For a few weeks in January and February, keeping up with the filings for mechanic’s liens against Hu Honua Bioenergy required almost a full-time presence in Hilo’s 3rd Circuit Court. On February 4, an article by John Burnett in the … Continued
Council Loses an Advisor: Robin Baird, one of the leading experts on false killer whales in waters around Hawai`i, has resigned from the Protected Species Advisory Committee of the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Wespac). Baird resigned effective January 31. The … Continued
Tobacco Project Wins ADC License Despite Board Member’s Objections Over the objections of an incensed William Tam, the Agribusiness Development Corporation board voted to approve a three-year license to LBD Coffee, LLC, to test its tobacco crops on three acres … Continued
When it comes to environmental issues addressed by the 2013 Legislature, repeal of the Public Land Development Corporation grabbed headlines. That agency, established by the Legislature just two short years ago and signed into law as Act 55 of the … Continued
On December 13, the state Board of Land and Natural Resources approved the general form of a development agreement for a wind farm that Na Pua Makani Power Partners, LLC, plans to construct on 232 acres of agricultural land in … Continued
Five years ago, state land on the Big Island experienced the biofuel equivalent of a gold rush. Bioprospectors – folks wanting to make a fortune from crops that could be used as feedstock in a variety of biofuel products – … Continued
When the Hu Honua plant was proposed in 2008, the owners were Ethanol Research Hawai`i, a company owned by Hawai`i alternate energy entrepreneur Daniel KenKnight, which held around 10 percent of the equity, and MMARV Bioenergy, a subsidiary of Municipal … Continued
When it was originally proposed, the Hu Honua Bioenergy power plant, just north of Hilo in the village of Pepe`ekeo, seemed like an answer to several challenges facing the Big Island and the state as a whole. Using wood (biomass) … Continued