LIHU‘E — The Kaua‘i Energy Sustainability Plan, released in early 2010, aims at achieving 100 percent energy sustainability on Kaua‘i by 2030. County Energy Coordinator Ben Sullivan has a few tips to share on moving toward less oil dependence to
LIHU‘E — The Kaua‘i Energy Sustainability Plan, released in early 2010, aims at achieving 100 percent energy sustainability on Kaua‘i by 2030. County Energy Coordinator Ben Sullivan has a few tips to share on moving toward less oil dependence to get closer to this “very ambitious and far-sighted” goal.
There are a lot of specific actions people can take to move toward less oil dependence, but the first step is to engage in and think about their energy use, according to Sullivan.
Sullivan suggested a “laundry list” of things to do reduce oil consumption, including using compact fluorescent lights and LEDs in their homes, installing solar water heaters, buying electric cars, taking the bus, carpooling, avoiding unnecessary trips, upgrading appliances, washing clothes with cold water and hanging them rather than using a dryer, and using a microwave oven for small food portions.
After the individual actions, many people who choose to do more will get involved in advocacy efforts, participate with community energy planning efforts, help friends become more efficient, install renewable energy systems for their homes or businesses, etc., Sullivan said.
Private citizens may play a major role in reducing oil dependence, but the county administration is also a major player in reducing oil dependence.
Sullivan said the first step for the county administration to reduce oil dependence is to increase awareness of its energy use, just like private citizens.
“Although we have always done a good amount of analysis in this regard, we are particularly excited about implementing a more comprehensive, real-time system that will monitor and measure our energy consumption and related carbon emissions countywide,” he said.
This real-time monitoring system couples with the “information revolution” taking place in the energy industry, he said.
“We are confident that it will be highly effective for the long-term management and reduction of energy use within county government.”
More actions
The administration is taking a number of other specific actions to reduce its energy consumption in county facilities, according to Sullivan.
“We use a lot of energy for water pumping, wastewater treatment, buildings, streetlights, etc.,” he said. “We continue to look at all these energy uses and to make improvements in our energy efficiency.”
Using Energy Savings Performance Contracts, the administration is making retrofits and needed capital improvements focused specifically on energy savings, he said.
“We are also continuing to add renewable energy systems to our facilities where they make sense,” Sullivan said. “This includes facilities that have critical loads where there is added benefit to installing renewable energy systems.”
A county Green Team gathers “green” ideas from all county employees, said Sullivan, adding that some of those ideas include increasing bus ridership, reducing waste generation and using energy more efficiently in the workplace.
“We have purchased quite a few hybrid vehicles over recent years due to their improved fuel efficiency,” he said. “We are currently gaining experience with five new Nissan LEAFs that were recently added to the county fleet through an ARRA grant.”
The administration sees electric vehicles as a potential to reduce fuel use in the transportation sector, according to Sullivan.
“No solution stands on its own, but electric vehicles combined with thoughtful land use planning, improved transit systems, and other smart growth principles can bring us a long way towards reduced oil-dependence,” he said.
All of these energy-saving and sustainable measures are in context of a “very ambitious and far-sighted” goal established by the community in the Kaua‘i Energy Sustainability Plan — 100 percent energy sustainability by 2030, according to Sullivan.
“It’s going to take a long-term sustained effort from our whole community to achieve that, but if we work together effectively, it just might be possible,” he said.
Impacts in short and long term
The biggest short-term impact of failing to reduce oil dependence would be a loss of control, Sullivan said.
“Oil costs are high and volatile, and if measures are not taken to reduce dependence then we are much more vulnerable to sudden changes in the market,” he said. “Unmitigated increases in oil price require either increased debt levels, decreased government services or increased taxes to pay for. None of these are desirable outcomes for our community.”
The long-term effect of failing to act toward less oil dependence is “really a failure to seize a valuable opportunity,” according to Sullivan.
The measures taken to reduce oil dependence, such as efficiency, technology development, retrofits and renewable energy projects all have the potential to offer needed economic activity for Kaua‘i, he said.
“Our high energy-prices can be seen as both a blessing and a curse, and it is our collective actions — or inactions — that ultimately determine which,” Sullivan said.
On a broader scale, the social and environmental costs of oil extraction, as seen in the recent Gulf of Mexico spill, are far too high to be ignored, he said.
“Between offshore spills, pit mines, global resource conflicts and climate change impacts, we have all the reasons we should require to reduce our dependence on oil and to place a higher value on its use,” Sullivan said. “Oil is an extremely valuable resource that should only be used responsibly and efficiently, and as a society we are only beginning to learn that lesson.”
The Kaua‘i Energy Sustainability Plan was developed for the County of Kaua‘i by SENTECH Hawai‘i LLC with assistance from Maurice Kaya LLC and Kaua‘i Planning & Action Alliance. The plan integrates stakeholder and public input with objective energy analysis to create an implementable energy plan intended to offer guidance for Kaua‘i to utilize local, sustainable, renewable energy, according to the KPAA website.
Visit www.kauainetwork.org/energy-sustainability to download the plan.
