By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Columnist

Among the many frustrations in developing alternative-energy solutions is that while many of them work, lots of people — even those who approve of reducing the use of fossil fuels — don't like some of them.

The pitched battle over the establishment of geothermal power production on the Big Island is a notable example. Many of those who fought the drilling of wells into hot volcanic rock were also alternative-energy advocates.

There were concerns about the industrialization of forested land and the potential release of caustic gases and smelly fumes.

Researchers who wanted to study the feasibility and effects of pumping carbon dioxide into the deep ocean off Hawai'i were driven out of the state, and when they went to Norwegian waters to do their research, they were also blocked there.

The problem was that while environmentally minded folks like the idea of reducing the effect of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, they were not willing to sacrifice the deep ocean to do it.

Researchers argued there was no way to know if the deep ocean would be damaged until the research was done, but to no avail.

A few years ago, companies proposed installing hydroelectric systems on various parts of the Wailua and Hanalei River systems on Kaua'i. Some of the island's most staunch environmentalists stood in their way, objecting to sacrificing the habitat of native stream creatures and the flow of water to taro fields for power generation.

Wind power is running into similar problems in some areas.

Former Kaua'i Mayor Maryanne Kusaka, when approached about supporting a wind farm, said she would not. Windmills, she said, were unsightly and would harm the island's appeal to tourists and potential filmmakers.

Mainland wind farm developers are running into similar problems. The president of Nedpower, a firm trying to develop a 300-megawatt wind farm in West Virginia, complained, "These so-called environmentalists are working to ensure that coal remains king in West Virginia."

The firm Winergy wants to put 200 windmills on an island seven miles off Nantucket, but has been opposed by a consortium of environmental groups arguing for extensive studies on the potential effect on birds.

Any power plant has effects, and deciding which method of power generation to use is often an issue of balancing the relative negatives. But as the folks at the Rocky Mountain Institute argue, the "power plant" with the fewest effects is conservation — employing ways to accomplish everything we need with far less energy.

Jan TenBruggencate is The Advertiser's Kaua'i bureau chief and its science and environment writer. Reach him at (808) 245-3074 or jant@honoluluadvertiser.com.