Posted on: Tuesday, October 22, 2002

EDITORIAL
'Solar bonds' another tool for independence

Sooner or later, Hawai'i will take its rightful place as a leader in the development of, and use of, alternative energy.

We seemed to be on the road toward that goal in the 1970s, when the price of oil skyrocketed and all manner of alternatives seemed just the ticket.

But a combination of relatively untested technology and sliding oil prices took much of the wind, so to speak, out of that effort.

We have made strides in the use of solar water heating panels, produce and use some geothermal energy and continue to experiment in other areas.

But at the end of the day, almost all of our power continues to be produced by oil.

One day, that will change. And Hawai'i is the perfect place to see this revolution happen. We have abundant sunshine, strong winds, wave action and — of course — geothermal power. Our isolation makes it impossible to "borrow" power from neighboring jurisdictions, so the need to be internally self-sufficient is stronger here than in most places.

One of the latest ideas being floated on the alternative energy front, according to Science Writer Jan TenBruggencate, is something called solar bonds. These are government-issued instruments that would pay for installation of photovoltaic cells on government buildings and other public facilities. The bonds could be used for other alternative energy projects as well.

The energy savings created (in terms of avoided fossil fuel purchases) would pay off the bond, according to backers of the idea. It is already in place in San Francisco.

Now, Hawai'i would have to be shown some fairly impressive numbers before jumping into this concept. As desirable as energy independence might be, it cannot be bought at any cost.

But if the numbers pencil out, Hawai'i should entertain the authorization and issuance of solar bonds. We should get to a point of energy independence before that option is forced upon us.