Upcountry Farm Tour Report

FARM TOURS REVEAL CHALLENGES, BENEFITS OF MAUI AGRICULTURE
MauiWeekly, July 23, 2009, by Sarah Ruppenthal

On Saturday, July 18, Upcountry Sustainability presented the first in a series of local farm tours, providing an opportunity for residents to explore three Kula farms and meet the farmers who keep things growing. Farm tour participants visited Coca Farm with Gil, Kupa‘a Farm with Simpson and Ross, and ‘O‘ō Farm with Clark. (see full article)

Waste Not Want Not: Update

A FRUITFUL ENDEAVOR NEEDS ASSISTANCE
Maui Weekly, July 14, 2009, by Debra Lordan

You may remember me referring to my black thumb and my little greenhouse, aka my plant mortuary. On the other side of the spectrum, we have green-thumbed gardeners who can grow a veritable Garden of Eaten—those with orchards of oranges, acres of avocados, a bounty of bananas… well, you get it. Fruit trees often produce an abundance of food, and it may be difficult for those with fruit and nut trees to keep up with harvesting, which takes time and labor. The fruit might end up going to waste on the ground or end up in the trash.

A group called Waste Not Want Not, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization comprised of community volunteer harvesters, have collected and distributed six tons of Maui-grown fruit, nuts and veggies since they began last December. Instead of becoming mulch or fruit fly food, WNWN collects edible fruit and produce from businesses and residents, which is then donated to the Maui Food Bank (MFB). MFB distributes the fresh food to Hale Makua and about 75 other organizations that provide services for keiki, the elderly and the homeless.

After you schedule an appointment with Waste Not Want Not, part of their crew of 35 volunteer harvesters come to your property to harvest your surplus. WNWN doesn’t charge for collection or delivery, and in exchange for their work, volunteers may receive a bit of the harvest.

But nonprofits can’t run on fruit alone. It takes money to run any organization. WNWN needs money for gas, administration fees, and software for taxes, scheduling and a donor database. They need equipment such as orchard ladders as well.

WNWN is currently using personal trucks, borrowed ladders and other equipment with the hope they can expand the operation and increase their harvesting ability to meet an increasing need.

The organization also requires money to hire a mechanic to either fix the old van donated by the MFB, or to buy another vehicle. Because the van is broken, they use a pickup truck, which limits what the group can harvest. They take the pickup out twice a week, but one pickup of food is gone after four or five deliveries to MFB recipient agencies. They could easily go out every day—there is that much food available—but they don’t have the financial support.

As we all know, times are hard and receiving this fresh produce means a lot to those in need—now more than ever. WNWN Co-founder and Director James Mylenek Sr. told me about a senior citizen who tearfully accepted a few tangerines, fresh fruit that she hadn’t been able to afford to buy for four years.

Don’t let these treasures go to waste.

To learn more about Waste Not, Want Not, to become a volunteer, donate fruit or make a contribution to support the program, visit waste-not-want-not.org or call 874-8038.

To find an organization near you that receives WNWN fruit through the Maui Food Bank, call 244-9500.

Solar Hot Water News

Stimulus will buy low-income Hawaii families solar heaters
The Honolulu Advertiser, July 27, 2009
About 420 low-income households in Hawai’i will soon be getting solar water heaters paid for with $3.7 million from the federal economic stimulus program. On Maui people looking for more nformation about the Weatherization Assistance Program can call 808-249-2970. Read full article

Introduction to the Clean Water Act

A 66-page description of the Clean Water act at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency website.

Go to Clean Water Act modules.

Ocean Health News

• From pristine reefs to coral wastelands—In Hawaii, climate change’s impact is raising alarms. Honolulu Advertiser, July 25, 2009
As our activities on land and in water increasingly impact the health of our reefs, The Advertiser launches a year-long, in depth examination of Hawai’i's coral reef system.

• Governments trying to reel in ‘ocean sprawl’: CNN.com, July 15, 2009

A Clean Energy Future for Maui and Hawaii

Recommended reading, this document is complied from “Conversations with Key Players” in Maui’s renewable energy future.

Written by Phyllis Robinson, and Melanie Stephens it covers a wide range of renewable energy “Issues, Interests and Solutions.

The 100 Percent Solution

The Maui Weekly, July 23, 2009
by Chris Mentzel

Can we switch Maui completely away from oil, considering that wind and sun energies are variable and not always available? Like almost no other place on the planet, we are in the fortunate situation to have an abundance of natural energy resources.

Doubters say that we need to wait until systems are available to store energy when the wind stops blowing, or that clean energies will always be secondary to oil.

But the obvious solution is all around us. Sugarcane has the optimum photosynthesis process to transform sunlight into plant material. There are a variety of methods available to transform these plants into energy, from burning bagasse—which is done today—to planned ethanol factories and modern gasification plants. All of these methods can also utilize leaves that are now wastefully burned away.

It’s a bit more expensive to make energy from sugarcane than from oil. It’s a bit cheaper to make energy from wind. A combination of wind and sugarcane together with solar and storage turns out to be a perfect solution. Analyzing the available resources brings to light that in God’s infinite wisdom, we have just the right amount of sugarcane growing to balance the variations in wind energy.

Old man sugar is in trouble. Sugar prices have not increased in 25 years. Most sugar plantations on the islands have closed. There is not a good alternative crop in sight, but empty fields would allow winds to blow dust throughout Kahului and North Kīhei. Clearly, the transformation into an energy plantation is the only way out.

Thirty 5 MW windmills would generate half of our electricity needs, and sugar plants (including the leaves) would generate the other half. Electricity prices would stop rising and new jobs would be created. To complete the picture, powerful electric cars will be available next year, which could run on 100 percent clean energy if this system was in place.

Given the political will, Maui could be powered by 100 percent clean energy within five to seven years.

Chris Mentzel, CEO of Clean Energy Maui LLC, consults with county and state governments in Hawai‘i to secure a quick transition to a clean energy future. He is also the chairman of South Maui Sustainability’s renewable energy committee. His goal is to end oil use on Maui by 2020. He can be reached through www.CleanEnergyMaui.com or at 214-7678.

Dollars and Sense

The Maui Weekly, July 14, 2009
by Chris Mentzel

Every day, $1 million goes up in smoke to make electricity for Maui. That’s what Maui Electric Company (MECO) spends to purchase diesel and oil. It takes many, many tourists to bring that amount of money to our island.

If we had more wind farms and solar installations, we could keep this money on the island and create a better life for everyone.

In Germany, the wunderkind of clean energy, a whole new middle class of energy entrepreneurs has sprung up. Herr Schmid is a great example. In 1995, he heard about the law that enables people to earn a profit from selling electricity over the grid. He went to his bank and got a loan to buy a million-dollar windmill. After a year of planning and permitting, the 330-foot tower was erected and started to make him money. He was able to buy a new house for his son.

Schmid built the house and made some money to buy a new Volkswagen. They also paid some more taxes, which was used to improve school buildings and to hire a new teacher for computer science.

Then Schmid wanted to build another windmill and hired Frau Langenberg, who had been out of work before entering the wind energy industry. So she made some money, too.

Schmid bought the windmill from a German manufacturer that grew 50 percent last year. When the energy payments came in, he used the money to increase his retirement savings.

Meanwhile, on Maui, the money we were paying for our electricity bills went to China, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia and Libya. In addition, during the last year, we saw a sudden doubling in oil prices that created serious problems for energy users.

Ask your politicians to follow the German model and ask the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to install a strong version of a similar law in Hawai‘i. It’s called the F.I.T. (feed-in tariff) and it will open doors for entrepreneurs. It will also help save us from the effects of global warming.

Chris Mentzel, CEO of Clean Energy Maui LLC, consults with county and state governments in Hawai‘i to secure a quick transition to a clean energy future. He is also the chairman of South Maui Sustainability’s renewable energy committee. His goal is to end oil use on Maui by 2020. He can be reached through www.CleanEnergyMaui.com or at 214-7678.

Maui’s Chance

The Maui Weekly, July 9, 2009
by Chris Mentzel

As Mayor Charmaine Tavares said, “the stars are aligned” for the future of clean energy on Maui. We have a mayor who wants to make Maui 95 percent energy independent by 2020, a governor who is setting a 70 percent goal for 2030 (made into law by the Legislature recently) and politicians who, in general, include renewable energy on their platforms.

But that begs the questions, “Why are we not further along? Where are the new wind projects, the solar farms and other clean energy projects? Why is the state still powered by 85 percent fossil energy, as it was 10, 20 and 30 years ago?”

On the surface, there are planning, financing and contract delays and serious technical concerns about intermittent energy. But the major obstacle is the lack of decisiveness and urgency.

We cannot wait. Scientists are warning that mankind needs to make serious progress in reducing carbon emissions in the next 10 years, otherwise we will be unable to stop the cycle of dramatic climate change. Once Siberia begins to thaw and release its methane, it will have the same effect as 80 years of industrial emissions. Ten years seems like an awfully short time.

Here is Maui’s chance to serve as an example to the world. Many of us are convinced of this, even in the highest ranks of politics and industry. Let us set an example for the world that it is possible to work together to solve the Herculean task of fighting climate change and achieving energy independence.

It’s only possible through the practice of aloha, leading us to true cooperation. Project builders, investors, planners, environmentalists and Maui Electric need to come together with our kupuna and create the future of Maui. The FIT law (feed-in tariff) currently being developed by the PUC can set the framework. A new organization is needed to coordinate the effort, put all the pieces together and guide new clean energy projects to success.

Maui is the ideal place to showcase the future of clean energy. We have the best wind, as well as sun, other natural energy, high visibility and the chance to reduce energy costs.

More importantly, we have the people and the aloha to bring us all together.

Chris Mentzel, CEO of Clean Energy Maui LLC, consults with county and state governments in Hawai‘i to secure a quick transition to a clean energy future. He is also the chairman of South Maui Sustainability’s renewable energy committee. His goal is to end oil use on Maui by 2020. He can be reached through www.CleanEnergyMaui.com or at 214-7678

Our Energy Future

The Maui Weekly, July 2, 2009
by Chris Mentzel

There is a growing agreement on Maui that it is time to shift our island’s economy away from oil toward clean energy sources. Global warming is threatening our way of living and the very survival of our civilization. Oil imports are draining Maui’s economy—this money could be put to better use by letting local companies install wind and solar. Many also think that Maui could benefit greatly by being known to the world as the “Green Island.”

The movement to completely replace oil with clean energy must overcome some serious hurdles, but they are not insurmountable. We have to ask ourselves these questions: “Do we have enough natural energy sources? Can we handle their variability? Who can handle the cost?”

We use a lot of energy. Maui Electric sells 1,300 million kilowatt (kWh) per year and Maui’s cars drive a total of 1.4 billion miles. If we switched to electric cars, 1,800 million kWh would be needed—a lot more than the 120 million kWh currently provided by the wind farm. Can we do it?

Yes we can! With sufficient political will, we can achieve our goal to make all our electricity from clean sources within seven years. A larger wind farm in Ma‘alaea and one in ‘Ulupalakua would produce one-third of the energy. Solar, wave and geothermal technology could provide another third. The remainder would come from transforming sugarcane into energy.

Using such a mix of energy sources is essential to stabilize the grid when winds are variable or at a lull. This has been a problem for Maui Electric’s generators thus far, but with a new system designed from the ground up, energy stability would be built in.

The cost is estimated to be over $1 billion. While this seems like a lot, consider that Mauians are spending over $500 million a year on oil imports. Oil money simply leaves our island. Clean energy is (surprisingly) much cheaper. After federal and state subsidies, a clean energy system as described above costs less than two year’s oil bills.

Powerful electric cars will be introduced into the market in 2010 and are already supported by the Hawai‘i Legislature. It will take a while to replace our gas guzzlers, but with every electric car, we will save money and keep that money on the island.

One last question has to be asked: “Who will lead Maui into the age of clean energy? Next week we will examine this issue in greater detail and describe how we need a new era of cooperation to make such exciting changes.

Chris Mentzel, CEO of Clean Energy Maui LLC, consults with county and state governments in Hawai‘i to secure a quick transition to a clean energy future. He is also the chairman of South Maui Sustainability’s renewable energy committee. His goal is to end oil use on Maui by 2020. He can be reached through www.CleanEnergyMaui.com or at 214-7678.