LIHU‘E — The island continues to rely on the visitor industry as its main source of income, yet “Kaua‘i has always understood the need to diversity its economy,” said George Costa, director of the county Office of Economic Development. Six
LIHU‘E — The island continues to rely on the visitor industry as its main source of income, yet “Kaua‘i has always understood the need to diversity its economy,” said George Costa, director of the county Office of Economic Development.
Six “industry clusters” — food and agriculture, renewable energy, high-technology, sports and recreation, health and wellness, and culture and arts — are being “targeted for growth,” he said.
But the “majority of initiatives” are currently associated with renewable-energy clusters and food and agriculture.
“We are the most isolated land mass on the planet,” Costa said. “Unless we mine the limited land resources we have to create mass production of certain natural resources, it would be very cost prohibitive to import supplies or export product to other areas around the world.”
Therefore, renewable energy sources like solar, wind, hydro and wave would not only provide employment opportunities but would allow residents to “wean ourselves off costly, depleting fossil fuels,” Costa said.
Negotiations will begin again between Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative and Pacific West Energy to potentially bring a 20-megawatt, biomass-to-energy project to fruition on Kaua‘i, “if land can be secured,” said KIUC spokesperson Anne Barnes on Friday.
Green Energy Hawai‘i also continues to work toward the development of a biomass facility to generate 6.4 megawatts of energy which is planned to be in operation by 2012, she said.
A concentrated solar thermal project is still under negotiations as well, and the size will “likely increase” to 15 megawatts “in an effort to reduce the cost of energy over the 20-year life of the contract,” Barnes said.
In addition to renewable energy, expanding agriculture is vital to “employment opportunities,” Costa said.
Currently, most livestock is shipped off island to slaughter, but transferring the operation to Kaua‘i would mean more jobs and locally-raised and killed animals, he said.
“We all need to eat and promote locally-grown produce” and “livestock,” he said. “Not only does this provide an economic benefit, but it also emphasizes growing our own food and significantly reducing our 90-percent-imported food supply.”
However, “unless large-scale farming can return to Kaua‘i and provide large, plantation-style employment, the visitor industry is our current leader,” Costa said.
And the Important Agricultural Lands designation “seems unlikely” to “make a big difference in the short term,” said University of Hawai‘i Department of Economics Professor Byron Gangnes.
“The question is whether companies will see profitable opportunities to expand agricultural activities into these areas,” he said. “There is some upside potential from biofuels, but that is difficult to gauge at this point.”
Agriculture is also “very capital intensive, so it may not create a lot of jobs compared with service-sector industries like tourism and business services,” for example, Gangnes said.
Water is also “the key here,” Costa said.
“We can designate many of the lands that were in production during the plantation days in IAL, but if the old irrigation systems aren’t repaired, reconditioned or rebuilt, very little crops can be farmed on Important Agricultural Lands,” he said. “This in itself will be capital-intensive as Byron pointed out.
“As it is often said, ‘No water, no agriculture,’” Costa said.
• Coco Zickos, business and environmental writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or czickos@kauaipubco.com.
