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Good Government Won! (Jean Aoki) Annual Meeting of the LWV of Honolulu Report from Nominating Committee (Roxie Berlin & Piilani Kaopuiki) Honolulu League Must Dip into Savings Nominations Sought for Campaign Spending Commission Proposed Budget for year ending April 30, 2010 Honolulu's "Train to Nowhere" (Cliff Slater) Reducing Our Carbon Footprint (Pearl Johnson) Annual Meeting Speaker (Piilani Kaopuiki) Calendar of Events |
Reducing Our Carbon FootprintTechnology developed by University of Hawaii researcher Michael J. Antal Jr. to produce charcoal from green waste can reduce the burden on the Waimanalo Gulch landfill. Dr. Antal's flash carbonization process uses heat and pressure to turn scrap tires, corn cobs, macadamia nut shells and green waste into a high-quality, clean alternative to wood or coal. Flash Carbonization™ of raw sewage sludge produced in Honolulu's Ewa treatment plant was converted into charcoal. Charcoal is the sustainable fuel replacement for coal. Coal combustion is the most important contributor to climate change. We burn coal to generate a good portion of the electrical power in Hawaii. Oahu has a 180 MW coal-fired power plant. The highest priority for knowledgeable people who care about the environment is the replacement of coal by cleaner, renewable fuels. The Sand Island sewage treatment plant converts its sewage sludge to dry pellets which can be used to enrich the soil. However, the other sewage plants continue to send their sludge to the landfill. Installing a carbon diversion system at all the other plants could not only reduce the burden on our landfill but cut down on the import and use of coal to generate electricity. Oahu has thousands of acres devoted to growing seed corn for the mainland. The system can process corn cobs into miniature charcoal corn cobs which could probably be sold at a premium. It takes only a half acre to install a carbon diversion system which can process up to four tons of waste material per hour. Pearl Johnson |
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