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| More than 150 people attended the meeting on the refinery and biofuel farm planned for lands near Pahala. |
MORE THAN 150 COMMUNITY MEMBERS listened to the latest plans for a biofuels refinery and energy farm in Ka`u at a community meeting sponsored by the Ka`u Chamber of Commerce last night at Pahala Community Center.
According to the principals of the company `Aina Koa Pono, the refinery would produce 200 permanent farm, factory and office jobs. For each of these jobs, the enterprise would indirectly support four additional jobs in the community– at stores, restaurants and other businesses, company spokesmen said.
`Aina Koa Pono would manufacture 16 million gallons of biofuel a year to be used as a substitute for fossil fuels being burned in Hawaiian Electric’s power plants.
The company already has an agreement to sell the biofuel to Hawaiian Electric for a fixed price for 20 years, which would fend off steep increases in electric rates in the future, they said. To get started, however, the electric company plans a small increase in electric bills to pay for the biofuel.
Hawai`i Electric Light Co. president Jay Ignacio, who attended the meeting, said the biofuels are part of a plan for a more diversified source of energy.
VEHICULAR FUEL
At the `Aina Koa plant, an additional eight million gallons of fuel would be manufactured for cars and trucks. Another possibility is to manufacture jet fuel, but that would be later since it takes years to have it certified for use in aviation. Markets could include local gas stations to the military. The military, Hawai`i’s largest fuel consumer, has vowed to wean itself from fossil fuels and is looking to buy biofuel.
At the `Aina Koa plant, an additional eight million gallons of fuel would be manufactured for cars and trucks. Another possibility is to manufacture jet fuel, but that would be later since it takes years to have it certified for use in aviation. Markets could include local gas stations to the military. The military, Hawai`i’s largest fuel consumer, has vowed to wean itself from fossil fuels and is looking to buy biofuel.
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| Alexander Causey |
Engineer Alexander Causey described a new site proposed for the refinery, which would be located on an eight-acre campus that can be seen by traveling 1.7 miles up Wood Valley Road, turning left and heading four-tenths of a mile along Meyer Camp Road. The refinery site would be buffered from Pahala town by the 1.5-mile wide macadamia orchard. It would be separated from Wood Valley and its Buddhist Temple by 2.5 miles of pastures and farms. Diversified agriculture and windbreaks could screen the factory from Wood Valley Road.
CALL FOR AN EIS
Several residents called for an Environmental Impact Statement to answer questions of concern in the community. Noa Caiserman, whose house is 1.9 miles up Wood Valley Road from the site, called for a vote on who wants an EIS. A number of those attending the meeting raised their hands, Sophia Hanoa, Stephanie Tabada, Trinie Marques, Sara Witt, Earl Louis, and Andy Andrade among them. One woman called for an EIS, saying she was concerned for the safety of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. “Do this for us,” she proclaimed.
Trini Marques, a coffee farmer, said she was concerned that feedstock and the trucks going in and out of Ka`u could bring in coqui frogs and other invasive species. Stephanie Tabada said there are a lot of unanswered questions from the people.
`Aina Koa Pono co-founder Melvin Chiogioji said that an EIS could delay the project and the new jobs that would come to town. He said it could also open a “Pandora’s box,” causing further delays and promised to abide by all government regulations when building the refinery and farm.
Several residents called for an Environmental Impact Statement to answer questions of concern in the community. Noa Caiserman, whose house is 1.9 miles up Wood Valley Road from the site, called for a vote on who wants an EIS. A number of those attending the meeting raised their hands, Sophia Hanoa, Stephanie Tabada, Trinie Marques, Sara Witt, Earl Louis, and Andy Andrade among them. One woman called for an EIS, saying she was concerned for the safety of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. “Do this for us,” she proclaimed.
Trini Marques, a coffee farmer, said she was concerned that feedstock and the trucks going in and out of Ka`u could bring in coqui frogs and other invasive species. Stephanie Tabada said there are a lot of unanswered questions from the people.
`Aina Koa Pono co-founder Melvin Chiogioji said that an EIS could delay the project and the new jobs that would come to town. He said it could also open a “Pandora’s box,” causing further delays and promised to abide by all government regulations when building the refinery and farm.
TRUCK TRAFFIC
Several residents asked about truck traffic through Pahala town. After the meeting, the engineer pointed to a map showing a route along the old sugar cane haul road from lands between Na`alehu and Pahala where, according to `Aina Koa Pono, fast-growing sugar cane and grasses would be cultivated to feed the new mill. They would be cut, bailed and carried toward Pahala in trucks that would turn mauka by the domestic water tank for Pahala, and up to Meyer Camp Road by the Hester vegetable farm. Trucks would turn right and travel along an improved Meyer Camp Road to the mill site, avoiding Wood Valley Road altogether.
At the refinery, feedstock would be shredded and mixed with a catalyst and placed into a microwave reactor and refined into diesel. The finished liquid fuel would be loaded into tanker trucks that would travel back up Meyer Camp Road, turn makai to the cane haul road and head toward Pahala, skirting the back of the houses on Ilima Street down to Maile Street. The trucks would turn right on Maile Street and head out the Norfolk pine lane to Hwy 11 and on to Kona to the power plant near Keahole Airport. About eight trucks a day would travel to Kona, Causey said.
At the refinery, feedstock would be shredded and mixed with a catalyst and placed into a microwave reactor and refined into diesel. The finished liquid fuel would be loaded into tanker trucks that would travel back up Meyer Camp Road, turn makai to the cane haul road and head toward Pahala, skirting the back of the houses on Ilima Street down to Maile Street. The trucks would turn right on Maile Street and head out the Norfolk pine lane to Hwy 11 and on to Kona to the power plant near Keahole Airport. About eight trucks a day would travel to Kona, Causey said.
CHANGE IN LOCATION
Siting the refinery on Meyer Camp Road represents a change in location, with `Aina Koa Pono responding to an earlier proposal to put the mill at the industrial yard now used for ML Macadamia’s equipment – the old truck shed just off Maile Street near the Pahala Preschool, Methodist Church and homes at the bottom of Ilima Street. There was also concern about creating additional truck traffic in a town where keiki find it safe and easy to walk to school, the swimming pool, the community center and playground, to stores and to the homes of friends and relatives. In Ka`u Community Development Plan meetings and documents, Pahala village has been noted for being a safe and walkable community.
In pointing out the change in location of the mill site, Chiogioji said to the community, “We want to become a good neighbor, listen to your concerns and try the best we can to alleviate them.”
Siting the refinery on Meyer Camp Road represents a change in location, with `Aina Koa Pono responding to an earlier proposal to put the mill at the industrial yard now used for ML Macadamia’s equipment – the old truck shed just off Maile Street near the Pahala Preschool, Methodist Church and homes at the bottom of Ilima Street. There was also concern about creating additional truck traffic in a town where keiki find it safe and easy to walk to school, the swimming pool, the community center and playground, to stores and to the homes of friends and relatives. In Ka`u Community Development Plan meetings and documents, Pahala village has been noted for being a safe and walkable community.
In pointing out the change in location of the mill site, Chiogioji said to the community, “We want to become a good neighbor, listen to your concerns and try the best we can to alleviate them.”
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| Meyer Camp Road at the refinery site. The road would be improved for trucking. |
DAILY PRODUCTION
Nine hundred tons of feedstock a day processed in microwave ovens would generate 72,000 gallons of synthetic diesel, plus 600 to 1,000 pounds of biochar, said engineer Causey. The rate of production would be 80 gallons of biofuel per ton of feedstock. Ten pounds of feedstock would create 3 lbs. of fuel, 4 lbs. of char and 1.5 lbs of non-condensible material, he said. He claimed that biochar could be used as a soil amendment for agriculture.
Nine hundred tons of feedstock a day processed in microwave ovens would generate 72,000 gallons of synthetic diesel, plus 600 to 1,000 pounds of biochar, said engineer Causey. The rate of production would be 80 gallons of biofuel per ton of feedstock. Ten pounds of feedstock would create 3 lbs. of fuel, 4 lbs. of char and 1.5 lbs of non-condensible material, he said. He claimed that biochar could be used as a soil amendment for agriculture.
HOW ABOUT FERTILIZERS AND PESTICIDES? `Aina Koa Pono representatives said they hoped to work with ranchers on an integrated program of grazing the cattle in the fields where the feedstock would be grown. They said little other fertilizer would be needed, and pesticides would probably be unnecessary.
HOW ABOUT WASTE AND THE CATALYST? They claimed there would be little waste at the mill. The catalyst that would be mixed with the feedstock in the biofuels processing, said Causey, would be zeolite, imported from such places as Arkansas and Australia, where they are mined and synthetically manufactured. Zeolites are commonly used in laundry detergents, for water purification and softening and in the petrochemical industry. The zeolite’s alumino-silica properties would help change the structure of the molecules of the feedstock to make the biofuel, he said.
HOW ABOUT WATER? Would the farming and manufacturing take water away from diversified agriculture? Causey said the microwave process would use very little water and could wind up being a net water producer, as the crops being refined contain water. When asked about water needed for growing crops, representatives of `Aina Koa Pono said their crops would take a lot less water than sugar cane, which was grown around Pahala for generations without irrigation.
HOW ABOUT NOISE? Would the refinery be 24/7? The community was told that the refinery would operate 24 hours a day, but the trucking would be confined to daylight hours. The process of grinding the feedstock, a noisy operation, would take place in a concrete building. Causey said the operation would be subject to noise regulations.
HOW ABOUT THE LAND? Grasses or cane would be grown and cut with a large mechanical sickle, unlike the former sugar plantation practice of digging up the cane and carrying the crop to the mill along with lots of soil. Causey claimed that the entire operation would be carbon positive, as fuel for the trucks and machinery could be manufactured onsite.
UNION SHOP
Factory and farm jobs would be union jobs, said `Aina Koa Pono representatives. They said they would initiate training in the community for prospective workers.
They promised more meetings with the community to address concerns and report on their progress.
Factory and farm jobs would be union jobs, said `Aina Koa Pono representatives. They said they would initiate training in the community for prospective workers.
They promised more meetings with the community to address concerns and report on their progress.
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| Ka`iminana Rapoza |
KA`U BOXERS JOHN FLORES AND TITAN AULT secured victories at a boxing tournament held Feb. 19 at the Yeshua SURE Foundation in Pahoa. Flores, of Olson Galiza Boxing Club, won by a referee stop contest versus Paul Leblanc, of AP Boxing. Titan Ault, of Ocean View Boxing Club, earned more points than Isaac Kailiawa, also of OGBC, to gain the victory. Ault was recognized for his outstanding ring behavior and received the Best Sportsmanship Award of the night.
Also participating was Ka`iminani Rapoza, of OVBC, who took on Kairey Bermoy, of Up & Up Boxing Club, in the only female bout of the night. Rapoza lost by decision, but it was a non-stop blow for blow bout, with continuous punches from bell to bell. “The girls left all they had in the ring,” said Coach Norman Santiago. Rapoza was awarded Best Bout of the Night, which is given to the most intense and exciting tourney match. Rapoza is the first female from Ka`u to receive this honor.
Other Ka`u boxers included Fresno Eder, of YWHW Boxing Club, who was knocked out by Johnny Tarin, of Up & Up, and Justin Wirtz and Thor Soder, both of OVBC. Wirtz lost to Troy Nakamura, of Yeshua, by Referee Stop Contest, and Soder lost by points versus Thomas Grimmel, also of Yeshua.
Other Ka`u boxers included Fresno Eder, of YWHW Boxing Club, who was knocked out by Johnny Tarin, of Up & Up, and Justin Wirtz and Thor Soder, both of OVBC. Wirtz lost to Troy Nakamura, of Yeshua, by Referee Stop Contest, and Soder lost by points versus Thomas Grimmel, also of Yeshua.