators at ocean level will be situated around the island of Oahu, generating energy for the whole island. The turbines will be placed beneath the surface of the sea in areas that tend to have strong currents. The current-based generators, a network of metal rods that tap into the currents that flow along the bottom of the ocean, will be placed beneath at sea level. They run efficiently as water currents of just a few miles per hour flows through the rods. The Vortex Hydro Energy, who was the company that discovered this technique, will provide this method of generated energy. The ocean turbines supply Florida with 35% of its electrical needs and the current-based generators at ocean level is estimated to provide energy for thousands of homes, proving that these renewable energy sources can effectively sustain Oahu at a lower cost.
Wind turbines, solar panels, and piezoelectric roads will be implemented throughout the land of Oahu. The wind turbines will be situated predominantly in the Nanakuli and North Shore regions due to their 17-20 mph winds. The wind turbines will be these regions’ main source of renewable energy. Large commercial freestanding solar panels will make up for areas that may receive little or no energy from the wind turbines, ocean turbines, and current-based generators. So, these solar panels are reckoned to be located primarily in the Central Oahu district. South Oahu freeways will contain the piezoelectric roads, which contains a network of Piezo Electric Generators (IPEG) that harvests and generates energy from weight, motion, vibration, and temperature changes. The energy will be transferred to the main grid so it could be used by the public and private infrastructures.
The island of Oahu will no longer have to rely solely on imported petroleum to generate energy as a result of the diverse renewable energy sources located in the ocean and on land. These forms of alternative energy will be cost-effective in the long run due to the global shortage of petroleum and the rapid increase in price that would follow. The use of transportation powered by electrical sources will then arise on the island due to the large amount of the energy produced. Oahu’s future is to live side-by-side with renewable energy.
