Hawaii Showcases Hydrogen Technologies

October 2003

Many challenges face Hawaii's energy system-no interconnection between islands, high utility rates, over dependence on imported, nonrenewable fossil fuels. Each island has unique renewable energy attributes, but all share siting constraints for conventional power plants and high-voltage distribution lines. Couple this with short driving distances, high gasoline costs, and limited discretionary driving to make the state an ideal site for deploying state-of-the-art hydrogen technologies.

Hawaii showcases power generation and transportation fuel applications of hydrogen. In addition, the University of Hawaii's Hawaii Natural Energy Institute has established research excellence in hydrogen and renewable resources. Federal and private entities, including the Hawaii Fuel Cell Test Facility in Honolulu; the Hydrogen Power Park, planned for the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (NELHA) in Kona; and the Gateway Distributed Energy Resources Center, also at NELHA, have made major investments in local hydrogen research and development. Already, researchers and local energy innovation businesses such as Hoku Scientific are working to make hydrogen fuel use a reality in Hawaii.