Abstract
In parallel with the resource assessments and planning studies for the electricity sector, a rethinking of Hawaii renewable options in transportation was initiated. This work concentrated on road transport and was undertaken for the state through a cooperative agreement with the Department of Energy’s Natural Energy Research Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado. With the exception of sugar based ethanol there had been only limited thought given to renewable transportation options in Hawaii. The NREL studies took a comprehensive view of developments in automobile efficiency. These included higher Federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, ethanol and other “green fuels”, electric vehicles, and methods for reducing vehicle miles travelled. These early transportation studies formed a framework for planning, but proved highly optimistic vis a vis Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism DBEDT timelines established by Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative. Taken together, these studies suggested that there was only limited scope for state government intervention in road transport.
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- 1.
With exception of California, the federal CAFE standards are legally binding on all states.
- 2.
BA&H proposed that green gasoline might be produced from fast pyrolysis technology.
- 3.
A unit of ethanol contains less specific energy than a unit of gasoline, and the alcohol in ethanol can damage older vehicles’ engines and fuel systems if the ethanol mix is too high. Modern vehicles are designed to tolerate up to E10 (10 %) blends. Vehicles accepting E85 (85 % ethanol) are designated as “flex fuel” ready. As there is less energy per gallon, an engine will typically be downgraded in its EPA fuel economy ratings when running on E85 ethanol .
- 4.
According to state liquid fuel tax records, in 2011 Hawaii highway transportation users consumed 10 times as much gasoline as diesel fuel. While a substantial additional volume of diesel is used in agriculture, overall the demand for gasoline was over three times the demand for diesel fuel.
- 5.
The state offered $4500 for EV purchases and a $500 incentive toward the purchase of a residential charger. These incentives were in addition to a $7500 federal rebate.
- 6.
Indeed, the new Prius PHEV yields lower gasoline mileage than non-plug-in Prius hybrids due to the greater weight of the required battery pack.
- 7.
Although several hybrid vehicle manufacturers have announced programs for hybrid pickup trucks, this market has been very slow to materialize and it seems unlikely that these vehicles will be a significant factor in Hawaii’s light truck market before 2020.
- 8.
Even if land and water were available in Hawaii, the costs of producing this drop-in fuel in Hawaii would require $600–900 million in facility investment.
- 9.
Small amounts of marine bunker fuel (e.g. #6 fuel oil) are consumed for interisland passenger cruises.
- 10.
Combined state and county taxes for biodiesel range from 4 to 16.5 cents/gallon. This equates to a biodiesel tax incentive ranging from 21.8 cents/gallon in Hawaii County to 17 cents per gallon in Honolulu County.
References
Department of Business Economic Development and Tourism. (2012, June) Energy facts and figures HCEI estimate of electric vehicle/plug-in Hybrid electric vehicle annual sales and total market penetration. http://energy.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/DBEDTEnergyFactSheets
Department of Business Economic Development and Tourism. (2015). Energy Administrator’s Annual Report 2015. http://energy.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/DBEDT_2015ERC-Report_Nov2015.pdf
Department of Business Economic Development and Tourism. (2016, March) Energy facts and figures registered electric vehicles (EVs) and publically available charging stations in Hawaii. energy.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/FF_May2016FINAL_5.13.16.pdf
Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism/ICCT. (2015). Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative Transportation Energy Analysis Final Report August 2015. http://energy.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Final_TransEnergyAnalysis8.19.15.pdf
National Renewable Energy Laboratory/Booz, Allen and Hamilton. (2012). HCEI scenario analysis. hawaiicleanenergyintiaitive.org/storage/pdfs/Hawaii%20Clean%20Energy%20Intiaitive%20Analysis_March%202012.pdf
National Renewable Energy Laboratory/Booz, Allen and Hamilton. (2012, March) HCEI scenario analysis, initial road transport goals. hawaiicleanenergyintiaitive.org/storage/pdfs/Hawaii%20Clean%20Energy%20Intiaitive%20Analysis_March%202012.pdf
National Renewable Energy Laboratory. (2010, November), Techno-Economic Analysis of Biomass Fast Pyrolysis to Transportation Fuels. nrel.gov/docs/fy11osti/46586.pdf
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Pintz, W.S., Morita, H. (2017). Unconnected Dots—Early Implementation of the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative Surface Transportation Goals. In: Clean Energy from the Earth, Wind and Sun. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48677-2_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48677-2_6
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