Tag Archives: County of Hawaii

Science, Travel

Meeting in Tahoe about the Western Agenda

Richard Ha writes:

View of lake

I’m at Lake Tahoe at the Western Region meeting of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU). I’m attending as a Council for Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching (CARET) delegate; most of us are people in the ag industry.

Attending this meeting are deans of land-grant universities in the western U.S., and heads of their research, extension and teaching divisions. Back home, UH Manoa is a land-grant university.

View of lake

At the first session, there was a panel discussion about how we can work together to maximize the Land Grant Universities’ extension, research and teaching functions. Also participating were representatives from the Western Governors Association, the National Association of Counties’ western representative and the Western Council of State Governments. I felt like this was a good effort at maximizing scientific resources.

I raised my hand and said that the County of Hawai‘i passed an ordinance banning all new GMOs. I said that I had found the input of CTAHR scientists very valuable in the discussion, and asked if the government groups were concerned about this issue. Of course, they were.

Then we got into the heart of the meeting, the Western agenda, which is about fire, water, invasive species, and endangered species. We discussed issues and prioritized action items. Next we had the research, extension and teaching groups go over the priorities and add their perspectives.

My thoughts? There are lots of things taking place that most people have no idea about. There are a ton of research facilities and people at work tackling a number of issues. These folks are all dedicated people who are interested in the public good. And they all believe in science – you can’t just say it; you have to prove it. I like this approach. It keeps us from wasting time and scarce resources.

With all the high brain-powered people here, I think I will ask them questions about GMOs that people back home will be interested in.

Geothermal, Government, Peak Oil

Price of Oil Stayed the Same for 100 Years, Then Started Doubling Every 5 Years

Except for some spikes in the 70s and 80s, oil cost less than $20 per barrel for a hundred years. Until 2000.

In the year 2000, the price of oil averaged $25 per barrel. And then for 11 years, the price of oil increased an average of 13.5 percent every year. There were peaks and troughs along the way, but 13.5 percent was the average yearly increase during that period of time.

In 2011, it averaged $100 per barrel.

This means that the price of oil doubled every 5.5 years. (Here’s a shorthand way to calculate doubling time: Take the growth rate and divide that into 70. In this case, divide 70 by 13.5 percent and you get approximately 5.5 years.)

Demand is exceeding supply. Something has changed fundamentally, and we here in Hawai‘i need to pay close attention to it.

It’s why Mayor Kenoi is taking a delegation to Ormoc City, Philippines. Ormoc City has about the same population size as the Big Island, a similar ag/tourism-based economy, and a university about the same size as UH Hilo.

But they generate 700 MW of geothermal energy, compared to the Big Island’s 30 MW. The Mayor wants to see for himself, and understand what the risks and potential for reward are for the Big Island.