Aloha to Renewable Energy
The Hawaiian Electric Company, also known as HECO, is proposing to run a 110 megawatt power plant entirely on renewable fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.
According to the Honolulu Star Bulletin, the commitment to power the plant completely on biofuels was finalized last week and made public Monday.
Robbie Alm, HECO’s senior vice president for public affairs, said the state’s promotion of alternative energy played a role in the company agreeing to the 100 percent commitment.
As of April, 80 percent of all gasoline sold in Hawaii is required to be blended with 10 percent ethanol. Additionally, lawmakers this year passed a bipartisan package of bills aimed at lessening the state’s dependence on imported fossil fuels through conservation and development of alternative fuels.
The first ethanol processing plants in Hawaii are expected to come online by 2007, while three of the state’s largest landowners — Maui Land & Pineapple Co., Grove Farm Co. and Kamehameha Schools — in July announced the formation of a partnership to study the viability of a large-scale biofuels industry in the islands.
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Pacifican
Kudos to HECO for planning to run a plant on renewable fuel sources. This is a welcome change from a company that has been historically one of the most conservative, not to say reactionary, of the large companies that operate in Hawai’i.
Kudos to the State of Hawai’i for initiating this trend with its progressive law-making by compelling the use of alternative fuels in gasoline. These are good first steps in the long-term evolution away from dependence on one-way, extractive fuel systems. The second step will be to use Butanol in gasoline and for other energy needs because, clearly, Butanol is much superior to Ethanol in almost all respects.
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