Hawaii Natural Energy Institute plans test of hydrogen fuel source

The Hawaii Natural Energy Institute has plans for a project that will demonstrate the use of hydrogen as a potential energy storage technology with the side benefit of providing hydrogen for fuel cells to power one of the public buses on the Big Island.

In a draft environmental assessment published Monday by the state Office of Environmental Quality Control, the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute said that the more energy storage available on the electricity grid, the more intermittent renewables such as wind and solar can be added to the grid.

Currently, grids use backup, fast-start generators that, according to the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute, is a system that is both inefficient and expensive.

The Hawaii Natural Energy Institute at the University of Hawaii has a mandate to develop alternatives to imported fossil fuels for electricity and transportation and has established a major hydrogen fuel research and development program.

The Big Island project, which includes collaboration with Hawaii Electric Light Co., a subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Industries (NYSE: HE), and Puna Geothermal Venture, is one of these initiatives.

Hawaii Electric Light Co. has said that it needs energy storage technologies to support the large and growing share of power produced by intermittent renewable energy sources.

For more on this project, click here.

Source: Pacific Business News by Duane Shimogawa, Reporter

Date: Monday, October 8, 2012, 1:35pm HST - Last Modified: Monday, October 8, 2012, 1:50pm HST

Duane Shimogawa covers energy, real estate and economic development for Pacific Business News.