The approaching exit of kama'aina firm Gay & Robinson Inc. from the sugar industry turns yet another page in the changing narrative of Hawai'i agriculture, but there's still some encouragement to be reaped from those pursuing plans to keep Kaua'i fields in cultivation.

The yield from that plantation, of course, would be ethanol derived from the sugar and 20 to 30 megawatts of electricity generated by burning bagasse, the waste product from the cane. The increase in global oil prices has made homegrown energy production more viable than it's been in the past, on top of the basic security of relying less on imports to fill the state's fuel needs.

The business plan, exciting in theory, is still a long way from being money in the bank, however.

Pacific West Energy LLC, the company working to finance the retrofit of the Kaumakani sugar mill for ethanol production, plans to pick up the Gay & Robinson workers after the cane operation shuts down in 2010, and to hire more employees.

But everything may hinge on whether ethanol prices recover from current levels. The most recent price on the product imported for local use stood at $2.65 per gallon — almost a dollar less than what Gay & Robinson needed to continue in the business. Ethanol prices in the past few months have been trending downward, in tandem with the price of gasoline.

Hawai'i can take heart that Pacific West should be able to hold out longer for the price to rise, but our elected officials and policymakers certainly have no guarantees.

The state administration and lawmakers need to revisit the issue next session and make sure recent efforts to streamline permitting and create incentives for biofuels are working.

And state and county officials must press ahead with the identification of important ag lands so that the commitment to a viable agricultural sector is firm.

Besides the ethanol market fluctuations, potential roadblocks still remain: Primary among them is the question mark hanging over the availability of sufficient water to support production.

Kaua'i — and all the islands that want a piece of the agricultural renaissance in the Islands — need to have lands securely set aside and the farming infrastructure in place to support various alternative crops.

Besides the energy self-sufficiency that ethanol and other biofuels can bring, Hawai'i has a clear interest in the green space that ag lands provide. Agriculture should not be relegated to "legacy" status; it needs to be part of our economic and environmental future.