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DOE study on environmental impact of different renewables in Hawaii

DOE study on environmental impact of different renewables in Hawaii Puna Geothermal Power Plant, Big Island, Hawaii (source: betterplace.com)
Alexander Richter 25 Sep 2015

The U.S. Department of Energy releases an interesting "Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Hawaii", looking at the environmental impact of different renewable energy technology development efforts in the State of Hawaii.

As part of a recently published “Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Hawaii”, the U.S. Department of Energy provides an overview on the impact of various energy technologies on the State of Hawaii.

Covering naturally all different energy types, it also features geothermal. Geothermal is being categorised as utility-scale renewable energy technology for the purpose of this report.

The report also raises a potential area of controversy for geothermal development in Hawaii pointing to Native Hawaiian issues with “concerns, based on traditional beliefs, [that] were raised about the use of island resources, such as using geothermal energy, to generate energy.”

Looking at characteristics for the potential for environmental impacts, the report describes different elements of geothermal development that could have an environmental impact. It describes drilling, potential well blow-outs, emissions, land use, construction issues etc.

It overall provides a good overview on the possible environmental impact in Hawaii and generally for geothermal development.

Source: U.S. DOE “Hawai’i Clean Energy, Final, Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, Summary” (pdf)