Hawaiian Island to Turn Algae Into Biodiesel

Jon Popham July 16, 2008 | 7:35 pm EST

As big as alternative energy is getting in the United States, it is really taking shape in the 50th State, Hawaii. We all know young’uns are good with technological gizmos, but the Aloha State is putting its mainland big brothers to shame with the speed it’s adapting toward energy self sufficiency. First there was the new law in Hawaii requiring all newly installed residential water heaters to run off of solar power. Now the island of Maui has announced plans for plant that creates biodiesel from a crop the Pacific state has a whole lot of access to: algae.

A Hawaiian conglomerate of HR BioPetroleum, Alexander & Baldwin Inc and Hawaiian Electric Industries is developing the Maui plant to harvest large quantities of lipid oil to fuel the state’s combustible needs. If factors align, the plant could begin production as soon as 2011. Hawaiian Governor Linda Lingle had this to say on the proposed plant:

“This innovative partnership can help move Hawaii one step closer to securing energy independence and achieving our goal of having 70 percent of Hawaii’s energy come from clean sources by 2030,”

You can takepart by learning more about abundant potential fuel of Algal Biodiesel by checking out the homegrown website devoted to the subject, Oilgae.com.

LINKS:

gas2.org: BREAKING NEWS: First cars run on algae biodiesel

The Daily Green: Shell plans algae plant in Hawaii

Honolulu Advertiser: Maui algae biodiesel facility planned