EDITORIAL
'Gasohol' may be timely product here

The state surely is on the right track in considering a proposal that would mandate motor fuel in Hawai'i that includes a 10 percent ethanol content.

The benefits are manifold, starting with reduction of our dependence on imported oil, a reinvigoration of our sugar industry, creation of a new ethanol industry and a likely increase in jobs.

But clearly there are downsides, some subtle, which the state must come to understand thoroughly.

Chevron and Tesoro, Hawai'i's oil refiners, oppose the required addition of ethanol, in no small part because it would mean an immediate 10 percent reduction in the amount of one of the products they sell — refined gasoline.

Motorists might not mind seeing Chevron and Tesoro humbled a bit by being forced to dilute their product with alcohol, but they'd hardly benefit be seeing them pack their bags and close their refineries.

In other words, as this moves forward, there is no percentage in penalizing the refiners for participating in what on balance may benefit the rest of us.

A complication here is that the Lingle administration has allied itself with the refiners in opposing a law to control gasoline prices. So far it appears the administration may be inclined to take a contrary approach with them on ethanol.

In looking at putting ethanol in gasoline, there's no groundbreaking going on here. Gasoline stations in many states, particularly in the corn belt, have long offered "gasohol" to motorists, usually a blend of 90 percent gasoline and 10 percent ethyl alcohol, which generally requires no adjustment to existing cars.

In fact, more than 300 public and private fueling facilities in more than 20 states offer ethanol-85, which is 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, for vehicles adapted for this mix.

A danger of turning to gasohol in Hawai'i is the cyclical nature of commodities: It makes sense when oil prices are high — they've never been higher — and when grain or sugar cane prices are low.

These conditions obviously can change drastically over time. Some farm belt congressmen once acquired a reputation for pandering when they required that ethanol from high-priced corn be mixed into low-priced gasoline. But an ethanol factory in Minnesota is now going into bankruptcy because corn prices are too high.

It's entirely possible that adding ethanol to gasoline makes great sense for isolated, oil-dependent Hawai'i, and who could object to seeing the mostly brown 'Ewa Plain turned emerald green once again?

But the state must master the complexities first.