6 ms·
I was curious so I looked it up. Currently, geothermal energy provides 10-15% of Hawaii's energy needs. Given that it's highly volcanic, it seems like this coul
by lukev 3y ago
I was curious so I looked it up. Currently, geothermal energy provides 10-15% of Hawaii's energy needs. Given that it's highly volcanic, it seems like this could be increased.
For comparison, geothermal power accounts for over 50% of Iceland's production.
Curious if the differences are physical/geological, or some other reason.
- throwawaymaths 3y agoMost electrical consumption is on an island two islands over from the volcanoes. Probably also geological: hot springs are not really a thing in Hawaii.
- bix6 3y agoEasy, just move the volcanoes
- gumby 3y agoSounds so simple but in this case the volcanoes are the islands.
- breischl 3y agoGood news - the volcanoes are already moving! Bad news - they're moving at a geological pace, and away from most of the state's population and power demand.
- SketchySeaBeast 3y agoIf I were living on an island with a volcano, I'd put "moving at a geological pace" under the "good news" category.
- myself248 3y agoEasy, just move the power demand. Make it super cheap where it's naturally occurring, and a wizard, er, the market will solve it!
- throwawaymaths 3y agoA huge draw for living on Oahu is the military industrial complex
- d6e 3y agoRun an underwater hvdc line like the uk does
- throwawaymaths 3y agoSounds expensive
- nicoburns 3y agoI believe underwater lines are typically not that expensive (compared to other major energy generation/transmission projects). It's actually much easier to lay a cable in water (just drop it in) that it is over land (where you either have to construct pylons or dig a trench).
- brohee 3y agoThey are actually in a trench unless it's super deep. You don't want a ship anchor to catch a submarine cable...
- robocat 3y agoAre you guessing based on installations in other countries, or do you know that? I would presume that volcanic rock is difficult to put a trench down through. But I am interested to know. Edit: I found a good article with pictures of the equipment used about water jets to trench in soft seabeds: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/8/6/460/htm https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/8/6/460/htm It mentions cable ploughs and mechanical trenching machines. I would presume trenching in rock is sometimes required near-shore.
- throwawaymaths 3y agoIf nothing else, environmental review is a thing for anything that goes into the water in Hawaii, and that is very expensive.
- davedx 3y agoWell... the HVDC cables and in particular the converter stations at each end are quite a bit more expensive than equivalent HV AC infrastructure. But yes, it's definitely affordable and there are many submarine transmission interconnects throughout the world these days.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- senkora 3y agoIt does seem like it would be possible to lay a cable to transmit the power from the Big Island to Oahu. My reference for that is the plan to lay a cable to transmit power from Australia to Singapore.
- throwawaymaths 3y agoNobody is arguing that it is not possible
- BitwiseFool 3y agoIt would be surprisingly difficult to do, mostly because of local politics and views on development. See https://www.mauinews.com/news/local-news/2017/08/puc-pulls-plug-on-oahu-maui-undersea-cable/ https://www.mauinews.com/news/local-news/2017/08/puc-pulls-p...
- rtpg 3y ago> At the same time, the PUC initiated a proceeding to review progress of Castle & Cooke Resorts Lanai Wind Project, given C&C’s sale of its holdings to tech billionaire Larry Ellison about a year earlier. The docket covered “the uncertainty over Castle & Cooke Properties Inc.’s ability to develop the Lanai Wind Project” as a result of the sale, Tuesday’s filing said. Even before opening the article I had a feeling I would see Ellison's name _somewhere_. I don't know if the review trigger was an excuse, just annoyance at it being Ellison, or what, but wild how a single person can have so much of an effect.
- mcmoor 3y agoThis is the first time I heard about this so I'm very curious and it turns out of course it's delayed because of talks with Indonesia lmao.
- idontpost 3y ago[dead]
- SCM-Enthusiast 3y agoThe real crux behind geothermal is hot water. Hawaii is arid and the areas where geothermal does occur is on the "Big Island" and are often considered sacred by Native Hawaiians.