HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	12
TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2017
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

Designating January 24, 2017 as "Bioenergy Day" to Raise Awareness of the Significant Environmental and Economic Benefits of Bioenergy and its Many Applications.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, to power our society, the United States currently relies heavily on coal, oil, and natural gas, which are finite resources that will eventually dwindle, become too expensive to harness, or become too environmentally damaging to obtain; and

 

     WHEREAS, bioenergy is a renewable resource that uses organic materials that can constantly be replenished to generate heating, cooling, or electricity extremely reliably; and

 

     WHEREAS, more than twenty per cent of Hawaii's total renewable energy came from bioenergy sources in 2015 and almost half of the nation's total renewable energy came from bioenergy sources in 2012; and

 

     WHEREAS, bioenergy power producers across the nation, as well as here locally, help reduce reliance on non-renewable resources, fight climate change, and sustain tens of thousands of jobs across the country; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism estimates that Hawaii has the potential to achieve a biofuels industry capable of generating energy that is the equivalent of one hundred and three hundred million gallons of oil per year, creating thousands of jobs and annual revenues of between $500,000,000 to $1,000,000,000, driven in part by potential customers in the aviation and military industry; and

 

     WHEREAS, there are abundant non-woody plants and energy grasses in Hawaii that can serve as sources of bioenergy locally; and

 

     WHEREAS, bioenergy has the potential to help drive local agriculture while simultaneously helping to maintain the State's agricultural greenspaces; and

 

     WHEREAS, more than twenty organizations, government entities, investors, universities, and bioenergy industry experts are gathering at the Hawaii State Capitol on January 24, 2017, for the Bioeconomy Hawaii Forum 2017; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Bioeconomy Hawaii Forum is a fast-paced and multi-disciplinary conference on sustainable energy and environment focusing on the global perspective of the bioeconomy, biopower, and biofuel production that are vital for Hawaii and the rest of the world; and

 

     WHEREAS, the goal of the forum is to bring better understating of bioenergy and the benefits it brings to the State; and

 

     WHEREAS, bioenergy will continue to be a key element of Hawaii's renewable energy future moving forward; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-ninth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2017, the Senate concurring, that January 24, 2017, be designated as "Bioenergy Day" in Hawaii in honor of the Bioeconomy Hawaii Forum's goal to raise awareness of the significant environmental and economic benefits of bioenergy; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the Director of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, and the Energy Program Administrator of the Hawaii State Energy Office, and the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Biomass Power Association.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Bioenergy Day; Bioenergy