A&B land booked for biofuel

A renewable energy startup company will break ground on old sugar land this summer.

Alexander & Baldwin Inc. said Wednesday it is leasing 250 acres of its former sugar cane plantation on Maui to Oakland, Calif.-based TerViva. The agricultural company is seeking to use its pongamia trees to provide biofuels, biomass and feed for livestock.

A&B said TerViva has the potential to expand the leased orchard to cover 2,000 acres of the former 36,000-acre sugar plantation.

Rick Volner Jr., general manager of diversified agriculture at A&B, said the trees will cover roughly 30 acres by the end of summer, 100 acres will be covered with pongamia by the end of this year, and 250 acres will be covered with trees by the end of 2018.

“We felt comfortable proceeding with a kind of ramped-up approach,” he said. “If that performs well, and we think it will based on the modeling and yield results we already have, we think we have lands that can accommodate up to 2,000 to 2,500 acres of pongamia.”

TerViva Manager Will Kusch said the harvested seeds of the trees can be used for biofuel, the leftover pulp after producing the oil can be used to feed livestock, and the seed shells can be used as biomass feedstock. Feedstock is a renewable or biological material that can be converted into a form of energy.

“We will be providing locally produced sustainable energy,” Kusch said. “We’ll be restoring the land while we do.”

TerViva has been planting pongamia on 200 acres of former sugar land on the North Shore of Oahu. TerViva began planting at the end of 2015, resulting in 50 acres growing pongamia to date.

“We will have another 25 acres planted (on Oahu) by the end of this year. By the end of next year we will have all 200 acres planted (on Oahu),” Kusch said.

The trees, which can grow to roughly 25 feet, hit maturity after four years. Pongamia can yield 400 gallons of oil per acre, Kusch said. Once the combined 450 acres on both Maui and Oahu are complete by the end of 2018, the orchards will have the capability to produce 180,000 gallons of oil annually.

Pongamia oil can be used for biodiesel, renewable diesel and jet fuel, Kusch said during a panel discussion at the second day of the VERGE Hawaii: Asia Pacific Clean Energy Summit. The three-day conference, which concludes today, is being held at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki.

TerViva wants to use its pongamia seeds to shift the state’s coal-fired electric plant to renewable fuel.

“We can use the shells to replace some fraction of the coal being used for energy production,” Kusch said.

Kusch said the shells of the pongamia seeds are being tested by AES Hawaii Inc., the state’s only coal-fired plant, which supplies 20 percent of Oahu’s energy.

“Whether the biomass meets their specifications, we can go from there,” Kusch said.

AES has said the facility is working to switch from coal, and looking for renewable feedstock to take its place.

TerViva also is looking to feed more than just cattle, working to provide feed for poultry and, eventually, people.

“Eventually, we want to be providing other renewable energy and either supporting food production or directly feeding people,” Kusch said.

The trees — native to central and southeastern Asia, Indonesia and northern Australia — were brought to the islands more than 100 years ago.

“You can find these trees around,” said Kusch, adding that a tree is growing on the University of Hawaii-Manoa campus off Dole Street. “They became unpopular because people brought them over initially for (ornamental landscape).”

The plants fell out of favor because of the maintenance required when the seeds fell to the ground, Kusch said.

“The problem … is (an) opportunity for us,” Kusch said.