KALAPAKI — The crowd of some 200 residents who packed a ballroom yesterday at the Kaua‘i Marriott Resort and Beach Club for the 2008 Kaua‘i Renewable Energy Conference heard several hours of familiar rhetoric underscoring an urgent need to implement
KALAPAKI — The crowd of some 200 residents who packed a ballroom yesterday at the Kaua‘i Marriott Resort and Beach Club for the 2008 Kaua‘i Renewable Energy Conference heard several hours of familiar rhetoric underscoring an urgent need to implement change.
Optimism seemed sparse on the first day of the “Think Globally, Act Locally” conference, which resumes this morning with a half-day session featuring a luncheon keynote address by state Sen. Gary Hooser, D-Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau.
A slate of speakers ranging from project developers to government officials highlighted a few molehills of recent achievements, but pointed at the hurdles that line a mountain of opportunity for island sustainability and economic prosperity.
Kaua‘i endures some of the highest energy prices in the nation, a severe dependency on imported oil and thick bureaucratic tape around alternative energy solutions, the experts said.
The county can blast through these barriers with effective legislation, political will and a real collaboration between businesses and government agencies, the speakers said.
But the clock is ticking.
Hawaiian Mahogany President Bill Cowern, who has been working for years on a recently permitted biomass-to-energy project, polled the audience to gauge their sense of urgency.
A clear majority raised their hands when he asked if they thought there were less than five years to act.
“I feel like I’m preaching to the choir here, only the choir is getting bigger,” he said. “We’re approaching it like it’s not urgent. … We’re making decisions as though this price is not going to continue to rise.”
Representatives of the county’s largest landowners said they are only in the early stages of various energy projects.
Gay and Robinson President Alan Kennett said the historic Westside sugar company is struggling to find an economically viable way to pursue a proposed ethanol plant and multi-faceted energy facility.
“I hope and pray we’re going to be able to carry on with our project,” he said.
Kennett said Gay and Robinson, which partnered with Pacific West Energy, is faced with soaring costs for fuel, fertilizer, herbicide, steel and health insurance.
Plus, he said, the ethanol market is flooded, the debt market is dismal and workers are scarce, particularly truck drivers.
“The biggest problem facing us … is finding the employees to do it,” he said. “I’m finding it extremely difficult to continue to pursue our endeavor … things have not been happening fast enough.”
Grove Farm Senior Vice President Mike Tresler said the long-time kama‘aina company, which owns a significant amount of centrally located land, has partnered with Hawaii BioEnergy to build an integrated biorefinery.
“I’m going to keep this upbeat because there’s a lot of frustration in this room,” he said. “We need agents of change.”
Paul Zorner, president of Hawaii BioEnergy, said it is time for some unconventional thinking.
“We will run out of oil,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any doubt about that.”
But residents should not fear the future because solutions exist today, Zorner said.
“We can’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good,” he added.
Residents have to be willing to pay for renewable energy, Alexander and Baldwin Senior Vice President Christopher Benjamin said.
He said the company has put plans to build a Maui ethanol plant “on the side burner” and is instead in the “exploratory” stages of renewable energy projects using algae, solar, wind, hydro and gasification.
“We’ve got to focus on proven technologies,” Benjamin said.
Davelyn Noelani Kalipi showcased the success of wind farms, including Kaheawa Wind Power’s 30-megawatt operation that supplies 9 percent of Maui’s energy needs during peak hours.
The First Wind director of government and community relations said a roundtable discussion is planned to discuss siting issues on Kaua‘i with the goal to have towers that monitor weather up by December.
“There are finite areas on the island that could support a wind farm,” Kalipi said. “It’s only going to happen if the community wants it to happen.”
State Rep. Mina Morita, D-14th District, said Hawai‘i has an effective energy plan in place, which involves cutting carbon emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and having 70 percent renewable energy by 2030.
“The real challenge before us is implementing the strategy,” she said. “Are we all on board this bus?”
The representative proposed a tax on oil that will specifically fund the energy policy.
Charles Morgan, an environmental planner with statewide company Planning Solutions, said government officials “aren’t just entrenched bureaucrats.”
He said they need more staff to process permits more efficiently and thereby speed up renewable energy projects.
William Milks, an attorney and former executive director of the state Division of Consumer Advocacy, said he believes there is an energy crisis.
“Wake up, America,” he said. “And Kaua‘i, you better smell the Kaua‘i Coffee too.”
He said the island holds a bounty of renewable energy resources.
“Not much has been done in the past,” he said. “Much can be done in the future.”
Fifty percent of Kaua‘i residents’ electric bills goes toward fuel and purchase power, Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative President Randy Hee said.
Roughly 90 percent of the fuel that powers the island is imported oil, he said.
The co-op plans to diversify its fuel sources and have more renewables to try to lower the effective rate, which is nearly 50 cents per kilowatt-hour.
There are discussions and negotiations with various companies to bring in a biomass plant, solar thermal facility and wind farm, Hee said.
The challenges have been endangered species and grid stability, he said.
“There’s no magic bullet. It takes all of the technologies,” Hee said, adding that there’s a lot of opportunity to improve efficiency.
Maurice Kaya, the strategic energy and management consultant and former chief technology officer for the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, said the potential is huge but “ignorance and complacency” are part of the hold up.
“We should first declare war on inefficiency,” he said. “As homeowners, you have to be proactive before it’s too late. … It’s time to act.”
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• Nathan Eagle, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or neagle@kauaipubco.
com
