Hawaii Tribune-Herald July 20, 2008

Biomass is limited
Published: Sunday, July 20, 2008 7:35 AM HST
Regarding the July 12 article, Pepeekeo electricity plant aims to reopen, a question pops to mind: Just how sustainable does Hu Honua think biomass is?

Today, with high fuel and energy prices and a general move towards everything "green" and "renewable," some companies are using these labels as a marketing ploy to try to sell us products or technologies which are far from being "green" at all. Hu Honua seems to be telling us that their plant will be using "100 percent biomass," and that the goal is to "burn a clean, sustainable fuel." Burning wood, according to Hu Honua, puts out "10 to 20 times less particulate matter than a coal-burning plant," but that does not necessarily mean that it is a clean burning fuel. Burning wood generates CO2, ash, methane, CO (if the combustion is not 100 percent efficient), N2O and some other greenhouse gases.

Another issue is that numbers in the article don't seem to add up. They call for three trucks per hour of biomass (72 trucks per day, assuming a typical round-the-clock operating schedule). They claim that they will use unusable materials from the eucalyptus timber and other green waste. Is Hu Honua telling us that the eucalyptus forest can regenerate at the rate of three trucks per hour? Because if not, then it is not a sustainable fuel. Yes, they mention that 50,000 tons of green waste are going into the Hilo land fill every year. Sounds like a lot, right? But, even if they were able to capture 100 percent of those 50,000 tons, that translates to less than six tons per hour (not even one of the three trucks per hour they need) and that is only if (and that is a big if) they manage to collect 100 percent of the green waste, and if it is all usable.

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One more question: What effect will this have on the average homeowner's electrical bill? Will the Pepeekeo plant lower our costs?

We should be investing in true renewable energy resources such as solar, wind, geothermal and hydroelectric. The government should give better incentives to homeowners for photovoltaic (PV) residential units (similar to the incentives for water heaters). Adding PV systems to homes would take off a significant load off the grid. We should be thinking progressively, and wood burning does not seem to be a step in the right direction.

It's time we start coming up with some creative ideas to help the Big Island residents ease off the current energy crunch. Burning fuel seems to be the least creative solution, perhaps the path of least resistance, but it does not seem to be a long-term truly sustainable solution.

Rodrigo F.V. Romo

Hilo