Hawaiians are on a mission to expand the use of local renewable and alternative energy sources to supply the islands’ power needs.

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A goal for Hawaii and Hawaii’s electricity providers is to produce biodiesel from locally grown feedstocks so that the fuel doesn’t have to be brought in from the U.S. mainland. Crops being investigated for biodiesel include jatropha, palm and kukui nuts.

In July of this year, Hawaiian Electric and Maui Electric, Hawaii’s HR BioPetroleum, and major landowner Alexander & Baldwin Inc. agreed to develop a commercial-scale microalgae facility on land owned by AB next to Maui Electric’s Ma’alaea power plant. Carbon dioxide emissions from the plant will be recycled into the facility as nutrients for the algae.

The algal oil produced would be converted to biodiesel and the remnants made into high-value byproducts such as animal feed. The facility could be operational by 2011.

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