Honua Ola is bad for
people and environment
In his April 30 letter to the editor, Kevin Balog states that concerns about the environmental effects of trucking wood to be burned at the proposed Honua Ola power plant at Pepe‘ekeo are overblown.
However, there are several reasons that incorporating the Honua Ola plant into the energy grid would not be in the public’s interest.
Though Honua Ola might be a “renewable” energy source in the sense that additional trees could be grown to burn there, it could hardly be considered environmentally friendly. Burning wood releases more greenhouse gases than burning oil or natural gas.
In particular, emissions of methane and nitrous oxide, gases far more potent than carbon dioxide in driving climate change, are much higher from wood combustion.
Even state-of-the-art emission control systems are only marginally effective in removing these pollutants. Further, wood burning produces fine particles that increase risk of both lung and heart disease. Smokestack scrubbers can capture some of these. Others are released into the environment.
From an economic perspective, Honua Ola would charge 22 cents per kilowatt hour across a 30-year purchase agreement — 2 1/2 times the cost of energy generated by photovoltaic panels.
The state Public Utility Commission must approve any power purchase agreement involving Honua Ola before the agreement can take effect. I urge the PUC to consider both economic and environmental impacts in making their decision.
91直播 plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 50% of 2005 levels by 2030. Efforts to transition to clean energy generation and storage make sense.
Purchasing power from a greenhouse gas-generating plant does not.
Richard Leman
Honokaa
Stop ‘global whining’
and support Honua Ola
In response to Mr. Rusty Iijima regarding Honua Ola Bioenergy (Your views, April 24), complaining about the Trump administration and changes at the Environmental Protection Agency serves little purpose. The EPA will always be a force that Honua Ola will have to deal with.
Please see the bigger picture. 91直播 Island needs a diversified portfolio of energy producers, and Honua Ola should be part of it.
Our state faces the 2045 mandate for 100% energy production by renewable sources. For neighbor islands (Gov. Josh Green’s Executive Order 25-01), the deadline is 2035! More importantly, Mr. Warren Lee, president of Honua Ola Bioenergy, pointed out that two of our island’s 50-year-old fossil fuel plants are scheduled for retirement after 2028 (letters to the editor, Feb. 15).
Those two retiring plants represent about 35 megawatts, or about 12.5%, of our island’s firm generation capacity. What will fill that void? Honua Ola is capable of delivering up to 30 megawatts of firm, renewable, 24/7 power, is 99.5% complete and ready to start.
Honua Ola’s inclusion to 91直播an Electric Company’s mix will increase HECO’s firm, renewable production by about 30%! Honua Ola will replace fossil fuels, utilize 21st century state-of-the-art technologies to screen emissions and provide local jobs!
Of course, we could use more energy sources and bolster a diversified portfolio to meet our ever-increasing energy needs. Where are they? Where? What other large energy producer is close to 99.5% ready?
We will need Honua Ola just to maintain the energy levels we’re accustomed to now.
We need solutions, not complaints. Enough with the global whining. If anybody out there wants more solar farms, wind turbines or whatever, put your money where your keyboard is and go build them.
Glen Kagamida
Hilo
