Da Rubbah Slippah Group, a new organization founded by Richard Ha that aims to create a stronger future for today’s keiki, on Saturday will present an online Energy Summit about creating a green hydrogen economy.
The free Zoom presentation from 10 a.m. to noon features eight experts speaking about how the public can create a Hawaii Island green hydrogen economy right now by taking advantage of unused Puna Geothermal Venture energy — a path that Hawaiian Electric supports.
Da Rubbah Slippah Group organized this presentation expressly for state Sen. Glenn Wakai and state Rep. Nicole Lowen, both energy chairs, after Wakai expressed interest in learning more about creating hydrogen from Hawaii Island’s geothermal resource.
The summit also is open to the public because many people are not yet familiar with clean hydrogen technology, how easily it could be created here, and how it could replace fossil fuel.
The speakers are: Ha (Da Rubbah Slippah Group); Desmon Haumea (cultural practitioner, educator and traditional healer); Chris McWhinney (Millennium Reign Energy); Nicole Lautze (Hawaii Groundwater and Geothermal Resources Center); Mike Kaleikini (Ormat/PGV); Peter Sternlicht (Sustainable Energy Hawaii); Jennifer Zelko-Schleuter (Hawaiian Electric).
The hope is that a special PUC docket will allow the purchase of unused PGV energy at 10 cents per kilowatt hour. At that rate, Millennium Reign Energy is prepared to set up a network of five hydrogen fueling stations located around the island.
“It’s sort of a ‘build it and they will come’ situation,” Ha said in a press release. “Once we have those hydrogen fueling stations, people could get hydrogen electric vehicles instead of driving fossil fuel-based cars. This island would be the first place in the nation to have a functioning hydrogen hub. It would be a model where people from around the world would come and see what we’ve achieved and if they can do the same.”
There’s no need to preregister for the Zoom Energy Summit. To access the Zoom link at 10 a.m. Saturday, go to www.darubbahslippahgroup.com and move down to “Events.”