The University of Hawaii at Manoa (UH Manoa) has become the first institution in Hawaii to join The Climate Registry, an organization that seeks to objectively measure greenhouse gas emissions, establish baselines and measure improvements. UH Manoa has pledged to reduce energy use 30 percent by 2012 and derive 25 percent of its energy from renewable resources by 2020.

In 2007, Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) produced 4.85 Gigawatts of electricity, chiefly from oil. In 2006 it pledged to produce 500 Megawatts of power, about 9.7 percent of its 2007 production from renewable resources in 5 to 10 years (2011 to 2016).

As far as I can tell after skimming its 2007 Corporate Sustainability Report, it has not pledged to actually reduce its greenhouse gas emissions or lower the amount of oil it uses to produce electricity.

In all fairness, HECO had been working on the Kahe wind farm project for some time, but was not able to get the necessary permits from the county. HECO has also been working on a new power plant, a 9-year-or-so project for them. If it can remove one or more of its old inefficient power plants from operation, there will be a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions; we just won’t be able to measure it objectively.

I don’t know if The Climate Registry will help objectify the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. All I know is that they do not sell or advertise the purchase of carbon offsets on their site -- a positive thing.