New laws promote
ethanol fuel
Gov. Linda Lingle signed into law yesterday two bills designed to encourage the production of ethanol in the state:
>> Senate Bill 3207, CD1, changes existing law to allow tax credits for companies that produce ethanol or construct ethanol-producing facilities in the state. Current law provides a tax credit for investing in ethanol facilities.>> House Bill 1944, SD1, extends the deadline for Worldwide Energy Group to take advantage of state financing to develop an ethanol fuel project on Kauai. State lawmakers approved issuing $50 million in special purpose revenue bonds to finance the project four years ago. The authorization was to expire June 30. The new law extends the authorization five years.
Worldwide Energy plans to turn bagasse, a sugar byproduct, into ethanol at Gay & Robinson's sugar mill on Kauai's west side. Gay & Robinson was waiting on the tax credit law to turn the syrup from its entire 65,000-ton annual sugar crop into ethanol.
Two other companies were also waiting for approval of the ethanol tax credit law.
Maui Ethanol LLC plans to build a facility on the Valley Isle to turn syrup and molasses, another sugar byproduct, from Alexander & Baldwin's Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar plantation into ethanol. And Oahu Ethanol is planning to construct a plant to convert molasses into ethanol. Since sugar is no longer produced on Oahu, the company plans to import the molasses.