Aina Koa Pono Aims for Locally Grown and Processed Biofuel
August 5–Both the Hawaii Business Journal and the Hawaii Reporter summarize the request Hawaii Electric Light Company made to the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission to approve a new biofuel supply contract with Aina Koa Pono LLC which is building a processing plant in Kau on the Big Island. Last fall, PUV turned down the contract because of price and cost effectiveness.
For a full summary see Reporter, Duane Shimogawa’s article in the Business Journal. A rendering of the plant,  general description of the biomass crops and description of the technology can be found here at the Hawaii Reporter .
For readers wanting more in depth and contextual information,a relatively comprehensive summary can be found at Kau HawaiiÂ
Aina Koa Pono’s project overview is here.
International Sandalwood Symposium Features Outstanding Keynote Speaker
The International Sandalwood Symposium, being held at the East-West Center, University of Hawaii, Manoa, Honolulu on October 21-24, 2012 will feature Keynote Speaker, Dr. Anantha Padmanabha.
With over forty years of experience in forestry in India, Dr. Padmanabha, an expert on sandalwood cell biology, has worked as a senior scientist at the  Institute of Wood Science and Technology in Bangalore, India, served as a Director of Karnataka Research Foundation and Advance Technology Transfer, Bangalore, and consulted to forestry companies and government agencies in Western Australia.
He has authored and co-authored books on sandalwood and published over 150 publications in journals both in India and Internationally. He was designated as Chief Technical Advisor for sandalwood projects with the World Bank Forestry Research Education and Extension Project with the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education.
International Sandalwood Foundation/ International Sandalwood Symposium
The International Sandalwood Symposium will be held at the East-West Center, University of Hawaii, Manoa, Honolulu on October 21-24, 2012. For more information click here