After the awful display of Katrina's wrath, and the implementation of a remarkably counterproductive gas-cap law, we in Hawai'i have learned important lessons.

We need desperately to eliminate our dependence on imported oil. In that effort, the Legislature and the Hawaiian Electric Co. have, so far, kept us dependent on fossil fuels. Therefore, we should take the lead individually by embracing low-emissions, fuel-efficient hybrid technology for our own cars.

The conservation community has for decades asked Hawaiian Electric to focus on renewable energy sources. But the truth is we have increased the percentage of fossil fuels used in Hawai'i since 1970. Given that, what can be done? To start, we need to focus state and local efforts on ground transportation, where roughly 65 percent of our petroleum is consumed. Hawai'i should build a strategy using existing or "off-the-shelf" technologies that can be rapidly deployed to achieve a significant reduction in oil consumption in the short term. Substantially increasing the number of hybrid cars in Hawai'i is critical to any serious plan to move our economy beyond petroleum dependence.

Hybrids are not just one technology. They can include a wide variety of futuristic propulsion systems. The foundation for a petroleum-independent Hawai'i could be the hybrid electric vehicle. Introduced only a few years ago in the United States, hybrids have become our fastest-selling vehicles. And hybrid technology is rapidly improving.

The waiting list for a Toyota Prius now extends six months on the Mainland and only two months in Hawai'i, according to Curt Lee, general manager of Servco Toyota. Due to our location, we are part of the international distribution scheme and are considered a stronger market than we would be if we were on the domestic distribution arrangement. In fact, we are comparable in clout to the entire country of Israel. We need to take advantage of this market power by purchasing more of this popular technology.

The hybrid auto has become the technological basis for a transportation system that can drastically reduce the amount of petroleum necessary to keep our economy moving. Powered either by electric motors or fuel engines, hybrids could eventually run on biofuels and/or hydrogen. The possibility is that through a combination of technology and development of biofuel resources on agricultural lands, we could someday grow enough fuel stock to dramatically reduce petroleum consumption.

Hybrids save energy by not running the engine when the vehicle is stopped and not using the engine to propel the car from a full stop, the most wasteful (and polluting) part of driving. The 2005 Toyota Prius is rated at 60 miles per gallon in town and 51 mpg on the highway.

Hybrid batteries are charged with electricity generated by the engine (or via a regenerative braking system).

One promising development in hybrid technology research is the expansion of battery capacity that allows the vehicle to recharge from any electrical outlet and/or embedded solar panels in the vehicle's roof.

Eventually, hybrid engines should be capable of running on either biofuels or hydrogen. Currently, the nation already boasts some 4 million flexible fueled vehicles or FFVs. And it cost automakers only $140 more per vehicle for an engine that runs on any proportion of gasoline or biofuels compared with a tradition gasoline-operated engine.

FFVs are only useful, of course, if pumps at gas stations contain high proportions of hydrogen or biofuels. Hawai'i leads the nation in biodiesel technology development and boasts biodiesel plants on Maui and O'ahu. As far as electric delivery systems, outlets can be found virtually everywhere, and the sun is a ubiquitous source of solar trickle charging.

On average, flexible-fuel, plug-in or solar trickle-charge hybrids would travel about 70 percent on electricity and about 30 percent on biofuels. Urban drivers conceivably could drive solely on electricity while rural residents might use biofuels and/or hydrogen to meet 75 percent of their driving needs.

The reduction in the need for gas and diesel makes it possible for biofuels and hydrogen to become genuine substitutes for petroleum. We don't have sufficient land area to grow enough biofuels to displace all our current petroleum transportation fuels. But we do have enough to displace all of our petroleum transportation fuels when electricity and hydrogen satisfy 70 percent of our driving needs.

On the engine side, Hawai'i could easily produce sufficient biofuels to displace every last drop of petroleum. Remember that we have an abundance of idle agricultural land because of the demise of sugar. On the electricity side, Hawai'i is rich in renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and waves. This electricity could be stored in the larger battery packs of plug-in hybrids or used to crack hydrogen from water.

I bought my Honda hybrid from an old surfing buddy at Honda Windward because I was pretty certain that gas was going to be $3 a gallon this year. I was wrong. We may yet see $4 a gallon, but we will never see $2 gas again.

We all recognize the gas price-cap law is flawed. Ultimately, consumers must control the market, not politicians. Many consumers can dramatically cut their fuel costs by purchasing biofuel and hybrid vehicles. With incentives in the future, hydrogen will be economically viable and environmentally clean. A big bonus is energy independence for Hawai'i that immunizes us geopolitically from the oil cartels. Hawai'i cannot afford another 10, 20 or 30 years of stagnation in the energy tar pits of fossil-fuel dependence. We really must be futuristic, innovative and bold. Let's do it.

State Sen. Fred Hemmings, R-25th (Kailua, Waimanalo, Hawai'i Kai), wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.

Honda Motor Co. president Takeo Fukui showed the redesigned 2006 Civic Hybrid to reporters in Tokyo last month. The compact sedan with a small gasoline engine and a hybrid electric motor is said to get 45 to 50 miles to a gallon of gas. State Sen. Fred Hemmings argues that hybrid-power vehicles could be the foundation for building a Hawai'i that is no longer dependent on foreign petroleum.