Hawaii to Use 100% Renewable Energy, Electric Cars by 2045 -- How Will They Do It?

Apart from its sheer beauty, Hawaii is setting a massive goal when in terms of promoting renewable energy. The island is intent on going all-renewable by 2045, eliminating fossil fuels and using only electric cars.

Thirty years might be a short period for an environmental overhaul. However, is planning to be a prototype for the rest of the world to see by having both a renewable energy grid and an electric car preference.

According to Inverse, this recent push is courtesy of a 2015 bill from Hawaii Gov. David Ige. The bill, pushed by the Blue Planet Foundation, will hopefully make Hawaii a model state, sending the message that the initiative to go green is completely possible.

Richard Wallsgrove of the Blue Planet said the goal is possible and "easy." The Blue Planet Foundation has been advocating this radical change to Hawaii for the past few years.

Inverse notes that going all renewable and electric is actually advantageous for Hawaii as it does not have access to fossil fuels. This will dramatically lessen the cost of power to the islands.

Part of the movement will push Hawaii to be more reliant on green energy startups. One of this starups is the Energy Excelerator. Lauren Tonokawa, head of Energy Excelerator, said they are originally a goverment-funded program that helped solve specific energy problems for the community; but now, they are starting to expand their purpose to help Hawaii push through its 2045 goal.

In terms of using electric vehicles, Matthias Fripp from the University of Hawaii advised that the best approach for going all electric is to use different types of renewable energy for different time frames. For instance, he recommends uwing hydrogen for long-term storage and solar and wind for daily use. He also said it is time to change how people use electricity, so the solar power in Hawaii's grid will not be wasted during the day.