Big Island residents have endured blackouts or been urged to conserve electricity several times in recent months because enough energy sources aren’t available to overcome power plant shutdowns or shortfalls from wind farms.

This situation underscores the challenge faced by the Big Island and most of Hawaii when it comes to producing electricity. Firm energy generation, available around-the-clock, is essential to maintaining a reliable grid and avoiding blackouts.

Most firm energy generation continues to be from oil-fired, fossil fuel power plants. Storing grid scale energy in batteries from intermittent renewable technologies, like solar and wind, isn’t reliable enough.

Intermittent renewables can’t be relied upon to keep the lights on at all times if a fossil fuel plant goes down. Only firm renewable technologies can accomplish that, meaning we need to move faster to build more of these facilities to replace fossil fuel plants.

Firm renewable technologies, according to state and federal statutes, include biomass, biofuels, geothermal and hydroelectric power — all of which emit significantly less greenhouse gases than fossil fuels.

We are beyond the point where we have the luxury to pick and choose between firm renewable technologies. We need them all and as soon as possible. We can’t let perfect be the enemy of good when it comes to Hawaii’s energy future.

The alternative is the continued use of price-volatile and greenhouse gas-emitting fossil fuels to produce electricity.

The best example of this trade-off is on Oahu where only intermittent solar and battery storage projects were envisioned to provide enough renewable energy to fill the void of shutting down the Barbers Point coal plant, the island’s largest and lowest cost power generator.

However, supply chain logistics, labor issues and increased cost of materials forced long delays and cancellations of planned solar and battery projects, which only worsened the situation.

That means for many months and possibly years to come, Oahu’s renewable energy shortfall will instead be replaced by oil-fired power plants, further increasing the island’s carbon footprint, as well as the cost of electricity.

Hawaii’s leaders need to be more open-minded and results-oriented when it comes to supporting firm renewable energy production.

Green hydrogen fuel needs to be fully embraced, as it offers a carbon-free alternative to gasoline and diesel for cars, trucks and buses. Moreover, combining green hydrogen with batteries can make grid storage from solar and wind more economical.

According to the EPA, transportation accounts for more greenhouse gas emissions than utility scale power plants.

If more firm renewable energy projects being developed were allowed to set aside a portion of their output for hydrogen production, Hawaii could see a greater reduction in carbon emissions, with counties operating their motorpools and bus fleets on clean hydrogen.

For example, the fully built, but not approved Honua Ola Bioenergy facility on the Big Island is capable of using biomass to produce hydrogen fuel along with firm renewable energy.

Honua Ola can also support a much-needed lumber industry for Hawaii. Only the top third of the nonnative eucalyptus tree crops planted along the Hamakua Coast will be used for biomass leaving the rest of the tree for local lumber products. That’s much better than shipping in high-priced building materials.

The introduction of more firm renewable energy projects and increased development of green hydrogen fuel can make Hawaii a global model for decarbonization.

But to achieve that ambitious and reachable goal, we need to utilize the full power of renewable energy production — and we need to do it now.

Paul Ponthieux is director/chief technology officer of Blue Planet Research, LLC.