Bill Text: HI HCR106 | 2014 | Regular Session | Amended


Bill Title: Encouraging the Implementation of Hydrogen Energy Infrastructure to Reflect Hawaii's Commitment to Clean Energy

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 14-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2014-04-08 - Referred to ENE/EGH, WAM. [HCR106 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2014-HCR106-Amended.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

106

TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2014

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 


HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

RENEWING THE STATE OF HAWAII'S COMMITMENT TO CLEAN ENERGY BY IMPLEMENTING HYDROGEN-BASED ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE THROUGHOUT THE STATE.

 

 

 


     WHEREAS, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, humans are largely responsible for recent climate change; and

 

     WHEREAS, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the primary human activity affecting the amount and rate of climate change is greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of fossil fuels; and

 

WHEREAS, Hawaii is the most fossil fuel dependent state in the nation; and

 

     WHEREAS, the State of Hawaii, in partnership with the United States Department of Energy, launched the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative in 2008 to meet 70 percent of Hawaii's energy needs with clean energy by 2030; and

 

     WHEREAS, a partnership consisting of 13 agencies launched the Hawaii Hydrogen Initiative in December 2010 to develop a hydrogen-supplied infrastructure in Hawaii capable of providing renewable hydrogen to power fuel cell vehicles and reduce petroleum imports; and

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii is the ideal location to support hydrogen infrastructure as it has a large urban population and a relatively small land mass; and

 

WHEREAS, Hawaii has served as a test site for hydrogen as a renewable energy source in the past; and

WHEREAS, currently there are plans to implement multiple hydrogen fueling stations on Oahu where the ability to generate clean hydrogen without the need for fossil fuels already exists; and

 

     WHEREAS, hydrogen fueled cars provide more benefits and fewer drawbacks than electrically powered cars; and

 

     WHEREAS, according to the Hawaii Hydrogen Initiative, General Motors has manufactured fuel cell vehicles that have saved nearly 2,000,000 pounds of carbon dioxide; and

 

WHEREAS, fuel cell vehicles have a range of more than 300 miles and can refuel in as little as three minutes; and

 

     WHEREAS, the 2011 Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative’s Road Map includes a strategy to accelerate the deployment of electric and hydrogen vehicles and related infrastructure; and

 

WHEREAS, fuel cell vehicle manufacturers are targeting 2015 for an extensive rollout of hydrogen vehicles; and

 

     WHEREAS, ensuring that fuel cell vehicles and the necessary hydrogen refueling infrastructure come to the market at the same time would allow for greater participation in the use of fuel cell vehicles by a large percentage of the population; and

 

     WHEREAS, if hydrogen cars can be debuted in Hawaii through the rental car market, this could support tourism; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2014, the Senate concurring, that the State of Hawaii is encouraged to renew its commitment to clean energy by working with the United States Department of Energy and the Hawaii Hydrogen Initiative to implement hydrogen infrastructure in strategic areas throughout the State, including the exploration of public-private partnerships for unused state land, on a timeline that is in alignment with that of fuel cell vehicle manufacturers; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the High Technology Development Corporation is encouraged to issue a request for proposals for one or more private entities to partner with one or more state agencies to establish a hydrogen production facility on state land in each of any two counties to utilize renewable feedstock and renewable energy to produce hydrogen as fuel for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles operated in the State; provided that:

 

     (1)  The private entity or entities build and operate the hydrogen production facilities at their own expense; and

 

     (2)  The agreement should allow for decreased rent or other incentives to the private entity or entities in trade for hydrogen as fuel for hydrogen operated state vehicles; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Assistant Secretary of the United States Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, the Governor of Hawaii, the members of the Hawaii Hydrogen Initiative, and to each county council.

Report Title: 

Encouraging the Implementation of Hydrogen Energy Infrastructure to Reflect Hawaii's Commitment to Clean Energy

feedback