DBEDT director Naya Hawaii could become a "hydrogen-based economy," using cheap local production as a new energy source to fuel all kinds of developments, the Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism said yesterday.
is bullish on hydrogen
By Russ Lynch
rlynch@starbulletin.comThat was one of a list of high-technology opportunities DBEDT listed in a follow-up to a Year-2000 "new millennium" report. The department set out to identify specific technological developments that could get Hawaii away from its reliance on tourism and broaden its economy.
The hydrogen fuel cell seems to be the answer, said the report, using Hawaii's natural and renewable resources to produce hydrogen for use in new fuel cells to drive automobiles, industry and a host of other applications.
A study suggests that "geothermal-produced hydrogen (on the Big Island) and biomass-produced hydrogen (on the Big Island, Maui and Kauai) could all compete with gasoline at current prices," said the report issued by DBEDT Director Seiji Naya.
The study cautions that "neither Rome nor Silicon were built in a day" and that tech-oriented ventures still have a high risk.
But DBEDT said a hydrogen-technology base could provide a solid background for a lot of advancements.
Naya said in a telephone interview that he wanted "to leave something behind." As a department head in the Cayetano administration, Naya will depart when the administration changes in January after the election.
The department has found opportunities for various research fields that "can have a great deal of commercialization" and some have already done very well in Hawaii, Naya said yesterday.
Among the players in research and technology is the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii on the Big Island, which uses temperature differences between surface water and the deep ocean to generate energy, DBEDT said.
The University of Hawaii and private companies are also providing valuable energy and biotechnology advancements, the department said, citings mice-cloning and other world-recognized developments by Hawaii scientists.
The John A. Burns School of Medicine being developed in Kakaako is another step in the right direction, DBEDT said.
In a 2000 report on how to help the economy, DBEDT said expanded technology could become the new "growth engine" for Hawaii.
The state went after those opportunities, but the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks hurt Hawaii's tourist-based economy and set those efforts back some, the department said.
Remedial efforts have been put in place but recovery will be "a painful, long-term journey;" and while tourism will remain the mainstay of the Hawaii economy, it is important to look for opportunities that are not heavily dependent on tourism, DBEDT said in yesterday's report.
In November 2001, DBEDT issued its "New Millennium Growth Strategy," which listed the forces the department believed would drive Hawaii's economy in the future, including high technology.
The department said the latest report, called "A New Millennium Growth Strategy for Hawaii's Economy: At the Cutting Edge," is meant to show how an economy shifting more toward technology, research and innovations can help other sectors of the economy move into the spotlight.
For the full report, go to www.hawaii.gov/dbedt/strategy/index.html.
