Conserving energy just to stay even

It’s interesting how global energy trends can be seen, in microcosm, here at home.

Petroleum giant BP issued its latest Energy Outlook report, in which its experts predict that worldwide demand for energy will expand by almost 40 percent by 2030. That’s largely because of the growth in developing economies such as India, more than offsetting slowing demand in the top 34 industrialized nations.

The Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative, the federal-state partnership that’s been guiding energy policy here, seeks to cut use of oil by 30 percent, also by 2030, and derive 40 percent from locally generated renewable sources. And just last week Hawaiian Electric Co. said its conservation pilot project is driving down energy consumption on Oahu, at least a little bit.

Good thing, too, because the rest of the world will be lapping it all up by then. Still, it’s hard to picture all these supply-and-demand fluctuations dovetailing like that. Seems too perfect for this crazy world.

What they’ll be eating on Mars

People who are curious about what it’s like for astronauts to eat on a mission to Mars are being offered the experience by the University of Hawaii and Cornell University.

A study will be conducted next year by researchers on Hawaii island, where participants are being offered $25 a day plus a bonus when they complete the four-month study by eating astronauts’ diet. They will be evaluated for their powers of taste and smell and their capacity to learn new scientific and culinary skills. Candidates agreeing to simulate that part of living and working on another planet are being invited to apply by Feb. 29. See http://manoa.hawaii.edu/hi-seas/.