 This is Saint-Tek-Kawaii, the Trinity Matters here. Well, and welcome back to Energy Wednesday. And as we start this program, well, I want to introduce co-host Veronica Rocha. Thank you. She's our terrific co-host on renewable energy technologies for this month. Thank you. And we have Rachel here from Hawaii Energy today. Thank you. Rachel Fukumoto, Energy Advisor. So we have a Negawat moment. Yes. What are we going to learn today? It's always exciting to be here. That's nice to have you. But yeah, today is all about apartments and condos and really how to help them start seeing condos and apartments as businesses. That's great. Yeah. So we actually held a really great lunch in London last week. And so we had a bunch of our condo owners, property managers, you know, all of the decision makers. We brought them together and was able to, you know, provide them with information. So these are all the big condos especially that have 300 units or more where they use a lot of energy. Yeah, it was a wide range actually. So the very large condos, we had some of the luxury condos. They came by, but anywhere from even three-story walk-ups too. Okay. Well, do you have a video to tell us? Let's see the video first and then we'll question you about it. Aggressive goal of reaching 100% clean energy by the year 2045. And so we strongly believe that a large portion of that will be attributed to energy efficiency. I do know that a lot of you have participated in lighting programs before. And so please feel free to share this with any of your friends if you have other resident managers, general managers that might be interested or even walking around seeing outdated lighting and properties. Feel free to share this information with them. It's applicable to everybody. There have been studies that show CMLs emit radiation. But the LEDs, you're not going to have to have that. There's nobody to be voting for. So better without or with ballots. It would take one of us to go through to a walk-through with you, gather what it is that you're trying to accomplish and looking at the best picture going forward in the long term. We're really here to try and support you folks and make it as easy as possible. As an energy advisor, that's really my role is to guide you to the contractors that participate with us, to provide quality products and on my end, really help you save energy. Okay, so tell us the questions that they asked you and what you had to tell them about the kinds of things the energy advisor does for condos. Yeah, so especially for condos in the common areas it's really important to focus on lighting. Just their hours of operation are a lot longer than if you were in unit. It's a huge difference if you're installing LEDs, more efficient lighting, and so we really wanted to provide them with kind of a workshop to meet some of our contractors, clean energy allies, really ask any questions that they wanted to. And so that was kind of what you saw in the clip. So you usually give incentives, you give some kind of rebates or exactly cash incentives. Wonderful. So tell us what the incentives are. Yeah, so it depends on the lighting that they install but really we're trying to help provide these cash incentives so it makes the deal a little bit sweeter to purchase lights that are typically more expensive, especially LEDs, and so really level the playing field for that. So like I live in a condo, it's 306 units, and we have two buildings and we have I'd say quite a bit of common area, the lobbies and then the elevators going up and down and the boilers and whatever is in the innards of the building. So what else do you do? Is it just all the lighting or are there other kinds of things? Oh, we do everything. So you go in and you actually do an audit for the building? So I'll help the property manager or even the board members just do a quick walk-through, assess what the potential is and so anything to do with mechanics, especially if you have a pool at your place. Yes, we do have a pool. Perfect. So we can take a look at the pumps, just really make them more efficient. So this is free? So what I do, yep, it's included. So once we decide what the potential is, then I really guide the decision makers to contractors, to trusted clean energy allies, and they'll do the work for you. And I work with them to be able to provide the rebate after that. So tell the viewers where they can get this free. Good service. Well, visit www.boyenergy.com. Look for my face about me section. And so, yeah, I take care of all apartments, condos, multi-families, properties. And so just give me a call. Okay, great. So the program started already, or you're still in training, or what? No, so I've been doing this for a couple of years now. Oh, so what have you done that's new that you're going to give us? Well, you know, all of our incentives are, you know, brand new. So we just like to be able to help our customers repair. That's great, because we have a lot of condos, a lot of apartments in the state, especially in Honolulu. Yes. It's great to take advantage of the resources that we have. Very good. Thank you, Hawaii Energy once again. And I know Veronica has questions. I do, actually. I have a couple of questions. So when you're talking to condo owners, et cetera, what are some of their biggest concerns, and what would you say to them to address those concerns? Right. So really with condos, it's all about your reserves, you know, to make capital improvements. And so energy efficiency is typically pretty low on the list. But what we like to do is help them see that energy efficiency actually funds projects for them. So if they have, you know, water heaters that break or need a new booster pump, chiller systems, if they're doing energy efficiency at the same time, it's cash flow back into their pockets. And so we like to sell energy efficiency as something to make their condo owners happy, you know, their tenants happy, the board members happy. So you help them in terms of what kinds of products, like, I guess, energy star, whatever you call it, is that also available with boilers or, you know, some of the bigger equipment? Yeah. So we have a list, it's all on our website, but really just to make sure that you're following the correct energy efficiency standards. And so we only incentivize really quality products to make sure that it lasts for the customers, make sure that they're satisfied with the materials. Yeah. Very good. So I do have another question. So I was mentioning earlier before the show that this summer I was in Armenia working on a work-related project, but I had an awesome opportunity to meet with Habitat for Humanity in Armenia. And that they do a lot of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects within their Habitat for Humanity projects. So I understand Hawaii Energy also does similar work here locally in Hawaii, so I wanted to, you know, just ask you what are the sort of projects that you guys do and what are the sort of things that we should be in the lookout for? Yeah. So what's really neat is that we have programs that are designed to reach these hard-to-reach segments. So community housing, we have a lot of free programs for them. It's through our Energy Smart for Homes program. So we'll go in, you know, get them signed up and scheduled, but we'll pretty much install LED lighting, faucet aerators, high-efficiency shower heads, all free. Free? Yeah. So we cover the cost of that. Yeah. And it really makes a difference. Tenants will see their energy use drop. So that when you go into the units, it's not the common unit. We do. Yes. Every unit. And so, yeah, that's available too through our program. So how do you qualify for that? I mean, what would be the kind of housing? That's a great question. Yeah. So typically we look for single-owned buildings. It's a lot easier just in terms of getting into the units and scheduling, but anybody can apply if you live in a multi-family property. It's just a matter of scheduling with us. And so we like to have at least 10 to 15 units that would commit to having us, you know, enter their program. So does it have to be low income or is it anybody? Actually, I believe it's anybody. We like to serve the low income first. So is it part of your hard to reach program or is it? It is. Yeah. And so, you know, we don't like to exclude anybody, but just with the idea that this program is for lower income, for hard to reach, senior housing. And so we like to serve them first. That's wonderful. That's a great program. Yeah. Thank you. Do you want to summarize for us? Quick summary. Today we had Rachel. She's amazing, works for Hawaii Energy, provides a lot of education for condominiums and other residential buildings. They also, Hawaii Energy provides a lot of rebates and they also have special programs for, you know, harder to reach communities. So if you're interested, Rachel, please tell us who, you know, they are to contact and what, how to get a hold of you guys. Yeah. So please, please visit our website, www.hoi-energy.com, and all of our contact information is there. Awesome. Thanks for being with us. Thank you. Thank you, Rachel. Thank you. Aloha. Thank you, Hawaii Energy. Thank you, Rachel. Thank you so much. Okay. Come back again. Oh, we'll do. That was new programs. Okay. Bye. Aloha. This is Think Tech Hawaii, raising public awareness. Okay. Is it a feeling? Is it a place? Is it an idea? Okay. And then, then you can ask the question. You can, you can, you can actually. Okay, Bob. Can you hear me? Bob. Can you hear me? Hi, Bob. Can you hear us? Hi, Bob. Can you hear us? Can you hear us? He's not responding. Bob. Okay. Hi, Bob. We're back again. Hawaii Energy Policy. Think Tech. Program with my co-host Veronica Rocha. Hello, Sharon. Hello. We're back. We're back. And Veronica has this series on renewable energy this month. And she has the biofuels to discuss this month. Yes. So do you want to take it away with Bob? Hi. Bob, are you there? Hi. We're having Bob's from Pacific Biodiesel as our host. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. We're having Bob's from Pacific Biodiesel as technologies. There's our special guest today. And he's Skyping in from Maui. Aloha, Bob. Can you hear us? Hello, Bob. All right. Well, as we get Bob all set up here, let's talk a little bit about today's show. Okay. Okay. So today's show is titled Talk Story with Bob King from Pacific Biodiesel. And his wife Kelly are the founders of Pacific Biodiesel. They have been very successful in their work in biofuels. So I hear Sharon that they just obtained a very prestigious award from Hawaii Energy Policy Forum on, it's one of their transformational awards as a representative of Hawaii Energy Policy Forum or HEPF. Can you tell us a little bit about this award, Sharon? I sure can. We're very pleased that we could give Bob and Kelly King and Pacific Biodiesel technologies the award for the intersection of sectors. That is, they worked with the military on a project. It was a soils to fuel. Hi, Bob. Can you hear us now? I was just telling you about the award that you got, Hawaii Energy Policy Forum. We're so pleased with your work on getting soil to fuels projects with the Department of Defense, the Army. And you could tell us a little bit about that and where it's gone from that with all of the work you're doing and new developments. So Kelly, take it away. No Veronica, take it away. Actually, Veronica. No, I think that's a... Have a new name all of a sudden. Don't worry, I know your wife is replaced. Bob, tell us about the project for your work. Well, can you hear me okay now? Yes, I can. We can see you too. Very nice. Yeah, the military biofuel crop project was just trying to get started with how are we going to grow some energy here in the islands? And so one of the parameters the military wanted was something quick. So what's... You know, not something that takes a decade, but when they pull the trigger on this how literally... How long until we get a fuel? So we had soil to oil in 100 days. So 100 day crops, quick trend of crops, something we can put in the ground, harvest soon, three months, and put some more fuel into the infrastructure here on the islands. And was the fuel that you developed, is that ready, like jet fuel ready? Or what was it that came out of that? And where would that be going? How would you use it? Well, it's interesting. Technically, you could put this in a jet engine. We run a lot of it in jet and combustion turbines for Hawaiian Electric. It also runs in helicopters and all the other things. But unless it's an emergency, it would be for terrestrial equipment. So trucks, buses, power generation, military base use basically. So it gets a fuel onto the base to run the backside of operations for the military. And how much are we talking about in terms of protection? For quantity? Yes. Well, obviously the more the better for them. But right now, today we're making about 6 million gallons a year. So the plant on the big island is at design capacity. We didn't have that plant when we first started this military project. So with the interest in ag fuels, we actually went from a 2.5 million gallon a year plant design to a 5.5 million gallon a year plant design. Thinking that we'd get some of these crops coming in. Well, we're already at 6 with the plant and it's running very nicely. That's about the equivalent of about 10% of all the on-road diesel used in the state of Hawaii. Not for everybody, not just the military. But where it would go during a crisis, who knows. And you've supplied the electrical company with fuel during times of crisis. Wasn't it during the disaster, as I recall? Previously? Yes. One of the interesting things is that because we're in the islands, and we've got a lot of things moving in the islands, a while back when there was a couple of the big power plants went offline and they had to run the biodiesel generator a lot, like basically 24 hours a day. We pulled everything that we had in the state together and sent it all over there. And within two or three days we had put a significant amount of fuel in their tank, enough to make it through that crisis without going into rolling blackouts. So transparent to everybody else, but the utility was really scrambling to keep the lights on, which they were successful at. Had it been coming from the mainland six weeks away, it wouldn't have happened. That's a huge success, Bob. Tell us a little bit more about your project with, and I believe this was with specifically the Army, a hundred days to go from crop to fuel. What were some of the major challenges that you confronted, and then also how did you overcome that? I mean, that's a huge success. Well, one of the things we realized is that in order to do this at scale, we have a lot of learning to do in Hawaii. And on the mainland, of course, they've been doing this a long time, and it's nothing new. But the seed companies that we talked to, the irrigation companies that we talked to, they were at first start off, was, oh, yeah, we got this. We got this, no problem. And then we tell them about our conditions, our weather, our insects, and everything. And they got very silent and was like, wow, there's a lot to figure out here. They didn't know. They didn't know what varieties would work. They didn't know what watering regimens or even equipment type we would need. And then all the different microclimates we have in Hawaii. So does every crop work in every one, which is no. But which crops work in which microclimates? A lot of learning, which is exciting. I love that. It's just there's so much to learn and so much to understand. But we've always wanted to make sure that we did that at a small scale so that the mistakes were manageable and not tremendous. So you've tested the different feedstocks. So what have you found? Whatever the microclimate is, the big island, Maui, there are different crops that you've found to be more successful in terms of yield, cost. Yeah, everything's got a place. But the ones that we think are going to go to scale soonest are crops like sunflower, safflower, the camelina hemp, if we could ever grow it. These are crops that can be mechanized, planted and harvested. And we're kind of a machinery company. So we're all processing machinery geeks. So that's our area. That's where we're going in. And we can put in a lot of acres quickly. At one point when you visited you way back, I think you had jatropha or you had some other crops. Were they not as successful as sunflower, for example? Well, the jatropha was challenging on a couple of routes. One is that it takes a long time to get it going. Years, several years to get the trees up and making money for you. So you have to pile a lot of cash into it. And those early years are very expensive, trying to get the trees up away from the weeds. And then the thing about jatropha that we couldn't solve yet is how to detoxify the meal to make it another product. Because sunflower, safflower, the other ones that we're looking at, the meal, after we press the oil, the meal is very valuable for animals and supports an entire new industry. So with jatropha, you know, it's toxic. There's really, there's not another add-on used for it. So it has to make all the money off the oil and that's difficult. So Pacific Biodiesel has been really busy lately from what I could tell from your website. I read things about the sunflower operation in Maui which we talked about with the Army. You guys have a new crushing mill. You talked about the increased production in the Big Island production plant. So Bob, tell us, what's next? What do you guys want to do in your next stage? Well, we may have lots of ideas. Yeah, my sharing lives is what we say. Cooking out there. You could say generically. It's hard to, we also have to focus. We're trying to pick out, you know, learn a little bit and pick out some things that we can get success at. And you know, these days with the federal government where it's at, getting grant moneys is very difficult. So we've moved some of these really R&D, you know, cutting edge pieces forward with grant moneys so that we can continue our regular operations. So when we have to do all of these new projects from actual cash flow from normal operations, it definitely slows us down. It definitely won't stop us, but it'll slow us down. So, yeah, we've got, there's just so many things to do out there. And we, you know, the Sunflower Project on Maui, for instance, was just, it was a bit overwhelming the response from the community. We really didn't expect that, but there was, you know, 50, 60,000 people walked around in our field and smiles on their face. Everybody taking pictures. They just hadn't seen anything like it on Maui. It was really, really inspiring to us out there farming, you know, people are really interested in what's going on and it's a beautiful flower. So what kind of support do you think, if we're not getting at a federal level, is there something on the state level? What kinds of policies or support do you think may push you to, you know, at least keep on going forward? Yeah, I think it's, you know, there's a lot of different ways that there can be support in the state. And we feel fortunate to be in Hawaii where we do have a state mandate to go 100% renewable. It's very important. We don't have some of the cash incentives that other states have. California, when our, the companies sell, other companies sell fuel into California, they get a low carbon fuel standard credit that they sell and it's significant. It's a very, very big deal and keeps a lot of businesses moving forward and expanding. Oregon also has this. Washington will have it soon. This mandate is great, but it's way out there. So we, you know, how do we get from here to there? So we have about one minute, Bob, so I don't want to cut you off, but if you want to give one last pitch to the state and what we can do to help support you moving forward, you've got it. Well, yeah, it's continuing to use the fuel everywhere we can. State DOT is trying to get there and PUC is kind of going the opposite way now. They're pulling back on biodiesel. So we'll have less usage in the future, but it's, it all varies and we just appreciate all the support that we get from all the places that we get it. And, yeah, and we're committed to going as fast as we economically can keep it all going. So it's a great place to be. We appreciate the work that you're doing and we really do appreciate you're coming on to our show to end our series on renewables and renewable fuels, which is what you're helping us do for Hawaii. You know, before we go, Sharon, I do want to acknowledge this documentary, Revolution Green. Bob, can you just tell us a little bit about this documentary? I understand that you were one of the people that really inspired this documentary story and tell us how did it come about and if people were to watch it, what are some of the things that you would want them to take away? Well, let's see. The quick version of that is that this, this is a couple of producers and editors in Hollywood. We're going to do a movie on renewable energy and after they came and talked to us or found, you know, start seeing what was going on, they said, well, we're not going to do it on everything. We're going to do it on just your company. That's amazing. So we said, okay. And we had, you know, we got them hooked up with Willie Nelson, and then some of the other supporters that kept us going in those days and they just on their own went around and did all this filming and put it together. It's a really nice story of kind of the hope, you know, the dream, you know, that there is another way. It's not doom and gloom when you look at the future of energy. So that was what they were getting out of our story and it was exciting. Yeah. And thank you. Thank you so much. Yeah, doom and gloom. Positive. Absolutely. Hey, you know, I haven't seen it because I just learned about it when I was looking at your website, but I have to tell you, I'm really excited and maybe we can do some fun, special screening for folks here in Oahu, Sharon, maybe we can set that up, right? Yeah, we could dig it up and Bob, you could come here and tell us a story from the start. Yeah, we could dig up the editor, the producer of that show, Steven Stroud. I believe is coming over to Maui in the next, I should know the date soon, the next few weeks. Because it's actually the 10th anniversary of the release of that. So he wants to come over and just kind of talk to us and catch up on things. Oh, then there's a sequel. A sequel is coming. It will be fun. Okay, thank you so much, Bob. Congratulations on all your great work. All right, thank you and thanks for having me on today. Thank you. Bye-bye. Aloha.