On June 17, 2010, the Memorandum of Cooperation among USDOE, METI, the State of Hawaii and the Prefecture of Okinawa Creating the Hawaii-Okinawa Partnership on Clean and Efficient Energy Development and Deployment was signed by the four parties. It aims to create and disseminate sustainable clean energy information and models useful for islands globally.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Energy has partnered with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Southern University and A&M College to develop an online middle school curriculum focused on Energy Efficiency in Homes. The curriculum includes general content on energy forms, usage and consumption.

The middle schools involved in this pilot curriculum are

• Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii;
• The University of the Ryukyus Junior High School in Okinawa, Japan; and
• Southern University Laboratory School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The curriculum also includes cultural information on energy use in homes and the differences between the three regions-Hawaii, Japan and Louisiana. Virtual communication between teachers, students and parents will occur throughout the course, encouraging cross-cultural collaboration. The culminating activity of the course is entitled “The Biggest Energy Loser Challenge” in which students compete to reduce energy costs in a model home representative of their region. Results of the challenge are available at right.