Video by David Corrigan | Voice of Stephanie Salazar

HILO, Hawaii: The public courtship concerning the future use of Geothermal Energy continued with this forum in Hilo on Saturday.

A large and varied panel of specialists discussed the sustainable energy that is abundant on Hawaii Island, a growing candidate to lead the Hawaii towards energy independence.

Many faces seen in previous forums were present: including Richard Ha, local farmer and co-chair of the Geothermal Working Group, back from a recent trip to Iceland were he gathered information of that nation’s use of geothermal power.

A mix of government and utility officials, and business persons rounded out the panel…

Ormat, the company behind Puna Geothermal Venture, was in attendance, as were other geothermal business interests, like Mililani Trask and Kristine Kubat. Kubat, a long-time grassroots activist, is now representing Moku Power, which seeks to use PowerTube technology for geothermal energy distribution.

Both Trask and Kubat stood in opposition to geothermal projects in the past… now, they are pushing forward with their ideas; possible competitiors in a future industry.

As competitiors, the two had plenty of questions for one another, and a heated exchange took place during a panel Q and A session.

Trask also questioned why Ormat and HELCO have not negotiated to provide a lower cost to Hawaii’s energy consumer.

But as Hawaii braces for the global effects of peak oil… when costs rise as the world oil supply fails to meet the growing demand… it looks like no solution can get here fast enough.

A reality that has even the normally even tempered Ha running low on patience.