Ka`u News Briefs August 11, 2011

A HULA KAHIKO PERFORMANCE takes place on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. on the hula platform overlooking Kilauea Crater in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. It features Hula Halau o Kou Lima Nani E under the direction of kumu hula Iwalani Kalima.

RELL WOODWARD, president of Ocean View Community Development Corp. and former president of the Ka`u Chamber of Commerce, is appealing to Ka`u residents to speak out in the public reapportionment hearings scheduled for next month. In an e-mail sent out to local business owners, community leaders, and other residents yesterday, Woodward expressed his concern for the proposed reapportionment plan that would divide Ka`u into two state House districts.

A proposed reapportionment plan
divides Ka`u into two
state House districts.

     Longtime Rep. for Ka`u, Bob Herkes, would have to campaign to represent a district that would run from Punalu`u to Pahala, Volcano, and subdivisions in Puna. Another candidate would run for a district that would represent Na`alehu, Discovery Harbour, Green Sands, Kalae, Ocean View and Miloli`i, which would be thrown in with people living in Kona all the way to Kahalu`u.
     Woodward said this could lead to representatives with little knowledge of Ka`u and more interest in Kona and Puna. Pointing to Herkes’ longtime representation of Ka`u, Woodward said, “Personally, I feel that an experienced and knowledgeable legislator is a tremendous asset. Certainly projects like the Ocean View well would not have happened otherwise.”
     Public hearings will be on Sept. 13 at 5 p.m. in the Hilo Council chamber and Sept. 14 at 5 p.m. in the Kona Council chamber.

HERE IS MORE TESTIMONY ON THE `Aina Koa Pono proposal to build a refinery and biofuel farm between Pahala and Wood Valley and Na`alehu. The testimony is posted on the website of the Public Utilities commission which recently held hearings in Kona, Hilo and Honolulu on the matter. No hearings have been held in Ka`u. The last public meeting in Ka`u regarding the proposed refinery was held in February.

LIFE OF THE LAND executive director Henry Curtis asks the PUC to require data from the electric company and `Aina Koa Pono pertaining to projected profits from selling the by-product of refining oil at a refinery planned for lands between Pahala and Wood Valley. He wrote that projected by-product income is needed since the electric company is asking to hike electrical rates to pay for the biofuel project. He said profits from the by-product char that `Aina Koa Pono says it can sell should be considered before assessing a rate hike on electric customers. Curtis pointed to `Aina Koa Pono’s proposal which says it will sell 140,000 tons of biochar each year to agricultural and conservation interests. “Will HELCO subsidies for electricity allow AKP to reap unreasonably large profits from biochar sales?” asks Life of the Land.

Douglas Van Thorre

VICE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER Douglas Van Thorre, of TekGar, a pioneering company in microwave polymerization technology, addressed concerns over the effects microwave radiation. “In our application,” he says, “the microwaves are contained in a microwave-proof housing called a Faraday cage. It is a metal cage that doesn’t allow the microwaves to pass through to the surrounding environment.” Van Thorre says the microwaves used in the process are similar to those used in homes in that the frequency of the microwaves is the same and that both use Faraday cages. “Constant monitoring of the plant is a routine measure when the plant is processing.” The commander works with the Fleet Energy Office of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. 

COMMANDER MATTHEW COHEN, of the U.S. Pacific Fleet’s Energy Management Office, suggested alternatives to biofuel in order to reduce energy costs. He wrote to the PUC, “Before you spend any more taxpayer money on energy projects, strong consideration should be given to ‘incentivizing’ shopkeepers on Kalakaua to shut their doors when the AC is running.”
     He also suggested that all Hawai`i photovoltaic projects be fitted with controls that raise AV thermostat settings and disable compressor circuits as solar array output drops due to clouds or haze.” He also suggested that all new buildings have white roofs and reflective coating to reduce heat absorbed by the building.
     Cohen further suggested that all new buildings that include AC be required to install a pre-heater for hot water that utilizes rejected condenser heat.
     Other suggestions from the Navy Commander: “Stop selling any incandescent lamps,” and “T12 fluorescent lamps in stores.... Establish a website that provides HSS feeds of incoming solar radiation so PV system owners can install system performance monitoring equip without the cost element of a pyranometer. Performance monitoring will detect and report system faults and trigger required repairs.”
     He finished his testimony by recommending periodic inspections and verifications of hot water solar thermal systems. 

PRESIDENT OF ILWU LOCAL 142 Isaac Fiesta, Jr. reiterated the union’s strong support for the biofuel supply contract for `Aina Koa Pono and the biofuel surcharge. Both, he says, will ultimately benefit the local economy. “Approval of the Biodiesel Supply Contract,” he said, “will mean the company can secure investors and financing to construct a biorefinery in Wood Valley and hire workers from the Ka`u area to cultivate, harvest, and process the feedstock crops needed to produce biodiesel.” This, Fiesta claims, will spill over to other industries such as stores, restaurants and medical facilities. 

     Apart from economic benefits, Fiesta says that biofuel production will help the state reach its target of generating 40 percent of energy needs by 2020. “The surcharge,” he says, “is an investment in our energy future. Paying a little now will help to ensure more secure and affordable electricity for our children and grandchildren.” 

ALEXANDER CAUSEY, an engineer for `Aina Koa Pono, submitted testimony to the PUC concerning the proposed contract between AKP and the electric company. Causey claims that, of all the technologies he reviewed for viability for `Aina Koa Pono, “there was no other [technology] that compared even closely with the microwave depolymerization technology with respect to production per acre and capital costs and pure potential because of its multiple product outputs – the process works and will generate ASTM Specification fuel.” 

A Corpse plant blooms, stinkingly, at the
Pana`ewa Zoo on Hwy 11 between
Ka`u and Hilo.

THE RARE FLOWERING OF A CORPSE PLANT will be available to see and smell for any Ka`u residents driving to and from Hilo. It is on display for the next few days – as long as the bloom lasts - at the Pana`ewa Rainforest Zoo and Gardens just off Hwy 11. The Corpse plant, nicknamed “Stinky 1,” and also referred to as titum arum, produces an odor similar to rotting meat when in full bloom to attract carrion beetles and flesh flies that pollinate it. The zoo is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

MEMBERS OF THE KA`U COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN steering committee will host an informational table at the Ocean View swap meet this Saturday. The swap meet is held at Pohue Plaza from 7 a.m. to noon.

Ka`u News Briefs August 10, 2011

John Carroll (left) and Michael Thieman, of `Aina Koa Pono, work with Lance Santo (center) from Hawai`i Agricultural Research Center to plant and grow sugar cane and bana grass to see which plants will do best on the proposed biofuels farm between Wood Valley and Pahala and Na`alehu.  Photo by Michael Neal

FORTY TEST PLOTS have been planted for the proposed `Aina Koa Pono biofuels farm planned for lands between Wood Valley and Pahala and Na`alehu. Lance Santo, Agricultural Field Coordinator for Hawai`i Agricultural Research Center, has worked with sugar cane and other grasses since Hawaiian Sugar Planters days and is heading up research on appropriate biofuels crops. He said the test crops will be fertilized. They will also be irrigated if necessary.

    Santo said high biomass-producing crops need fertilizer since they remove so many nutrients from the ground. John Carroll and Michael Thieman, of `Aina Koa Pono, said they will bring additional types of cane and bana crosses to test, and are hoping for varieties that don’t require much fertilizer. They said they hope to have a biofuel farm without irrigation.
     Regarding concerns that the grasses could be invasive, Santo said that bana grasses and canes are not sterile, but noted they are hard to reproduce without actually planting them one stick at a time. Santo said that sugar cane and bana probably grow best around 900 feet in elevation where there is a lot of sun, but also rain. Among canes and bana grasses being tested are two growing wild in Ka`u.
     The Olson Trust crew prepared the ground and planting and will care for the canes and bana grass until harvest. Santo said that HARC is funding its part of the research. “This needs to be done,” not only for proposed biofuel farms here in Ka`u but for proposed biofuel efforts elsewhere around the state, he said.

Robbie Alm

HAWAIIAN ELECTRIC COMPANY’S executive vice president Robbie Alm has submitted testimony to the Public Utilities Commission supporting his company’s proposed contract with `Aina Koa Pono to create a biofuel farm and build a refinery near Pahala, raising electric rates to help pay for it. 

     Alm wrote: “Our state is 90 percent dependent on imported fossil fuels for all our energy needs. This is no longer sustainable. It threatens our energy and economic security and our environment.” Alm said the contract between HECO and `Aina Koa Pono would “supply a significant quantity of biofuels for a period of 20 years – starting with 14 million gallons per year in 2014 and increasing to 16 million gallons per year in 2015.” Alm emphasized local use of biofuel to power Hawaiian Electric’s own power plant and for transportation fuel.
     Regarding proposed rate hikes, Alm contended that charging higher rates makes sense because locally produced biofuels would reduce the risk imposed on having to import oil and would produce jobs within the state. In the long term, he claimed, oil prices will continue to climb, making the higher cost of biofuels now worth it.

STEPHEN P. REIMERS, a Navy captain in the U.S. Pacific Fleet, called HECO’s rate hike “a travesty.” Reimers said that HECO should be producing fuel to lower electric bills, not increase them. He cites a study by the University of Hawai`i that found the cost of making biodiesel more energy-intensive than energy produced. He also questioned `Aina Koa Pono’s ability to produce 16 million gallons of fuel, saying the company does not yet have the necessary financing. He also questioned the company’s claims that biodiesel fuel reduces greenhouse emissions, benefits agriculture and economic interests, and reduces dependency on foreign oil. “There is absolutely no proof of any of that being possible,” said the Navy captain.
     Reimers also objected to O`ahu residents paying more when the biofuel will be used on the Big Island. He also questioned HECO’s current high electric rates on the Big Island: “Do I have to remind you that the Big Island has more renewable energy on it than anywhere else in Hawai`i, yet the customers in the Big Island are paying more per kilowatt hour than anyone else? How can this be? And HECO/HELCO wants to raise the rates even more?” he asked.

MICHAEL ASATO wrote testimony to the PUC saying he opposes a clause in the contract that could give `Aina Koa Pono and the electric company the ability “to pass on AKP's cost overruns ‘without limitations’ to its ratepayers.”
     He also suggested that a smaller test plant refinery be operated before final approval is considered and pointed to Sun Microsystems’ co-founder Vinod Khosia, a venture capitalist who made a big investment in a Range Fuels biofuels project on the mainland. When the project failed, Khosia blamed problems with making pellets from biomass, not the new Range Fuel technology to make energy.
    Asato testified that given that Range Fuels was a recipient of a federal Department of Energy loan guarantee, “one lesson is that before the PUC grants HECO's requests, “AKP should build a pilot/demonstration plant to validate its ‘routine’ pellet making system for its planned feedstock.”

The hawksbill turtle recently retrieved from Punalu`u
Pond was found dead in the ocean last week.

TURTLE 63, the hawksbill recently retrieved from Punalu`u Pond by University of Hawai`i marine science students, was found dead last week in the ocean at Punalu`u. A lifeguard found her. She was pulled onto the beach and taken to U.H. Hilo, where she was frozen, to be shipped to Honolulu where a veterinarian will conduct a necropsy. It is unusual for scientists to recover a hawksbill turtle who has so recently passed away. She will be used for anatomic and genetic studies. Lauren Kurpita, of the Hawksbill Turtle Project, which studies and protects the animals along the Ka`u coast, said, “It is really sad she died, but something good in the way of better understanding this endangered species could come from this. She said that turtle expert George Balasz had earlier described Turtle 63 as “morbidly obese.” 

FRIENDS OF HAWAI`I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK was recently awarded a $5,000 grant by the National Environmental Education Foundation. Twenty-two of 300 nonprofit Friends groups, which assist parks and other lands by fundraising and community service projects, were awarded grants this year. The $5,000 will go a “Friendraising Website Development” project. According to Volcano Friends’ General Manager Julie Mitchell, the project will help increase the number of volunteers, members, program participants, board members, and donors. To get involved with Friends of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park, call 985-7373 or visit www.fhvnp.org.

Police and fire investigators are looking for clues to three fires near Punalu`u this week.  Photo by Julia Neal

POLICE ARE SEEKING THE PUBLIC'S HELP in providing information about three suspicious brush fires in the Punalu`u area in the past week. The police say the fires on Aug. 3, 7 and 8 along Highway 11 appear to have been set intentionally. 

     Anyone with information about the fires or any suspicious persons in the area is asked to call the police non-emergency line at 935-3311. Those who want to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at 961-8300 and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.

A SIGN WAVING EVENT to raise awareness of suicide prevention is being planned for Ka`u in early September. Charmaine Alameda, of the Hawai`i Family Guidance Center, is asking interested residents to call her at 933-0607.

KTA SUPERSTORES will be accepting donations to Habitat for Humanity throughout August. Shoppers may select a green fundraising coupon for $1 or $5 donation at the checkout register. “This is the second year that KTA has selected our organization,” says the organization’s West Hawai`i Community Relations director Margo Takata, “and it is through this type of community support that we are able to raise funds for our builds, and also build awareness about Habitat for Humanity on the Big Island.” Habitat for Humanity West Hawai`i recently helped a family with home ownership in Ocean View. For more information, contact Tanaka at Habitat for Humanity West Hawai`i at 331-8010, or contact Michele Robles at Hale Aloha O Hilo, Habitat East Hawai`i at 640-2407. 

THE HAWAIIAN CIVIC CLUB OF KA`U will host a Labor Day Plate Lunch Fundraiser on Monday, September 5 in the parking lot of Ocean View Market, from 10 a.m. to 3p.m. For $10 per plate, buyers will have a choice of steak or laulau with rice, corn, dessert, and a drink. Each steak will be an eight-ounce sirloin, and the laulau is specially made by Aloha Cafe with fish, pork, and sweet potato. All profits will go to support the needs of the Hawaiian Civic Club of Ka`u. Call Arlene Araki at 989-5141 to buy tickets or for more information. 

MEMBERS OF THE KA`U COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN Steering Committee will host an informational table at the Ocean View swap meet this Saturday. The swap meet is held at Pohue Plaza from 7 a.m. to noon.

Ka`u News Briefs August 9, 2011

The third brushfire in a week broke out near Punalu`u yesterday and was quickly put out by firefighters.
Photo by Michael Neal

A 45-DAY COMMENT PERIOD is clicking away regarding the Draft Environmental Impact Statement issued for 16,457 acres at the Nani Kahuku `Aina development makai of Hwy 11 between South Point and Ocean View. The state Office of Environmental Quality Control published the EIS on its website yesterday. See Environmental Notice at hawaii.gov/health/environmental/oeqc/index.html.

     To build its golf course, hotels, condominiums, commercial centers and resort homes, the developers would need a change in land use classification from the state Land Use Commission as well as zoning changes from the county. The resort and residential area would take up about 1,600 acres in the makai section of the property.
     Much of the resort development along the coast would be on what is now Conservation land and includes the Pohue Bay endangered turtle nesting area, which the developers promise to preserve.
     The developers first introduced a much larger resort with an airport but reduced the size and eliminated the airport. They also promise Hawaiian cultural educational centers and a veterans’ center.

A THIRD BRUSHFIRE in a week tore through grassland near Punalu`u yesterday. Witnesses spotted a small fire on the makai side of Highway 11 on the turn-in road to Punalu`u. One witness who called 911 was told that fire emergency services were aware of the fire, but were busy containing a larger fire on mauka side of Highway 11 that burned 10 acres the day before. Hawai`i and Pahala firefighters arrived within 20 minutes of the call and began containing the fire. A much larger fire burned 85 acres near Punalu`u last week.

PHYSICIST AND ENERGY ANALYST Ulrich Bonne, who lives on the Big Island, is asking the Public Utilities Commission, `Aina Koa Pono and Hawaiian Electric to work together on further analyzing the best options for alternative energies to help get Hawai`i off fossil fuel. Bonne said he and his colleagues would like to help the parties “explore, qualify and quantify available options.” Bonne testified at a public hearing last week in Kona regarding the `Aina Koa Pono and Hawaiian Electric contract that would lead to higher rates for customers on O`ahu and the Big Island to support construction of a refinery and biofuel farm here. 

     Bonne said that “Hawai`i island is blessed with sustainable and renewable energy resources: Biomass, wind, solar-PV and geothermal.” Regarding growing crops to harvest and transport to a refinery to make liquid fuel, which would again be transported from Pahala to Kona to burn in a power plant, Bonne said this way of making electricity could use up a lot of energy. The scientist said he suspects that “engaging in a substantial effort and energy loss of 30-60 percent to make fuel to then convert it to electricity with another 60-70 percent loss is a losing proposition when direct and much more efficient ‘biomass-to electricity’ or ‘geothermal-to-electricity’ conversions are available for stationary power plants.”
     Bonne also testified that bio- and geo-fuels should only be used as road, air and marine transportation fuels, where direct conversion of biomass to engine power is much less available or practical. He said that for transportation fuels, “extra wind and geo electricity, presently curtailed and not needed by the grid,” could be used to make C02 from air and H2 from water to create synthetic fuels such as gasoline, aviation fuel, diesel and ammonia.
     He also asked AKP to disclose the nature of the emissions for which they have applied for an EPA permit for 250 tons/year (760 ppm of biomass weight). He asked whether the permit is 250 tons for each pollutant or for total noxious emissions. 

A SUPPORTER OF THE REFINERY and biofuels farm is William Kucharski, director of Renewable Energy Pacific for AECOM, the firm selected by `Aina Koa Pono to engineer its refinery here. 

     In his testimony to the PUC, he defended the proposed use of the giant microwave reactors planned for the refinery. Kucharski said microwaves have been in industrial use for 50 years, and the heat used to make products in other industrial applications is the same heat produced by microwave depolymerization that would turn trees, brush and crops into biofuel. He also said that AECOM visited TekGar microwave facilities in North Carolina and discovered no leakages.
     The second point he covered was safety of storage tanks for 1.25 million gallons of fuel that `Aina Koa Pono would keep on hand just off Wood Valley Road along Meyer Camp Road. “The tank foundations,” he says, “will be designed in accordance with U.S. standards for design of diesel storage facilities both in the field of engineering and the insurance industry.” Kucharski addressed the threat of earthquakes to the tanks by citing a 2006 study of the Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries that states that between 1960 and 2003 worldwide there seven natural disaster-related storage tank failures. Of these seven, three were in the U.S. and were not due to earthquakes but due to hurricanes.
     The site selected for the refinery is near the Wood Valley epicenter of one of the top ten most severe earthquakes in U.S. history, other testifiers pointed out.
     Kucharski addressed the greenhouse gas impact of the refinery by citing an analysis by AECOM and Eichleay Engineers. He said the model “was developed by the U.S. Department of Energy called the GREET Model” which “indicated a reduction in greenhouse gasses in comparison to a fossil fueled plant by a factor of 12 times.” He also noted that the closed loop nature of the plant allowed it to produce “very little emissions.”
     In his last point, Kucharski said that AECOM tested the viability of the microwave depolymerization technology for six months and determined that “the technology is viable, mechanically sound, will meet or exceed OSHA standards for microwave personnel protection and will at a minimum produce the output projected.” He finished his testimony by stating that AECOM and TekGar will issue a performance guarantee for the project and its stakeholders.

DEAN NAGASAKO, of Pahala, testified at the Hilo hearing, saying, “a`ole to the biochemical plant proposed for Pahala. First of all, it's too close to Pahala. Secondly, the individual electric customers are having to flip the bill. Simply said, this is a project where it is no can do,” testified Nagasako.

LEE MCINTOSH, of Discovery Harbour, wrote testimony in opposition, saying: “I oppose any ventures that will increase our electric rates. We are already paying four times the national average, which is unacceptable. The purpose of the PUC is to find a balance in protecting rate payers and the utility companies, not giving the electric utilities a free pass to do as they please.”
     Said McIntosh, “The success of this venture is based solely on the flawed assumption that the price of oil will continue to rise, eventually making alternative energy projects such as this viable. If that prediction fails, then rate payers are stuck with the cost of funding an unnecessary and expensive venture.”

Volcano Golf Course hosts a fundraiser
for the Boys and Girls Club Saturday.

REGISTRATION is being taken all this week for a major fundraiser for the Boys & Girls Club of the Big Island. The Fifth Annual Tee-Off for Kids Tournament will be held this Saturday, Aug. 13th at Volcano Golf Course. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. Donations are $150 for one player and $300 for a team of two. Send donations and registration forms to Bill Walter, BGCBI c/o W. H. Shipman, LTD, 16-523 Kea`au-Pahoa Road, Kea`au, HI 96749 or fax form to 961-3558. If you have any questions call Mona Eskaran at 935-7015. 

GOV. NEIL ABERCROMBIE, Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi and Education Board Chairman Don Horner have rejected the Hawai`i State Teacher’s Association’s request for arbitration. A joint statement yesterday regarding the pay and benefit cuts the state imposed on the union last month discouraged the union’s supposed “negotiations via the media”, referring to the union’s interpretation of a recent YouTube video of the governor telling the union’s Big Island president Wayne Joseph that the governor was ready to mediate with assistance from a third party. Earlier, the union filed a prohibited practice complaint to the Hawai`i Labor Relations Board after the administration imposed the pay cuts, claiming the state violated collective bargaining rights.

MICHELLE WALL-O’CONNOR shares the art of Lomilomi on the lanai of Kilauea Visitor Center in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park tomorrow from 10 a.m. to noon.