Blue Planet Foundation Releases First Annual Energy Report Card to Assess Hawaii’s Clean Energy Progress

News Release from Blue Planet Foundation  September 9, 2013

HONOLULU—The Blue Planet Foundation will release its first annual Energy Report Card for Hawai‘i on Tuesday morning, Sep. 10, during founder Henk Rogers’ keynote address at the Asia Pacific Clean Energy Summit. The data-rich, 42-page progress report provides a wide-angle perspective on Hawai‘i’s energy transformation, taking a look at five key metrics including Transportation, Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy, Smart Grid, and Economics. Supporting drivers are also analyzed to identify gaps in current industry efforts, areas of success, and opportunities for improvement. In the 2013 report card, Hawai‘i receives an overall grade of C–.

“We can only manage what we measure,” stated Blue Planet Foundation CEO Jeff Mikulina, explaining that Blue Planet developed the report card in response to the need for an objective examination of Hawai‘i’s progress to a clean energy future. The grades were determined as a reflection of the state’s progress toward the benchmark of energy independence by 2030.

Positive performance in energy efficiency stands out as a bright spot, with per capita electricity generation dropping steadily below the target trend since 2008.

“Hawai‘i can be proud of its success in reducing energy use per person. Homeowners are businesses are increasingly taking control of their energy future through efficiency and rooftop solar,” Mikulina said. “Hawai‘i is literally doing more with less.”

The report card also shows that transportation, which accounts for two-thirds of Hawai‘i’s fossil fuel consumption, remains an area that demands improvement. Land transportation offers the most immediate opportunities for reducing fuel consumption. Greater fuel efficiency, alternative fuels, lowering mileage, and electric vehicles all have roles to play. The key challenge is identifying substitutes for aviation fuels, highlighting the need to focus on local biofuels for transportation rather than electricity generation.

Blue Planet, whose mission is to clear the path for clean energy, plans to update the Energy Report Card annually to keep progress toward energy independence on track and focus solutions in areas that need it most.

The Hawai‘i 2013 Energy Report Card will viewable online tomorrow morning at www.hawaiienergyreportcard.org.