Hawaii’s longest operating biodiesel producer, Pacific Biodiesel Technologies is planting sunflowers as its first biofuel crop on 115 acres in Maui’s central valley.
The project is the largest of its kind and the only biofuel farming operation running on 100% renewable fuel in Hawaii, showcasing the company’s sustainable, community-based model of agriculture and renewable energy.[ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type=”show” ihc_mb_who=”2,3,5″ ihc_mb_template=”1″ ]
The project will expand diversified agriculture by growing combine-harvested oil crops on land previously used for sugar cane production.
According to MauiNews, the company’s research on sunflower plants showed that they produce more oil through a combination of a windy environment and a practice of starving them of water in their last 30 days of growth.
In around 100 days, the plants inland of Maalaea will mature and yield 100 gallons of oil per acre, or 11,500 gallons for the first crop, followed by two harvests in a year, for a total of about 34,500 gallons of sunflower oil.
That’s enough to produce 32,775 gallons of biodiesel, which can fuel 109 passenger vehicles or four trucks and buses a year.
According to the news report, the farm will not use irrigation, relying instead on rain, and it will not use manufactured fertiliser.Instead, it will rely on natural fertiliser obtained from partner Maui EKO Systems.
The company envisions other crops, including safflower, camelina (from the mustard family), industrial hemp and soybeans other sources of biofuel.
The first harvest of sunflowers is set for June.
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