Three renewable resources, in contrast, can provide electricity 24/7 – hydroelectric, wave and geothermal. A major plus side for all three is that, like nuclear power, they emit zero greenhouse gases.
While geothermal use is still a fraction of wind and solar , it is drawing increasing interest in the year of its centenary, when the world’s first commercial geothermal power plant opened in 1913 in Larderello in the Tuscany region of northwestern Italy, generating 250 kilowatts.
Because Hawaii is isolated from the U.S. mainland, its energy infrastructure and consumption are unique among the states. With its mild tropical climate, in 2010 Hawaii had the third lowest per capita energy use in the country.
If that’s the good news for Hawaiians, the bad news is that in 2010 Hawaii imported 94 percent of its energy and had the highest electricity prices in the USA. Accordingly, geothermal power would seem to be the answer to a power company’s prayers.
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