A traditional blessing used by Hawaiians throughout generations to preserve oral histories and traditions. Today, the oli is referred to as the soul of the aboriginal peoples of Hawaii and is recognized at the highest form of the Hawaiian language.

Setting the stage for Hawaii's third annual VERGE conference.

Revisiting the relevance of a world view based on respect for this planet and future generations in an age that continues to revere and depend on technology, the indigenous leaders who were involved with Hawaii's initial clean energy and sustainability ambitions "talk story" about what's happened over the past decade and offer their candid recommendations on what still needs to change. 

In 2008, Hawaii signed into law the most aggressive clean energy goals of any state in the Union. It set the islands on a path to clean energy. Ten years later, the four counties matched the State's clean energy goal with a commitment to 100% renewable ground transportation and new data tells the story of how Hawaii can move faster than anyone originally thought, more than doubling its renewable energy potential to up to 84% by 2030. Aggregating technical, economic, policy and social data for ground transportation and electric power, how do the numbers translate into action? Where are there opportunities for innovation? What does this mean for the rest of the country and the world? 

Hawaii is now into its third year of carving a path to achieve its  100% renewable electricity mandate by 2045; Meanwhile, Hawaii recently became the first U.S. state to commit to 100% renewable fuel sources for public and private ground transportation, with a target of 2045. To lead the charge, the City and County of Honolulu, the County of Maui, and the County of Kauai pledged to transition all fleet vehicles to 100% renewable power by 2035. Those leading these ambitious charges discuss how they are tackling the actions necessary to achieve these historic clean energy and clean transportation commitments — including addressing the challenges and opportunities ahead.

The future of the grid is increasingly becoming decarbonized, distributed and digital. Utility and energy executives from California, Australia and Hawaii share what they are doing to meet their aggressive clean energy goals, lessons learned so far, and what's ahead.

While many stakeholders in the clean energy economy claim poverty, there's good news: Equitable financing models exist for decarbonizing our local energy and transportation systems! Holmes Hummel is back to build on her VERGE Talk last year on how to scale clean energy investments with equity as a driver — showing how financing the clean energy infrastructure transition is not just a social imperative, but also a business opportunity.

This fast-paced start-up competition provides entrepreneurs in energy, transportation, buildings, water and cybersecurity the opportunity to pitch to the VERGE audience. Industry experts provide commentary and audience votes determine the winner.

One of the top data visualization experts in the country demonstrates what happens when you take Hawaii's expansive energy data sets and present them simply and elegantly to help the state's commissioners and policymakers make more informed decisions about models to achieve its clean energy goals.

Over the course of just a few hours, Hurricane Maria exposed how fragile Puerto Rico is. Years of underinvestment in infrastructure and the recent financial crisis let the island languish, making the devastation far worse than it would have been otherwise. The storm caused the island’s entire electric grid to fail, its network of roads and highways to be disrupted, and access to clean drinking water lost. With no shortage of ideas on how to rebuild using better, stronger and cleaner technologies, who decides what gets built? How will it all be financed? And why is it taking so long? Leaders from the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) Transformation Advisory Council and the head of engineering at New York's major utility Con Edison (involved in the recovery of Hurricane Sandy as well as Puerto Rico's recovery) discuss their plans for a future-proofed power system and lessons learned from Puerto Rico so far.

Internationally acclaimed poet and storyteller Kealoha is back to perform another special piece for the VERGE Hawaii audience.

How can Hawaii set a gold standard that better aligns with its values as well as those around the world? A panel of policymakers and influencers from Hawaii and beyond — including one who has implemented carbon standards in California — will explore the design possibilities, implementation strategies, potential impacts and lessons learned from operating under this expanded paradigm.

Kicking off the second day, with a recap from the organizers and messages from some special guests. Stay tuned!

Many experts think that the fastest path to decarbonization is to electrify everything — buildings, transportation and communities. But there is danger in myopic thinking, and systemic challenges lie ahead. California and Hawaii energy leaders share their stories on how each state is tackling these barriers and creating new models to unleash profitable opportunities.

Decarbonizing Hawaii's ground transportation commitments are not only about electrification. What technologies are currently ready and available for implementation in spaces where electrification is not yet viable? What other fuels are going to be available in the coming years? What is the future trajectory of alternative fuel technologies and when will they be cost-effective?

The VP of Operations at the Los Angeles Homeland Security Council explains how a data-driven tool they created for the City and County of L.A. changed her community's ability to respond in emergency situations and redefined its crisis management systems — across the utilities, police, fire and other vital government departments. She tells the stories of accelerated resilience and security across various community groups and shares her lessons and resources for Hawaii and other areas in need.

This fast-paced start-up competition provides entrepreneurs in energy, transportation, buildings, water and cybersecurity the opportunity to pitch to the VERGE audience. Industry experts provide commentary and audience votes determine the winner.

How do tourism industry stakeholders — hotels, business owners, airlines — define "sustainability" from an economic standpoint? How can leaders advance efficiency and conservation without compromising — even increasing — the experience for travelers?  What are the metrics that the industry can align on to demonstrate data-driven progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions while creating new economic opportunities?

The transportation sector has typically made up about 30% of the carbon emissions from society, second to the utility sector. However, in 2016, transportation overtook utilities. This occurred even as cars became more efficient because we have built communities and a transportation sector that force people to travel 2% more per year every year. This increase in travel jeopardizes our ability to de-carbonize the transportation sector.  If we electrify the vehicle fleet, then we both push a huge new electricity demand load on the utility sector — and one that is continuing to increase unabated because of our poor development and transportation decisions. As a result, there is an urgency for Hawaii to tackle its transportation demand now. So what are the solutions? Panelists will explore ways to reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) via smart growth and transit-oriented development, multi-modal transportation, the role of autonomous and shared vehicles and, of course, vehicle efficiency.

For Hawai‘i to achieve its 100% clean energy goal, it cannot rely solely on grid-scale projects, making Distributed Energy Resources and the end-user an important piece of the puzzle. The University of Hawai‘i Community Colleges have launched a comprehensive energy efficiency, renewable energy, and storage project - the largest behind the meter PV + storage project in Hawai‘i.  This panel will dive into the unique financial and technical components of this innovative project – from the enabling technologies to the value stacking of benefits – and share some of the important lessons learned and considerations.  Speakers will also discuss how the operation of these systems could evolve into participation in utility demand side grid services programs.  

Hawaii is the first state in the nation with 100% renewable energy targets for both for electricity and ground transportation. But what does that mean for everyday residents and businesses in 
the islands? What is their role in our journey to 100%?

“We Are 100” showcases actions and commitments that support Hawaii’s journey to 100% by various companies, organizations, and individuals across the state. The goal is to demonstrate Hawaii’s leadership, promote and lock-in individual and business action, highlight bright spots, and pull together disparate communities in Hawaii under a common goal. We Are 100 will include unexpected and nontraditional allies in the push for 100% renewable. Each voice will share a clean energy action that they have already taken as well as a “stretch” commitment to accelerate clean energy progress. These are stories of people who don’t just have skin in the game, they have soul in the game. For all of us, 100% renewable isn’t some “policy;” it’s Hawaii’s broadly supported commitment to the globe. We Are 100 shows how we are doing it.

Energy innovation, infrastructure investments, and emerging technology are integral to Hawaii’s future energy capability.  Such progress also introduces the opportunity to invest, design, plan for and implement resiliency into Hawaii’s energy systems.  This presentation will discuss the importance of planning for resiliency as Hawaii excels towards energy sustainability.  The panel will offer key considerations for energy infrastructure adaptations, critical dependencies and interdependencies, and strategic investment planning that maximize the efficiency and sustainability opportunities while also ensuring newly introduced vulnerabilities are mitigated.  We will explore lessons learned from the 2017 hurricane season and other island environments, debate the balance of innovation and infrastructure security and resilience, and highlight emerging concepts in digital energy delivery models, placed in the complex context of Hawaii’s island state. 

Closing plenary thoughts from the organizer and host. And a final update from our partner Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii on the progress our event has made on its zero-waste goal.

On average, the poorest 20% pay the most for electricity — that’s 10% of total household income. Community power and community storage will transform access to affordable clean energy for low-income households, if we deploy equitable project finance models that scale with the market instead of depending on subsidies. Leaders from around the world discuss new project development and finance models that are transforming the economic and energy landscape in their communities. Because the place to begin to drive sharing power as an outcome across urban/rural and diverse state and utility markets is to develop the project shaped by community values, including asking "what do we have in abundance?" Examples connecting beauty to culture and reconciliation will be provided from the southern region of the U.S., Australia and Hawaii. 

Alaska is at ground zero for climate change, yet its mainstay is still oil and gas. It is also the production home to 12% of the world's microgrids. How are these factors contributing toward its cleaner energy future? This is the story of how entrepreneurs, military leaders, utility operators, researchers and thought leaders are fostering an ecosystem of energy innovation in Alaska to address grid resiliency issues locally and globally. From drones to climate change mitigation, and from electrical grids to cyber security, Alaska holds value and experience that a growing entrepreneurial ecosystem is beginning to capture.

Energy and technology leaders from Australia and South Korea share their respective cautionary tales, solutions that have been successful for their respective markets, and explore the strategies and technologies that might work for Hawaii and others.

Hawaii is pursuing a clean energy future that is fast approaching. Those who will carry the renewable electricity torch are just steps away from assuming the responsibility of leading in this industry. The reach of renewables development in Hawaii is broad — from policy to technology and social equity to fragile island ecologies — and tomorrow’s leaders will have a lot to address. So, what is being done to equip future generations with the tools necessary to seamlessly fold into the face-paced, technology-centric clean energy transformation?

This is a snap shot of what Hawaii’s youth envision for their clean energy future. Student leaders from across the state will share how they are preparing to take on the responsibility of equitable renewable energy development, as well as what Hawaii’s Youth need from today’s leaders to secure professionally viable options to remain in Hawaii and thrive in the developing clean energy ecosystem.  

A short, high-energy rock musical number with choreography from Honolulu Theatre for Youth — a professional theatre production. An inspiring case study of how partners nationally and locally can work together to integrate arts and educational messages to inspire multi-generational solutions as the islands transition to 100% clean energy.

Last December, Hawaii became the first U.S. state to commit to 100% renewable fuel sources for public and private ground transportation, with a target of 2045 (and a pledge to transition all fleet vehicles to 100% renewables by 2035). This was not only historic, but an incredibly ambitious proclamation by the state's four mayors. As the cities and counties of Hawaii begin transforming their fleets and infrastructure to meet these goals as well as the Governor's 100% RPS, we close out the show with thoughts from the island leaders about the power of local action in the context of global sustainability, resiliency and economic security.