Explore the World of NELHA

TOUR GIVES VISITORS CHANCE TO SEE NEW TECHNOLOGY UP CLOSE

BY CHELSEA JENSEN

WEST HAWAII TODAY

cjensen@westhawaiitoday.com

A new means for connecting visitors and residents with the science and technology brewing at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority will soon be unveiled.

The new two-hour tour, hosted by nonprofit Friends of NELHA, provides participants the opportunity to experience first-hand some of the happenings at the state facility while taking in the area’s history, said Guy Toyama, executive director of the Friends of NELHA. The group provides public presentations on NELHA activities and accomplishments for a fee.

“We hope to educate and inspire people about what we can do with the seawater,” Toyama said. “By getting to see more of the activities going on, including some places people have never had the chance to see, we hope to make this one of the most interesting attractions.”

About two dozen people, including representatives from several media outlets, on Friday took part in the tour, which will open to the public on March 9.

The new tour expands the group’s current tour that lasts about 90 minutes and primarily includes a presentation followed by a visit to Big Island Abalone or a solar energy plant, Toyama said.

Now, the tour features a 30-minute presentation on NELHA’s history and activities followed by visits to a new Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion test lab, Big Island Abalone and Kona Kampachi. It also includes smoked Kampachi — which is the trade name the company uses to market almaco jack — and smoked abalone samples.

At the test lab, participants get a quick background on exactly what Makai Ocean Engineering is testing and researching at the facility with the hopes of one day commercializing the technology for energy production, said Robert Loudon, a mechanical engineer based at Keahole Point.

Using cold deep sea water and warm surface water, the test site is able to vaporize ammonia to run a simulated turbine to study the risks associated with OTEC, he said.

“This technology can be commercialized, but the problem is to jump from research to commercialization takes a lot of money,” Loudon said, estimating it would cost more than $1 billion to develop a 100-megawatt system.

At Kona Kampachi, visitors learn hands-on from research assistant Karma Kissinger on just how the business is working to raise seafood sustainably. Giant grouper capable of reaching 1,000 pounds, almaco jack, nenue, or sea chub, and roi are being raised for broodstock with the hopes of meeting some of the world’s demand on seafood.

“We need to stop catching from the ocean and start raising them here and in open-ocean mariculture,” Kissinger said, referring to raising fish in on-land tanks before moving them to offshore fish farms until harvest. “We hope these fish will create a market because this is the solution.”

Wrapping up the tour, participants visited Big Island Abalone, which for the past 15 years has raised abalone for live shipment to markets in Japan and the U.S., said shipping manager Mike Foley.

Now on a 10-acre site, approximately 40 tons of abalone are shipped annually, with equal amounts going to Japan and the U.S., said Foley. The value of a 3-year-old abalone, which is the average age of the mollusk when shipped, is about $7, he said.

The tour opens to the public on March 9 and is held in the morning. Cost is $29 for adults, ages 12 and up, and $25 for seniors. Children under age 12 are free. Toyama said the organization is considering a kamaaina rate.

For more information, visit energyfuturehawaii.org, call 329-8073 or email Toyama at guy@energyfuturehawaii.org.