By Brian Turano, Richard Ogoshi, and Goro Uehara
College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii at Manoa
Ethanol from sugar and starch, and biodiesel from cooking oil are luxuries the world could ill afford. Earlier this year, food prices skyrocketed internationally in response to the increased demand for corn grain and vegetable oil to make biofuels, resulting in food riots in developing countries and igniting the fuel versus fuel debate. A World Bank report concluded that conversion of food into biofuels raised food prices about 75 percent in developing countries. Clearly, the honeymoon for food-based biofuels has ended.
What does this mean of us in Hawaii? With wind, solar, geothermal, wave and ocean thermal energy resources yet to be fully tapped, do we need to consider biofuels to meet the challenges of a clean, renewable energy future? Biofuels are critical to our energy needs because unlike other renewable energy resources that generate electrical power, ethanol and biodiesel can substitute for the most common transportation fuels, gasoline and diesel. We may be driving battery-powered vehicles in the future, but we will be pumping liquid fuel into cars for the foreseeable future. Hawaii’s energy future looks brighter as we learn more about the promise of producing cellulosic ethanol and biodiesel from high yielding, non-food oil crops.
Our ancestors converted grape sugar and starch from grains into alcohol with the aid of microorganisms for millennia. This “first generation” technology is used today by Brazilians to produce ethanol from sugarcane and by U.S. biorefineries to produce ethanol from corn starch. We will continue to use first generation technology to produce alcohol for human consumption, but the days of using sugar and starch as feedstock for conversion into ethanol as substitute for gasoline are over. A second generation technology is now being developed to convert more plentiful and less expensive cellulose and other non-food biomass into biofuels.
Cellulose, like starch, is a giant molecule made up of long chains of sugar molecules and is the major component of plant leaves and stalks. While humans are unable to digest cellulose for food, cows and other ruminants produce enzymes that can break down cellulose into sugars. Termites that bore holes into wood and damage our homes also produce enzymes that can break down cellulose into sugars. Some second generation biofuel technologies utilize the biochemical processes used by ruminants and termites to convert cellulosic materials into fermentable sugars.
When will this second generation technology be ready? Last year the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that it will invest $385 million in six large private industry projects to accelerate the commercialization of cellulosic ethanol production. The DOE’s short term goal is to produce ethanol at a cost of $1.33 per gallon by 2012, and its mid-term goal is to have sustainable biofuel production by 2017. In line with these national goals, Hawaii’s goal is to have 70 percent of our energy needs supplied by renewable sources by 2028.
What is the likelihood that this goal can be attained in Hawaii? The state currently consumes approximately 475 million gallons of gasoline annually. Given the lower energy content of ethanol compared to gasoline, the state will roughly need the same volume of ethanol it now consumes as gasoline to meet the 70% goal.
Where will this ethanol come from? We know that with current second generation biofuel technology, it is possible to extract 70 gallons of ethanol from each ton of biomass. This means the State will need to produce about 7 million tons of biomass each year as feedstock for conversion into ethanol. We also know from our field trials that an acre of land in Hawaii is capable of annually producing 10 to 40 tons of biomass depending on crop type, watering, chemical inputs and land quality. If we assume an average biomass yield of 20 tons per acre per year, 350,000 acres would be needed for ethanol production. Hawaii has about 1.3 million acres of zoned agricultural lands and forests. 675,000 acres are designated as prime agricultural lands of importance to the State of Hawaii (AGLISH) of which less than 200,000 acres are under cultivation. Although there appears to be enough land for bioenergy crops it is important to remember that for biofuel production to be financially feasible large tracts of land must be in close proximity to the ethanol biorefinery site. Transportation of raw biomass over long distances would be cost prohibitive. Much of the land formerly under sugar and pineapple production is rapidly being converted to non-agricultural uses or under lease for diversified crop production with little chance of being used for ethanol production.
Where will we find the land needed to produce feedstock for our transportation fuels? Should the State use its prime agricultural lands to grow energy crops? The food versus fuel debate is not only about using food as feedstock for producing ethanol, but extends into the concern about using agricultural land for growing energy crops instead of food crops. Now, more than ever, there is a demand that our prime agricultural lands be reserved for food and other high value crops. It turns out that our prime agricultural lands, formerly planted to sugarcane and pineapple, occur in warm, low elevations sites where rainfall is adequate or water for irrigation is plentiful. Such lands make up a small fraction of the 1.3 million acres of agricultural land in the state.
There are, however, extensive areas of underutilized lands, especially on Maui and the Big Island where the climate is too cold or too dry for sugarcane or pineapple that have high potential for producing biomass. On the windward side of the Big Island, Maui and other islands, at elevations above 1500 feet, where rainfall is high but temperatures are too low for heat-loving crops such as sugarcane and pineapple, extensive areas of underutilized land, much of it infested with non-native invasive species need to be evaluated for energy crop production. The area of this high elevation, high rainfall zone far exceeds the area of land formerly planted in pineapple and sugarcane, and warrants evaluation for its potential for producing, cold tolerant energy crops in an environmentally sustainable manner. Much of this land is currently used for pastures and a small portion for vegetable production as in Kula on Maui and Kamuela on the Big Island.
A second, equally extensive underutilized zone in the State occurs in the rain shadow of the high mountains. This area is too dry for food crop production and lacks readily available water for irrigation. This land is mostly under pasture, but has potential for growing high yielding grasses for conversion into biofuels. This zone receives 25 to 40 inches of rain mostly in the winter months. Our studies show that about two-thirds of the rain that falls in this area is lost as runoff leaving only a third for plant use and ground water recharge. This zone can be transformed into a major energy crop producing area by making better use of the rain that falls by application of proven rain harvesting technology. This practice reduces runoff from two-thirds to one-third of rainfall resulting in more water for crops, recharge of groundwater, less soil erosion, more stable stream flow and less downstream flooding during heavy storms in the rainy season. By increasing crop yield, water harvesting also increases organic matter content of land by increasing below ground biomass. About 20 to 40 percent of a plant’s biomass is below
ground and this biomass is transformed into soil-enriching humus so long as the land is not tilled. Tilling or plowing land can be avoided by growing high yielding perennial grasses that can be repeatedly harvested without need for replanting. By growing high biomass yielding, non-food crops on underutilized lands, the State will be able to deal simultaneously with four problems facing it today, namely, climate change, energy security, food security and water security.
Increasing crop yields through rain harvesting will slow climate change by sequestering carbon as soil organic matter. Should carbon trading become a reality, the carbon stored in soils can be traded for CO2 emitted by polluting industries to generate new income for landowners. In addition, the biomass produced on improved, underutilized land enables the state to lessen its dependence on imported fossil fuel and permit prime agricultural lands to remain in traditional food crop production. Lastly, rain water that is lost as runoff can be harvested for producing feedstock for conversion into biofuels.
Rain harvesting will also increase farmers’ profitability. Farmers now pay approximately 40 cents per 1000 gallons of water for irrigation. An acre inch of water contains just over 27,000 gallons of water and if purchased will cost a farmer just over $10. In areas receiving 40 inches of rainfall each year, harvesting 12 inches of rainwater now lost as runoff enables landowners to annually capture $120 worth of water from each acre of land. Underutilized biomass and water on underutilized land may in the years ahead become the basic resources for a new biofuel industry.
Hawaii would be fortunate indeed if it could meet its clean energy goals by utilizing 350,000 acres of land. But given population growth and pressures to convert more agricultural land for urban use, what hope is there that a sustainable supply of biofuel can be produced into the distant future? The 350,000 acre area required to keep the State supplied with biofuel is based on biomass yields of 20 tons per acre and a biomass to biofuel conversion rate of 70 gallons of ethanol per ton of biomass. This area can be substantially reduced if thermochemical technology now being tested proves capable of converting each ton of biomass into 110 gallons of ethanol. This technology converts more biomass into biofuel because unlike biochemical processes that can only convert cellulose and other sugar polymers to ethanol, thermochemical methods also converts lignin which makes up a significant part of biomass into hydrogen and carbon monoxide which in turn can be synthesized into a variety of biofuels for use in gasoline, jet, and diesel engines. An even more promising way to reduce land area required to produce biomass is to increase biomass yields. By breeding and selecting higher yielding varieties, it should be possible to double current biomass yields just as crop yields of our major grain crops have been increased in the past. Thus, by a combination of improvements in conversion technology and producing higher yielding varieties, the State should be able to meet its biofuel production goals even in the face of population growth and land competition for urbanization.
In the final analysis, producing clean renewable transportation fuels on underutilized lands can succeed provided the transformed agroecosystem acquires the four properties of sustainability. These properties are:
1. High productivity measured in terms of crop yield and farm income.
2. High stability measure in terms of consistency in yield and income over time.
3. High resiliency measured in terms of a capacity to recover quickly from stresses and perturbations imposed on the agroecosystem.
4. High equitability measured in terms of fair sharing of benefits derived from the
agroecosystem.
To transform the State’s underutilized lands into productive, stable, resilient and equitable agroecosystems, a new generation of workers will need to be educated and trained to apply second and third generation biofuel technology to lessen our dependence on imported foreign oil for transportation needs. Hawaii has the land resources and can build the human capacity to meet this challenge. We now need the determination and will to begin the transformational process to move the State into a new era of food, energy and water security for all.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
FUEL, FOOD, AND FIBER: THE POTENTIAL PROMISE OF SUSTAINABLE BIOFUELS IN HAWAII By Kyle Datta
Sustainable biofuels have the potential to provide Hawaii with enough fuel, food, and fiber to make a significant impact on reducing our dependence on foreign sources of fossil fuel and imported food. Biofuels plantations can revitalize Hawaii’s agricultural sector, creating the anchor for a cluster of agricultural business and providing hundreds of jobs close to where our rural populations live.
Locally produced biofuels can help the state meet its carbon goals, when sustainable land use and farming practices are employed. To achieve this promise, we will need to take a whole systems approach to biofuels, deploying advanced agricultural practices and capitalizing on the linkages between biofuels and agricultural to utilize the entire plant and all the byproducts, creating a 21st Century ecosystem based on industrial symbiosis.
There are many myths surrounding biofuels that have created controversies based on false dichotomies between food vs. fuel, imports vs. local production, and carbon negative vs. carbon positive lifecycles. To be sure, if biofuels plantations (or any agricultural commodities, including the food you eat) are developed on the wrong lands, using the wrong crop, with monoculture farming methods, millennia-old processing technology, and unfair labor practices, this will create the host of problems that the critics are concerned about. None of the companies in Hawaii that are serious about biofuels, either as producers or consumers, are planning to engage in these practices.
Locally produced biofuels could meet the State’s Renewable Fuels Standard targets of 10% ethanol by 2015, supply 70% transportation needs by 2025, and enable our utilities to exceed the Renewable Portfolio Standard by providing biomass to power. How much biofuel we need depends on whether we adopt energy efficient transportation policies and vehicles. If we do nothing, our gasoline demand will increase from 475 million gallons per year today to well over 525 million gallons by 2025.
If we get serious about transportation efficiency, we could reduce demand below 300 million gallons per year by 2025. Since ethanol has a lower energy content than gasoline, which is partially offset by higher combustion efficiency, we would need 265 million gallons of ethanol production to meet the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative’s 70% energy independence goal. For diesel, we use ~70 million gallons for land transportation and another 65 million gallons for marine transportation, or 130 millions in total. Therefore, we would need 95 million gallons to meet the HCEI 70% goal. How far can we go on the available land and water in Hawaii without compromising our other agricultural goals?
It all begins with the biomass productivity per acre. Biomass productivity is based on the yield of the crop, which is measured initially in wet tons harvested from the field, but then usually converted into dry tons, which is amount of biomass that can be used for energy, once the water has been removed. For example, in the traditional sugar cane that is grown on Maui today yields ~50 wet tons per acre, which translates into ~6 tons of sugar, and ~ 9 dry tons of fiber per acre. Typical fuel wood plantations, such as conventional eucalyptus achieve ~9 dry tons of fiber per acre. We can do a lot better applying our biotechnology and agricultural know-how to better crop selection, even without resorting to GMO techniques.
Today, Brazil grows the best canes selected for energy use, which double the potential energy yield of traditional cane, yielding ~ 8 tons of sugar and ~26 dry tons of fiber. UH researchers have done field trials of high yielding tropical grasses such as banagrass that yields ~22 dry tons of fiber per acre. Australian yields of eucalyptus can reach ~14 dry tons per acre. For biodiesel, oil yield crops such as jatropha can yield 1 metric ton of oil per acre and oil palms can yield 2-4 metric tons of oil per acre (one metric ton of oil equals ~ 300 gallons of biodiesel). These are being achieved today. There are other crops that are being researched globally, such as sorghum, leauceana, and miscanthus that can provide even better fiber yields with lower water and fertilizer inputs.
And then, there is algae. Algae has the biological potential to yield ten times as much as terrestrial plants, nearly ~ 33 tons of oil per acre! Algae technology holds tremendous promise, but is five to ten years from commercialization. The good news is that two leading companies, Hawaii Bioenergy and Hawaii BioPetroleum, have both announced algae research projects that will be demonstrated in Hawaii, starting next year.
How much fuel we get from the biomass depends on what conversion technology we use. Traditional sugar based ethanol to energy systems using fermentation and cogeneration produce approximately 1,000 gallons of ethanol and 5 MWh of power per acre. Traditional oil palm yields ~ 600 gallons of biodiesel per acre. Second generation cellulosic technologies are targeting 70 to 100 gallons per dry ton of biomass, whether via biological enzymatic fermentation or gasification to syngas, which then can be synthesized into fuels.
Thus, advanced grasses coupled with advanced technology can yield ~2,400-2,600 gallons per acre, more than doubling traditional ethanol production. For tree crops, we could envision 1,400 gallons per acre. On the horizon, there are even more advanced cellulosic conversion methods that could yield 110-140 gallons per dry ton. Existing algae experimental ponds may only produce 1-2,000 gallons per acre today, but the potential is 9-10,000 gallons per acre.
Do we have enough arable land in Hawaii to meet our fuel needs without impacting the diversified agriculture already in place? Certainly do. Using advanced technologies, we would need 50,000 acres in high yielding fiber crops producing ~130 million gallons of ethanol, 100,000 acres in high yield forestry crops producing ~140 million gallons of ethanol, and 10,000 acres of algae ponds producing ~ 95 million gallons of biodiesel (or jet fuel). We are currently using near 48,000 acres in the state to produce traditional sugar cane on Maui and Kaui. Of the 675,000 acres of prime agricultural land, only 200,000 acres are currently being utilized (including the current sugar production). We have even more acres of potential forest lands. Algae ponds do not require prime agricultural and forest lands, and are more economic when placed near CO2 sources such as power plants. If production systems and bio-refineries are co-located on the large tracts of still available land, then concerns regarding transportation logistics on our already congested highways are largely addressed.
How do biofuels plantations help address Hawaii’s food needs? The industrial symbiosis approach recognizes that, in nature, nothing is wasted. Thus, using biology and byproducts, there is natural symbiotic relationship between the biofuels sector and animal husbandry. A more enlightened approach to growing high yielding fiber crops is to periodically rotate these crops with legumes to fix nitrogen, where the seed meal can either be used for animal feed, and the plant oil can be used for biodiesel feedstock. The byproduct of biodiesel production is glycerin, which is used as a cattle feed to help fatten the animals before slaughter, which can avoid the shipment of cattle to the mainland for finishing. When algae become viable, each acre will produce 8 tons of protein per acre along with the oil, which can be used for feed for a wide variety of animals, including fish, poultry, swine and cattle.
Bio-refineries are energy centers that produce excess power and steam for export and sale. Thus, bio-refinery sites are the natural centers for food processing operations enabling greater utilization of agricultural fruit and vegetable production, and more security for farmers since excess crop production can be efficiently utilized. In both bio-refining and animal husbandry, waste streams can undergo anaerobic digestion which produces power and high value organic fertilizer.
What’s the carbon balance? In general, the majority of carbon emissions from biofuels come from release of soil carbon when original forests are cut down for plantations. Biological conservation areas should never be used for biofuels. For Hawaii’s agricultural lands, if the current use if forest, and it is replaced with biofuels tree crops, the net carbon balance is likely to be neutral from a soil carbon perspective, (the same is true for pasture conversion to grasses), and the overall system will be carbon negative, since we are substituting for fossil fuels. If grasslands are converted to tree crops, carbon fixation tends to increase.
We will need to work together to achieve this vision. We need to recognize that just as natural systems evolve, biofuels will evolve as well. When we begin with importing biofuels, what matters most is not whether we are importing, but that we import fuels that are grown sustainably in order to prime the market for biofuels. We need a public-private initiative to launch the research and development on advanced crops now, so we can select the right crop for our lands.
The first biofuels plantations may not be perfect, but they will evolve as our knowledge of how to optimize productivity and sustainability improves with experience. State government has been very helpful in providing subsidies for investment and use of biofuels. We should be akamai, and not have our scarce tax dollars supporting oil companies and foreign plantations. The state biofuel tax credit subsidies shift from location-neutral to supporting only locally grown biofuels, once in state production commences in earnest.
Most importantly, we need to be committed to the long run to collaborating across boundaries to revitalize both our energy and agricultural sectors.
# # #
* This article was written for the UH-based Hawaii Energy Policy Forum as part of an effort to encourage discussion of energy issues. Datta, CEO of Hawaii-based energy consulting and renewable development firm New Energy Partners, was managing director of Rocky Mountain Institute’s Consulting Practice. He co-authored Winning the Oil Endgame and Small is Profitable.
Locally produced biofuels can help the state meet its carbon goals, when sustainable land use and farming practices are employed. To achieve this promise, we will need to take a whole systems approach to biofuels, deploying advanced agricultural practices and capitalizing on the linkages between biofuels and agricultural to utilize the entire plant and all the byproducts, creating a 21st Century ecosystem based on industrial symbiosis.
There are many myths surrounding biofuels that have created controversies based on false dichotomies between food vs. fuel, imports vs. local production, and carbon negative vs. carbon positive lifecycles. To be sure, if biofuels plantations (or any agricultural commodities, including the food you eat) are developed on the wrong lands, using the wrong crop, with monoculture farming methods, millennia-old processing technology, and unfair labor practices, this will create the host of problems that the critics are concerned about. None of the companies in Hawaii that are serious about biofuels, either as producers or consumers, are planning to engage in these practices.
Locally produced biofuels could meet the State’s Renewable Fuels Standard targets of 10% ethanol by 2015, supply 70% transportation needs by 2025, and enable our utilities to exceed the Renewable Portfolio Standard by providing biomass to power. How much biofuel we need depends on whether we adopt energy efficient transportation policies and vehicles. If we do nothing, our gasoline demand will increase from 475 million gallons per year today to well over 525 million gallons by 2025.
If we get serious about transportation efficiency, we could reduce demand below 300 million gallons per year by 2025. Since ethanol has a lower energy content than gasoline, which is partially offset by higher combustion efficiency, we would need 265 million gallons of ethanol production to meet the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative’s 70% energy independence goal. For diesel, we use ~70 million gallons for land transportation and another 65 million gallons for marine transportation, or 130 millions in total. Therefore, we would need 95 million gallons to meet the HCEI 70% goal. How far can we go on the available land and water in Hawaii without compromising our other agricultural goals?
It all begins with the biomass productivity per acre. Biomass productivity is based on the yield of the crop, which is measured initially in wet tons harvested from the field, but then usually converted into dry tons, which is amount of biomass that can be used for energy, once the water has been removed. For example, in the traditional sugar cane that is grown on Maui today yields ~50 wet tons per acre, which translates into ~6 tons of sugar, and ~ 9 dry tons of fiber per acre. Typical fuel wood plantations, such as conventional eucalyptus achieve ~9 dry tons of fiber per acre. We can do a lot better applying our biotechnology and agricultural know-how to better crop selection, even without resorting to GMO techniques.
Today, Brazil grows the best canes selected for energy use, which double the potential energy yield of traditional cane, yielding ~ 8 tons of sugar and ~26 dry tons of fiber. UH researchers have done field trials of high yielding tropical grasses such as banagrass that yields ~22 dry tons of fiber per acre. Australian yields of eucalyptus can reach ~14 dry tons per acre. For biodiesel, oil yield crops such as jatropha can yield 1 metric ton of oil per acre and oil palms can yield 2-4 metric tons of oil per acre (one metric ton of oil equals ~ 300 gallons of biodiesel). These are being achieved today. There are other crops that are being researched globally, such as sorghum, leauceana, and miscanthus that can provide even better fiber yields with lower water and fertilizer inputs.
And then, there is algae. Algae has the biological potential to yield ten times as much as terrestrial plants, nearly ~ 33 tons of oil per acre! Algae technology holds tremendous promise, but is five to ten years from commercialization. The good news is that two leading companies, Hawaii Bioenergy and Hawaii BioPetroleum, have both announced algae research projects that will be demonstrated in Hawaii, starting next year.
How much fuel we get from the biomass depends on what conversion technology we use. Traditional sugar based ethanol to energy systems using fermentation and cogeneration produce approximately 1,000 gallons of ethanol and 5 MWh of power per acre. Traditional oil palm yields ~ 600 gallons of biodiesel per acre. Second generation cellulosic technologies are targeting 70 to 100 gallons per dry ton of biomass, whether via biological enzymatic fermentation or gasification to syngas, which then can be synthesized into fuels.
Thus, advanced grasses coupled with advanced technology can yield ~2,400-2,600 gallons per acre, more than doubling traditional ethanol production. For tree crops, we could envision 1,400 gallons per acre. On the horizon, there are even more advanced cellulosic conversion methods that could yield 110-140 gallons per dry ton. Existing algae experimental ponds may only produce 1-2,000 gallons per acre today, but the potential is 9-10,000 gallons per acre.
Do we have enough arable land in Hawaii to meet our fuel needs without impacting the diversified agriculture already in place? Certainly do. Using advanced technologies, we would need 50,000 acres in high yielding fiber crops producing ~130 million gallons of ethanol, 100,000 acres in high yield forestry crops producing ~140 million gallons of ethanol, and 10,000 acres of algae ponds producing ~ 95 million gallons of biodiesel (or jet fuel). We are currently using near 48,000 acres in the state to produce traditional sugar cane on Maui and Kaui. Of the 675,000 acres of prime agricultural land, only 200,000 acres are currently being utilized (including the current sugar production). We have even more acres of potential forest lands. Algae ponds do not require prime agricultural and forest lands, and are more economic when placed near CO2 sources such as power plants. If production systems and bio-refineries are co-located on the large tracts of still available land, then concerns regarding transportation logistics on our already congested highways are largely addressed.
How do biofuels plantations help address Hawaii’s food needs? The industrial symbiosis approach recognizes that, in nature, nothing is wasted. Thus, using biology and byproducts, there is natural symbiotic relationship between the biofuels sector and animal husbandry. A more enlightened approach to growing high yielding fiber crops is to periodically rotate these crops with legumes to fix nitrogen, where the seed meal can either be used for animal feed, and the plant oil can be used for biodiesel feedstock. The byproduct of biodiesel production is glycerin, which is used as a cattle feed to help fatten the animals before slaughter, which can avoid the shipment of cattle to the mainland for finishing. When algae become viable, each acre will produce 8 tons of protein per acre along with the oil, which can be used for feed for a wide variety of animals, including fish, poultry, swine and cattle.
Bio-refineries are energy centers that produce excess power and steam for export and sale. Thus, bio-refinery sites are the natural centers for food processing operations enabling greater utilization of agricultural fruit and vegetable production, and more security for farmers since excess crop production can be efficiently utilized. In both bio-refining and animal husbandry, waste streams can undergo anaerobic digestion which produces power and high value organic fertilizer.
What’s the carbon balance? In general, the majority of carbon emissions from biofuels come from release of soil carbon when original forests are cut down for plantations. Biological conservation areas should never be used for biofuels. For Hawaii’s agricultural lands, if the current use if forest, and it is replaced with biofuels tree crops, the net carbon balance is likely to be neutral from a soil carbon perspective, (the same is true for pasture conversion to grasses), and the overall system will be carbon negative, since we are substituting for fossil fuels. If grasslands are converted to tree crops, carbon fixation tends to increase.
We will need to work together to achieve this vision. We need to recognize that just as natural systems evolve, biofuels will evolve as well. When we begin with importing biofuels, what matters most is not whether we are importing, but that we import fuels that are grown sustainably in order to prime the market for biofuels. We need a public-private initiative to launch the research and development on advanced crops now, so we can select the right crop for our lands.
The first biofuels plantations may not be perfect, but they will evolve as our knowledge of how to optimize productivity and sustainability improves with experience. State government has been very helpful in providing subsidies for investment and use of biofuels. We should be akamai, and not have our scarce tax dollars supporting oil companies and foreign plantations. The state biofuel tax credit subsidies shift from location-neutral to supporting only locally grown biofuels, once in state production commences in earnest.
Most importantly, we need to be committed to the long run to collaborating across boundaries to revitalize both our energy and agricultural sectors.
# # #
* This article was written for the UH-based Hawaii Energy Policy Forum as part of an effort to encourage discussion of energy issues. Datta, CEO of Hawaii-based energy consulting and renewable development firm New Energy Partners, was managing director of Rocky Mountain Institute’s Consulting Practice. He co-authored Winning the Oil Endgame and Small is Profitable.
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