AppleTV fans might have tuned into Tetris, the latest AppleTV+ original telling Henk Rogers’ story of how he brought the famed video game to the masses. Beyond the world of games, this Dutch-born entrepreneur has dedicated the past 15 years to research, development, advocacy and implementation of renewable energy sources in his adopted home of Hawaii. Rogers landed in the town of Laie on Oahu’s northeast shore, with his family, and extended his stay to include three years at the University of Hawaii. In 2008, he started the Blue Planet Foundation, which helped Hawaii legislatively mandate a commitment to 100% renewable energy by 2045 and remains aiding the islands to cut carbon emissions. In 2020, he started Blue Planet Alliance, where he uses Hawaii as the model to help other islands and countries make the decision to mandate 100% renewable energy by 2045. With Blue Planet Energy, he is at the forefront of energy storage, helping homes and communities access energy from renewables. Rogers is not alone in this quest, and the ‘steep hurdles’ the state faces are mostly in transportation, but there have been positive steps made.
Feature image courtesy of Henk Rogers
How did the Blue Planet Foundation help Hawaii commit to 100% renewable by 2045?
We wanted to make a change and help shift the public in favor of transitioning to renewable energy. In Hawaii, we went from “there is no way this is going to happen,” to “of course we’re doing this.” From the beginning, I reached out to the utility and built relationships with the legislators in charge of energy. A buddy of mine was on the Dean’s Council of the College of Engineering, and a Hawaii Electric Company (HECO) manager became the president of all of HECO. We created legislation and lobbied for years. We changed the minds of the people, including the utility’s and eventually passed a mandate and changed the business model of the utilities so they could make more money by switching to renewables. This changed everything, and all of a sudden, they went gangbusters doing RFPs and switching to solar.
Would you say Islands are the ideal place to study energy usage and improve efficiencies?
Islands are excellent models to study the transition from fossil fuel to clean energy usage. Most are in a similar situation where they buy all their energy in the form of fossil fuel, primarily petroleum, and all the money they make gets drained out of the economy to fuel energy needs. Here in Hawaii, as of last year, 77% of our power came from burning fossil fuels (mainly oil and some coal). Back in 2008, fossil fuel accounted for a little more than 90% of our power. We did a back-of-the-envelope calculation, and if the electric companies said they were going to go 100% renewable energy by 2040, that would save ratepayers 7 billion dollars. In Hawaii, ratepayers pay the most expensive energy in the country and, as a result, have the lowest salaries and the highest rents. It’s also said that Hawaii has the highest cost of living, forcing young people to move to the mainland because they can’t afford to pay rent and buy ordinary household expenses, which is ridiculous. Getting rid of fossil fuel will make a big difference right there.
How close are you to hitting the 100% renewable energy mark, what is working and what are the challenges?
Today, we have met our 2030 goal of reaching 36% renewable energy in Hawaii. These changes look like more solar power units on homes, more electric vehicles on the roads, and large utility-scale renewable energy projects like solar and wind farms. Our residential initiatives have been successful, and recently, Hawaii Electric reported nearly 100,000 rooftop solar systems online. Despite our progress, we still have some hurdles to tackle, and the biggest one is transportation. Planes, shipping, ground, marine, and military are the largest emitters of greenhouse gases in Hawaii. Changes like shifts to electric fleets and sustainable fuel will help us reach 100%; however, there are still a few economic and technological barriers that stand in the way.
Why does Hawaii act as a model to guide your work in other islands and countries in their commitments to be 100% renewable by 2045.
The model is to start with a place where everyone is convinced that there is no way they can go to 100% renewable energy and have them make the decision to go to renewable energy. The decision is where it starts. The people push the politicians, and the politicians create. We had children go door to door handing out light bulbs and starting conversations, saying this lightbulb is going to save you money, and this is going to save my future. It’s got to change. We helped Hawaii get on track, and now, with Blue Planet Alliance, we are in New York to do the same thing for other island countries. Last year, we did Palau, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Guam. This year, we’re adding Micronesia, Northern Marianas and the Cayman Islands.
How do you convince these islands and countries to make the decision to go renewable?
The way it works is we take three people from each island or island country and bring them to Hawaii. One is from the government, one is from the utility, and one is from the environmental sector. Those three people spend the week in Hawaii and show them what we did and how we did it. They have access to the former Governor, the Head of the Utility, and all these different people who were part of this transition. They get a first-hand look at how these people went through it.
What are some easy things visitors and locals can do to be part of the sustainable solution?
The easiest way to make a significant reduction of you impact while visiting or living in Hawaii is turning off air-conditioning and lights when no one is home and using public transportation or riding a Biki (rent-a-bike).
Finally, why did you choose the name Blue Planet?
Blue Planet started in Hawaii, and it’s a world view. All of the ways that people generally look at the world are Europe-centric or North America-centric, and I want this to be Hawaii-centric because Hawaii is the example. If you start in Hawaii, back off the planet to space, and look back down at the planet, it’s pretty much a blue planet. It’s a world view starting in Hawaii. Not only do we want to export how we are overcoming the energy situation, but also how we live together. Once you come to Hawaii for a couple of weeks, you’re local. We don’t have foreigners in Hawaii. That is how the world should be. We shouldn’t have such a thing as foreigners, we should all be local. If you start thinking about everybody as local, then everybody lives together in harmony, and it’s the right culture. I think we need to export that culture to the rest of the world.
