WAILUA — A car running on java plum wood chips was the star of the 14th Annual Agriculture and Environmental Awareness Day, Thursday. “I have a hard time presenting because I keep getting distracted,” said Laura Kawamura of the University
WAILUA — A car running on java plum wood chips was the star of the 14th Annual Agriculture and Environmental Awareness Day, Thursday.
“I have a hard time presenting because I keep getting distracted,” said Laura Kawamura of the University of Hawai‘i Cooperative Extension Service, who was presenting a unit on phyto-chemicals, or colorful food.
Adam Asquith, an extension agent like Kawamura, said he’s been working on the wood-burning unit for some time, and after getting some blueprints was able to modify it to make use of products found locally.
Simply put, the car, a 1991 Ford Fiesta which Asquith said was headed for the dump, utilizes carbon monoxide and hydrogen as fuel to run, Asquith impressing students when he switched the engine from its gasoline to the renewable gas and driving the car back and forth in front of the demonstration area of the energy independence station.
The raw product for the carbon monoxide is wood chips, for Thursday’s demonstration coming from java plum, an invasive species. The wood chips are converted into bio-charcoal which is burned to produce the carbon monoxide and hydrogen derived from water.
“This is not something new,” Asquith told the students. “Someone knew about this a long time ago and put it under the table. I just found it.”
Larry Feinstein said charcoal has been around for a long time and is a source of carbon, a chemical element.
In pre-Mayan times, scientists discovered a black residue along the banks of the Amazon River. This was charcoal where the Mayans put out fires on wood before it was completely burned.
“We can just call it the ‘cha-ka‘a,’” said Roy Yamakawa of the University of Hawai‘i College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, who along with the Kaua‘i County Farm Bureau sponsor the annual event. “We are planning on having a unit set up here at the Wailua Research Station in the future.”
More than 500 fifth-grade students from schools around the island converged at the annual event geared to raise awareness of not only agriculture, but also of the environment and the impact of humans on the environment.
During the day-long event, students were provided questionnaires they needed to find answers by stopping and visiting at both static displays as well as interactive lectures such as Asquith’s and Kawamura’s.
“One of the new lectures this year is Ted Radovich of CTAHR with worm-composting,” said Melissa McFerrin of the Kaua‘i County Farm Bureau. “That has been a popular spot with the students, as well as the phyto-chemicals.”
• Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com.
