Geothermal Energy in Hawaii - A Brief History
By Michael Markrich RRH Copyright 2023
USGS photo of Kilauea Volcano
The limitless power of volcanoes was no mystery to the earliest Native Hawaiians. They attributed it to their volcano goddess “Madame Pele”. The immense power and beauty of Hawaii's volcanoes filled them with awe.
But how should the power of the volcanos be considered in these culturally sensitive times? Many have different views on how the immense energy of Hawaii's volcanoes should be used. It has been estimated that the power of Hawaii volcanoes in terms of energy production is 1000 MW. Enough to power the energy needs on all the Islands of Hawaii.
Native Hawaiians as a community have differed over the process of developing energy in Hawaii from volcanic heat. Some feel that Native Hawaiians as a group have benefitted very little from the Kilauea East Rift Zone (KERZ), a place some consider Hawaii’s own Saudi Arabia – because its reservoirs of steam heat are so accessible.
They believe that the lack of development of this resource is unfair since the heat from the volcanos could lead to energy independence for Hawaii and wealth that would uplift the Native Hawaiian community. Others differ and believe that the power of the volcanos should not be tampered with for cultural and spiritual reasons - some say its use is a “desecration” and that Hawaii should look to other means such as solar panels to generate electricity. There are also those who have questioned geothermal development for health and safety reasons - citing problems with earthquakes and respiratory problems that have been associated with geothermal development in the past.
Office of Hawaiian Affairs Trustee for the Big Island, Milliani Trask talks of “Tutu Pele” with reverence and thinks it is time to change how Native Hawaiians as the indigenous people of Hawaii consider geothermal energy possibilities. Trask, who is an attorney, has developed her own company- Indigenous Consultants – and a new model as to how future developments of geothermal energy on the Big Island or any place else in Hawaii should be.
She bases much of her expertise with geothermal energy on the time she spent in New Zealand helping local Maori communities negotiate geothermal energy contracts with energy companies. She believes that if negotiations are treated fairly in Hawaii -and if the technology used for generating electricity for the grid or hydrogen for transportation is the latest state-of-the-art and it can be respectful to local culture, present limited safety and health risks to surrounding communities and generate the renewable energy and revenues that the Native Hawaiian community and the Hawaii population as a whole need.
But the very first thing Trask explains, that the Native Hawaiian Community needs to consider when a geothermal proposal is made to them is how they as a people benefit from it. She has developed a system for analyzing how this is done. In past times she said Native Hawaiians were not even at the bargaining table. No more.
“We have built into our model ways for community benefit-sharing. For example, if you come into a community and you’re developing geothermal energy you’re making money! You have a business opportunity and you have a product that is energy so what do you owe that community? Number one you owe them a share of the revenue every year!”
She says “Geothermal energy is sacred to Hawaiians. It is a manifestation of the goddess Pele and from time immemorial has been viewed as a sacred energy which is incorporated into many cultural practices, memorialized in hula and chant, and preserved in ongoing modern religious ceremonies which occur not only on Hawaii Island but on all of the islands and in a distant archipelagic area known as the Northwest Hawaiian Islands.”
Trask adds
“The history of geothermal development reveals that it has been the cause of many actions of civil disobedience resulting in the arrest and prosecution of traditional Hawaiian practitioners and lengthy criminal trials. No solution has been forthcoming. Hawaiians have a cultural and property right to Geothermal resources as it is a ‘mineral’ asset of the Ceded Land Trust created by the US at the time of Statehood for the ‘public native Hawaiians unless development proceeds in a culturally sensitive way that accommodates indigenous Hawaiian concerns and rights it is unlikely that geothermal will be developed to secure an energy & food secure future for Hawaii. “
The thinking that Native Hawaiians are owed a share of Hawaii’s valuable geothermal energy has been supported by a 2014 opinion by the State of Hawaii Attorney General’s office that Native Hawaiians are entitled to 100% of the proceeds of geothermal development on Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL). However, as Trask explains - one must be cautious in expectations. She said an opinion is just that; it is not law.
Native Hawaiian entrepreneur and farmer Richard Ha has taken this a step further saying that perhaps it is time to think of Hawaiian volcanic heat as a community resource that can generate steam for power or hydrogen gas for transportation, as a means of providing Hawaiis’ own version of the Alaska Permanent Fund (APF). This fund which is based on oil revenues from Alaska oil fields is currently estimated at more than 81 Billion dollars and currently provides an annual dividend payment of $3,200 to all the residents of that state. A similar step applied to a successful geothermal project – tied to green hydrogen - that could be used in Hawaii as a fuel or exported, would in Ha’s mind, be a long overdue game changer for the Native Hawaiian community. It would aid Native Hawaiians – who suffer disproportionately from poverty and the threat of homelessness. It would alter the Hawaii state economy making Hawaii a world center for green hydrogen production. It would also enable Hawaii to reach its goal of using 100% renewable sources of energy by the year 2045
[1] (Geothermal Energy Projects, Hawaii Geothermal Project Background, Louis Goodman, Tetsuo Myabara and Barbara Yount, 1980)