The Hawaiian islands have always been considered a pacific treasure. Hawaii actually consists of 132 islands, reefs and shores that stretch more than a thousand miles through the pacific. It’s one of the most isolated island group on earth loaded with ecological and biological diversity.
The islands host a very high percentage of endemic species, plants and animals that don’t show up anywhere else on earth. And although they are all unique they share a common thread. Even before westerners came to the Hawaiian islands in 1778 the loco people had began to alter their environment. They cleared natural vegetation in order to farm. Westerners accelerated the process by introducing grazing animals and exotic plants that further denuded the landscape.
Today, real estate development puts relentless pressure on some of the remaining native habitat and nowhere are this problems more evident than on the island of O’ahu, the most densely populated of the Hawaiian islands. O’ahu also has the military to content with. Pearl Harbor is located here along with more than two dozens other military bases within the Hawaiian islands. Colonel Howard Killian, the commander of the US Garrison in Hawaii said: “I’m the largest electricity user on the island” Schofield Barracks was until recently a mish mash of historic homes dating back to the 1930’s. But over the next ten years, all this places will get an energy make over. At the center of the strategy, something Hawaii has in abundance: sunlight. Every new house contains solar heated hot water. For a place this size, that’s a huge deal.
“In terms of energy the energy consumption, all the houses are going to have solar hot water on their roof. That in Hawaii is roughly 30 to 35 percent of the electricity used by the average home.” Said Perry Brown, Technical Development mgr. Army Hawaii. And for a bit of perspective, this base spends between 30 and 40 million dollars a year on electricity.
Each new home also has photo voltaic cells mounted on the garage that actually collect energy and return it to the utility company. When all this construction is finished, Schofield Barracks will be one of the largest solar powered installations in the world. Seem like an odd thing for the army to be doing? Well, it depends on how you look at it. Last year the electric company raised their rates. How much did it cost the army in one year? Almost 3 million dollars that the army didn’t budget for.
The bases are also negotiating with Hawaiian electrical utilities to create a wind farm on the large tracks of land within the base. In fact, the hope is that the base might some day supply energy to the power grid. It’s an aggressive and expensive plan but one the army hopes will ultimately pay off.
Terms like “zero net waste” and “garbage as a commodity” aren’t standard talking but it’s a language that will likely become part of a new global vocabulary as we all confront our uncertain future together.
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