It is past time we ask ourselves, as a community, what is it that we are trying to achieve with our community decisions in the most general terms? Are we happy with our current quality of life, and trying to
It is past time we ask ourselves, as a community, what is it that we are trying to achieve with our community decisions in the most general terms? Are we happy with our current quality of life, and trying to perpetuate it? Are we aware of some problems, and trying to correct them? What basic values are being served by our personal actions and community decisions? Equally important, what are the results of our decisions as we move forward, and are we learning from this feedback?
One such community decision on the table right now is the proposed ethanol refinery being considered for the Westside (“State looks to growing crops for energy,” A1, July 9). There are many reasons that ethanol, and a refinery for ethanol, may seem like a good idea for our community. Apollo Kauai had the good fortune of learning a bit about this subject last December from Gay & Robinson’s own Alan Kennett, the man at the helm of the Kauai Ethanol proposal.
As a bit of background, Apollo Kauai is a grassroots community organization advocating for energy independence. At the core of our group’s mission are two parallel and equally important issues:
• Rising energy costs as a result of depletion of global oil supplies and ever increasing global demand (currently at 85 million barrels per day used globally).
• Climate change, undeniably caused primarily by the above mentioned consumption of oil, combined with other fossil fuels, on a global scale.
So, you might think, because we are advocating for energy independence, that we would whole-heartedly support a proposal to make ethanol, a “renewable” fuel, here on Kaua‘i. However, it is necessary to go back to that fundamental question before we can provide a response. That is — as a community, what are we trying to achieve by building an ethanol refinery? Certainly there are some arguments that seem to have merit:
• Energy Independence — There is a sense that we are making “our own” energy on Kaua‘i with this proposed facility. This is certainly true to some degree. However, the current proposal involves refining ethanol from molasses. This process requires significant energy input, both to grow and harvest the sugar cane, and also to process the resulting molasses into ethanol. The current proposal calls for a mix of biomass, supplemented with coal and oil to power this process. The exact percentage of coal/oil energy that will be consumed has not been disclosed. In fairness, the exact amount needed may not be known yet. Although it may be a difficult question, it would behoove us to require an answer to this question as a condition to giving our tax dollars to the facility. Otherwise we may sink our massive (100% of construction cost) State Tax Credit into a facility that only marginally reduces our imported energy dependence. If energy independence is truly our objective, would we not be better served by looking for ways to use less energy, as opposed to always trying to find energy substitutes?
• Maintaining Jobs for Plantation Workers — No question that this is one of the most sensitive subjects we have to address when considering the merits of this project. Employment for over 200 Kauaians is very important, and is certainly something that we need to address with a real commitment and respect. However, it does not stand alone as an argument in favor of a project such as this. If we do not like the direction we are going as a community, we can no longer afford to argue that perpetuating that direction is justification for our decision making. As is always the case, we must ask ourselves “Is this the best solution available to us?” Undoubtedly, there are a myriad of ways to retool the agricultural efforts on the Westside of Kaua‘i. Clearly, this is one, and is certainly worth further discussion. Without a doubt, however, there are other choices.
• Creating Clean, Renewable Energy — In light of what we have all learned about the climate crisis, clean energy is a necessity we cannot forgo. Thankfully, carbon emissions will soon be managed legally, as the state passed the Global Warming Solutions Act in the 2007 session, specifically for the purpose of accounting for and reducing statewide GHG emissions. Importantly, emissions per unit of ethanol are much greater than those from a comparable unit of gasoline. This is simply a function of the energy required to produce the ethanol being much greater than that required to extract and refine oil. What will the emissions control be for this proposed facility? How much CO2 will be generated? Will there be any carbon capturing strategies put into place? If emissions regulations are deemed necessary in the near future, what will that do to the viability of our proposed investment in ethanol? A better understanding of the emissions profile of this facility certainly seems prudent. Otherwise, our state is, on the one hand, paying to create more GHG emissions, and, on the other hand, gearing up a campaign to reduce them.
• Utility Commitments — Another less discussed, but equally important aspect of this proposal is to sell excess energy from the refining process to KIUC. Again, this is an item that requires further discussion before we, as a cooperative, can determine if it is an appropriate project to adopt. Do we want to commit ourselves to buying energy from this project for the next 10, 15, or 20 years? Who will carry the risk of inflated energy production costs as this energy intensive project gets more expensive to operate? The community? The developer? How much room does this project leave for other, cleaner sources of electricity to be implemented in coming years on Kaua‘i?
In conclusion, what is being stated here is not that an ethanol refinery is inherently a bad idea, but that we really need to engage the community more effectively to determine if it is a good idea. Perhaps even more important is to engage the community more intently on the reasons that this is such a critical decision. On the one hand, ethanol may become a much needed source of fuel as global oil supplies become scarcer and more expensive. On the other hand, maybe we need to put more emphasis on the fact that generating ethanol will only supplant a tiny fraction of our dependence on oil, and may come at a very high cost indeed in terms of GHG emissions and other environmental ills. An alternate strategy to reduce our energy dependence is education followed by conservation. This is a strategy that taps the only truly infinite resource known to man, that being human intelligence. Please join Apollo Kauai as we attempt to learn more about this important proposal over the coming months. And while you’re at it, hey, give the Kauai Bus a try. It’s the best way we know to get 300 miles to the gallon on your way into work in the morning, all while reading the day’s copy of The Garden Island.
• Ben Sullivan is the chair of Apollo Kauai. To learn more go to: www.apollokauai.org
