Biofuel Crops Expected to Play Crucial Role in Hawaii’s Energy Future

by Ivy Ashe (Hawaii Tribune Herald) ... The latest stop along that path comes from researchers at the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, who are investigating potential dual contributions of crops used to make biofuel.

But biofuel (ethanol and biodiesel) and biomass also are expected to play a crucial role as Hawaii continues to move toward energy independence.

“Think about days when it’s cloudy and the trades have stopped. Something else has to come in,” Crow said.

“Biofuel crops are an important resource today — and hold great promise for the future — as a sustainable feedstock for renewable fuel production here in Hawaii,” said Bob King, co-founder of Pacific Biodiesel. The Maui-based company produces biodiesel from restaurant food oil waste at its Keaau location.

Pacific Biodiesel also has been working on growing sunflowers as a year-round biofuel crop, with farms on Oahu and the Big Island.

In addition to providing a solution for energy security, King said, biofuel crops also offer a solution to energy storage because they sequester carbon from the atmosphere.

Sugar cane and Napier grass, the two grasses studied by (Susan) Crow and her co-author, Meghan Pawlowski, are champions of carbon sequestration: their roots are extremely well-equipped to store carbon dioxide in the soil.

They also are highly productive grasses, making both plants good candidates for biomass, which can be burned directly to create energy.

“The Napier grass that we grew — you can harvest it without disturbing the root system,” Crow said. “You harvest it and have high biomass, and you don’t have to touch the roots. That’s the critical aspect.”

On Hawaii Island, certain sugar cane lands that have gone fallow would be prime candidates for areas to grow biofuel crops for the same reason.

“You guys have some amazing volcanic ash soil on the Hamakua Coast,” Crow said. “They (those soils) have an enormous capacity to store carbon.”

The CTAHR study took place on Maui using an experimental plot of land on the HC&S plantation.

Last year, United Airlines began using a blend of biofuel and traditional jet fuel for all of its flights traveling between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The blend was expected to yield a 60 percent reduction in greenhouse gases.