Ethanol fuel mix to be required in 2006
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Chart: Proposed Hawai'i ethanol production plants
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau
NUKOLI'I, Kaua'i — New state rules approved yesterday will have most Hawai'i drivers filling their tanks with a mixture of gasoline and sugar-cane alcohol, or ethanol, by early 2006.
"I have felt from the beginning that we have to diminish our dependence on outside fuel," said Gov. Linda Lingle, who signed the rules on Kaua'i in the presence of officials from sugar and ethanol firms. Under the rules, 85 percent of all gasoline sold in Hawai'i will need to contain at least 10 percent ethanol.
That works out to about 35 million gallons of ethanol each year, based on current gasoline use. The ethanol would be produced in Hawai'i, much of it from locally grown cane products available at the state's two remaining sugar firms — Alexander & Baldwin's HC&S plantation on Maui and the Gay & Robinson plantation on Kaua'i.
"It produces jobs for people on the island and helps keep families here," noted Kaua'i resident Crystal Caday-Bargayo, of Puhi. "And it diversifies the economy."
Rose Lalin of Kapa'a said the community benefits from not having to spend money to import fossil fuels from abroad: "I think it's a good idea. It will save us from having to bring in so much oil."
The fuel, made from grains such as corn, is already used in many states. Using ethanol has no significant effect on engine wear or fuel efficiency, according to the AAA chapter in California, where a blend of gasoline is sold with up to 10 percent ethanol content. The oil industry has a different view. "Ethanol is less fuel- efficient, so you have to buy more of it to go the same distance," said Melissa Pavlicek of the Western States Petroleum Association, which represents ChevronTexaco and Shell Oil. "Even if the price remained the same, consumers still have to pay more, because they're going to have to buy more gasoline." Learn more: For more information, visit the state's ethanol Web site, www.hawaii.gov/dbedt/ert/ethanol.html
The state Legislature a decade ago passed a bill requiring ethanol to be added to Hawai'i gasoline, but not until the governor's office had the rules to enact the requirement prepared, taken to public hearings and enacted.
Opinions on ethanol differ
Opponents to the forced blend, including local oil companies, contend it would reduce fuel efficiency, potentially raise gasoline prices and could not guarantee a cleaner environment.
Four proposed ethanol plants on three islands are preparing to meet the new demand. Together, they could produce as much as 45 million gallons eventually, at full production.
Three of the plants would use traditional fermentation techniques to convert molasses to ethanol. The fourth, Worldwide Energy Group, is working with Gay & Robinson on a specialized technique that would convert sugarcane fiber called bagasse to ethanol.
Gay & Robinson president Alan Kennett said low sugar prices and a glut on the world market make the future of sugar farming a difficult proposition for at least the next three years. "I think that the likelihood of us being able to stay in the sugar business is extremely threatened," he said.
G&R is looking at proposals to use all its cane product to make ethanol. Kennett said that if oil prices continue to rise, G&R could quit making sugar and apply all its resources to ethanol production.
On O'ahu, Dan KenKnight's O'ahu Ethanol proposes to buy molasses outside Hawai'i and bring it to an ethanol plant on the island.
Maui Ethanol proposes a plant next to HC&S's Pu'unene Mill, which would convert most of the plant's molasses to ethanol. A&B's chief financial officer Chris Benjamin said the company would retain a portion of the molasses to sell locally for cattle feed.
Lingle said there are other potential producers in the wings, including one that could produce ethanol from O'ahu's garbage.
Benjamin said the fit for Maui is nearly perfect. Molasses-derived ethanol produced on the Valley Island should be enough to fully cover the island's fuel-mixture needs under the new law, he said.
Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 245-3074.
