Impacts on Hawaiians

Maui

As some of the promised Hawaiian Homes are finally being built, we are seeing water emerge as a pressing threat to the program. With thousands of multimillion dollar vacation residences planned for Wailea/Makena putting pressure on our already over-taxed water supply, can we afford to add irrigation requirements for land estimated from 5 to 20 times the acreage now in sugarcane?

The idea of supplying 20,000,000 gallons of vegetable oil grown here on maui per year is a direct threat to the water which is needed for the Hawaiian Homes developments.

‘Oahu 

The Hawaiian BioDiesel Project of Wai‘anae Moku is applying for a Small Business Inovation Research Grant from the USDA to get a realistic idea of biofuel crops viability in the Waianae area. You can view their plan here. They are soliciting letters of support. if you can send a letter of support.

An Integrated BioGas-Solar Dehydration System:
Increasing Sustainability Through Value-Added Agriculture

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: In Hawaii and across the United States, mandates for biofuels have increased the production of biodiesel throughout many rural communities. Through this production, vast amounts of by-products are generated, even becoming an unmanageable waste stream. Hawaii's Jatropha biodiesel production will produce 6,000 pounds of waste materials consisting of seedcake, fruit hulls and glycerine for every 250 gallons of biodiesel produced. Moreover, the global market for refined glycerol is now seeing a growing market glut, for this difficult to dispose of crude glycerine. Fortunately, these organic byproducts can also be processed into energy, when biologically converted into methane gas. Like the Jatropha seedcake and hulls, crude glycerine is a very efficient biogas substrate and used as a catalyst in the conversion process. Biogasification of these materials can be utilized to generate thermal and electrical energy - through a CHP turbine. This configuration will supply enough heat and power to efficiently operate the biodiesel's production facility, as well as, an adjacent solar dehydration plant while selling its surplus electricity to the utility grid. The integration of a biogas-solar dehydration system is a natural progression, as Hawaii lays abundant in solar insolation. Therefore, value-added dehydrated ingredients and food products can be economically produced, through this integrated match. Even the waste from this dehydration process, is turned into a biogas feedstock, which in-turn provides a continuous heat, for drying product throughout the nights and cloudy days. In Hawaii and the American Pacific, we are blessed with a year-round growing season and have the ability to grow tropical fruits, botanicals and specialty crops.

OBJECTIVES: As a result, this value-added dehydration production will complement this region's agricultural production potential and provides for new economic opportunities. This type of manufacturing stimulates the planting of more fruits, botanicals and specialty crops \u2013 especially among small family-farm situations \u2013 which encourages the development of more value-added production, within these socio-economically downturned rural economies. Research models and testing of the most appropriate configuration(s) to these systems; along with a feasibility study; and rural economic development analysis, will be aptly conducted and presented through this project's funding.