LT. GOVERNOR HIGHLIGHTS RENEWABLE ENERGY SOLUTIONS

November 6 - Continuing the Administration's commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase energy efficiency and protect the environment, Lt. Governor Aiona recently visited renewable energy facilities and met with officials regarding next steps in Hawai`i's move toward clean, renewable energy solutions.

First, the Lt. Governor went to the Big Island on Oct. 26 to tour the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawai`i (NELHA) and meet with business tenants. NELHA is a state agency that manages a unique 870-acre ocean science and technology park at Keahole Point in Kailua-Kona. NELHA and its tenants capitalize on the island's natural resources, including cold deep seawater and warm surface seawater as well as the highest rate of solar insolation in the coastal United States.

"NELHA is one of the best kept secrets in Hawai`i," said Lt. Governor Aiona. "Its natural resources and strong capabilities for advancements in renewable energy technologies support our Administration's drive for cleaner, alternative energy solutions."

In August, Governor Linda Lingle released $1,302,000 for improvements to the infrastructure of NELHA, including the allocation of necessary funds to forecast tenants' future demand for seawater for aquaculture, micro algae-based products and research, as well as for desalinized deep sea drinking water sourced and bottled at NELHA - Hawai`i's largest export.

Next, Lt. Governor Aiona visited Puna Geothermal Venture (PGV) in Hilo on Oct. 29. PGV utilizes state-of-the-art technology to generate power by tapping into the underground cauldron of Kilauea's volcanic heat, converting steam into electricity for Big Island residents. PGV produces 25 to 30 megawatts, approximately 20 percent of the Big Island's electricity.

PGV has saved Hawai`i from burning more than 491 million gallons of fuel oil and prevented approximately 500,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions from entering the atmosphere since 1993.

On Tuesday, Lt. Governor Aiona met with executives from the Kaua`i Island Utility Cooperative and visited the proposed site of a bioethanol plant, a venture created from the partnership formed in July 2007 between Gay and Robinson Inc., Hawai`i's second-largest sugar producer, and Pacific West Energy LLC, an international ethanol producer and marketer. Ethanol is an alternative fuel that can be produced locally from sugarcane or one of its byproducts.

The planned plant at Kaumakani could produce more than a quarter of what is needed to satisfy demand for ethanol created by a state mandate that took effect in April 2006. That mandate aims to reduce Hawai`i's dependence on imported oil by requiring 85 percent of Hawai`i's gasoline contain 10 percent ethanol. It also will help expand local sugar cane production, generate more than $100 million of new investment in manufacturing plants and create nearly 700 direct and indirect jobs, according to estimates.

The proposed fuel ethanol plant would be the first plant in the state to create renewable power and clean-burning ethanol fuel from sugarcane.