A new federal study says Hawaii’s waves stand to provide a massive source of alternative energy.
The U.S. Department of Energy says 80 terawatt hours of electricity could be generated annually off the island coast.
By comparison, utilities generated only 10 terawatt hours from all sources for the counties of Honolulu, Maui and Hawaii Island in 2010. Tapping into the clean energy is the challenge.
"We certainly have enough energy, and then some, to power ourselves. The question becomes how do we do that? Which technologies are inexpensive enough to run right away, and which ones are going to require additional research and development?” said Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz.
The federal agency says wave and other water power resources could provide 15 percent of the nation's electricity by the year 2030.
