How Geothermal = Food Security

Richard Ha writes:

Our “food security” is about farmers here in Hawai‘i farming. We know that Hawai‘i imports more than 80 percent of its food, and has only a seven-day supply of food on island at any one time.

Being more food secure means growing much more of our food here. How do we make that happen?

If farmers make money, the farmers will farm.
 
The cost of electricity cost is directly related to farmers farming or not. Farmers are price takers, not price makers. So as electricity costs go up for consumers, wholesalers and retailers, farmers’ prices necessarily go down and so do their profits.
 
We all know that world oil supplies will be declining and that petroleum prices are likely to be very high in the next few years, making fossil fuel-produced electricity rise very high in price.
 
Do you know what the most energy-intensive part is regarding getting our food? Surprisingly, it’s not the “on farm” energy usage. It’s the energy needed for the stop-and-go transportation of getting food to your home,  the cost of refrigeration during that journey and the cost to refrigerate your food once it’s at your home.

So what will help with food security?  Cheap electricity. On the Big Island, that means geothermal electricity.

Produced locally, it is the cheapest form of electricity here. For more than 15 years it has operated without subsidies, and it even earns money for the state of Hawai‘i—currently more than $3 million a year.

Cheap electricity will lower wholesaler and retailer operating costs and therefore leave more discretionary income in the pockets of consumers, and they will be able to buy local produce. It will result in less pressure on farmers to lower their prices beyond what is reasonable, and they will make decent livings and continue to farm. And we will have increased food security out here in the middle of the ocean.

If farmers make money, the farmers will farm!

Comments

[Wally]

Richard... talk about the huge amount of fuel/cost to farmers from using petrol based fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides. We need to go back to natural farming, locally produced, locally distributed, and locally consumed food. The bureaucrats need to get with this program and drop the connection to special interests.

We live with the decisions made generations ago by corporate and political interests that set the stage for oil being the integral component for life as we know it today. Everything relates back to oil...

That is piss poor planning, all your eggs in one basket thinking that has crisis built into it. Big oil has the world by the balls and will profit until the last drop is consumed...

People need to demand new leaders that will stand up to these forces and make wise choices… Case in point the political special interests create resistance to developing Geothermal on this island… It is silly to destroy thousands of acres of forest to burn trees for energy that doesn’t pencil out or reduce our electric bill. We live on a volcano,the net energy numbers work out, what's the problem?

The same level of thinking that got us into mess will not produce meaningful solutions.