The Marines, who pride themselves on being bold, want to build the state's largest photovoltaic solar farm and a biofuel electricity-producing plant on base, both of which would not only meet all of the Marines' power needs by 2015, but exceed them, officials said.A multi-megawatt solar array, which would wrap part way around and dominate the radar-topped Kansas Tower Hill, is expected to be started in the fall of 2009 and could be generating power half a year later, said Col. Robert Rice, who commands Marine Corps Base Hawai'i.
The biofuel plant, which could run on locally-grown palm oil or sugar cane, and JP-5 jet fuel in an emergency, is expected to be developed closer to 2015, and would go a long way in meeting the Marine Corps base's 13- to 20-megawatt power needs.
"I'm 100 percent sure that we can get there (energy self-sustainment) by 2020, but I want to be more aggressive in that goal, and I want to get there by 2015," Rice said.
Very cool -- and very important in Hawaii where power is super expensive. And the base commander has an even higher goal:
He wants to turn up the level so much, he hopes the base will someday have an overabundance of green, especially if and when a biofuel plant is built to produce electricity.
"I'm not a legislator, and I don't know, but we think by the time this one comes online, that we'll be able to produce power and get paid for power by HECO," Rice said.
Just one more reason to love the marines!
|