Can Hawaiʻi Feed Itself?
A lot of elements are needed to make Hawaiʻi self-sufficient in food. Here are a few examples of struggles and resiliency that enable more productive local farming and food production.
Natural Environment
Off-the-grid Air Conditioning
Creator: Briand Achong, president and co-founder of Greenpath Technologies Inc., was an accountant and small-business consultant before establishing his photovoltaic business. “We looked at it from a roofing perspective,” he says. “The roof is the only part of a building…
Hawaii is the World's Shrimp-Breeding Capital
Shrimp is the most popular seafood in the U.S. – the average American eats more than four pounds a year. But nearly all of it is imported and most of that farm-raised in Asia and South America. Those are well-known…
Hawaii Has No Native Land Reptiles
Famously, Hawaii lacks snakes, but, beyond that, it’s one of the few places in the world with no native land reptiles or amphibians – “herptiles,” as they’re collectively known. Anything here that slithers, crawls or hops was introduced, intentionally or…
What Happens if Hawaii Legalizes Marijuana?
Andrew Jackson, Ulysses S. Grant and Benjamin Franklin. Jilly Bean, Lemon Haze and Bubba Kush. Those two types of green are flowing in and out of Colorado’s 200 dispensaries: lots of cash to buy potent strains of cannabis. Nearly $19…
Dustin Shindo: The story behind what happened at Hoku and his new venture in healthcare IT
Thirteen years after he and his partner, Kaleo Taft, founded their fuel cell startup in a Waikiki apartment. Nine years after he put the company on NASDAQ in a $21 million IPO. Seven years after he and his colleagues gave…
The Navy and private companies collaborate to turn wave energy into electricity
Photography Courtesy of Northwest Energy Innovation Devices to measure wave energy and convert it into electricity will be deployed in Kaneohe Bay near Marine Corps Base Hawaii starting this year, say the Navy, state Rep. Cynthia Thielen and a…
Talk Story with Jeffrey Mikulina
Photography by David Croxford In April, the state Public Utilities Commission ordered Hawaiian Electric’s utilities on Oahu, Maui and Hawaii Island to take action in four ways: “aggressively pursue energy-cost reductions, proactively respond to emerging renewable-energy-integration challenges, improve the…
Hawai‘i's Only Carnivorous Plant
Hawaii is famous for many things, not the least of which are its rare plants. It’s well known that most of Hawaii’s 1,200 or so native plants, having found their way here as seeds and spores, lost their defenses over…
Energy Excelerator Provides Boosts for Clean Energy
It’s sometimes easy to believe the famous saying: Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door. But when the market is already full of mousetraps, and your R&D is better than your marketing, that…
Letters to the Editor: Geothermal and Waikiki
Geothermal (November 2013 issue) Your report on geothermal energy failed to make some very important points about why geothermal would improve the quality of life for all of us in Hawaii. • Geothermal is used worldwide and can be applied…
Talk Story with the Neighbor Island Mayors
2014 appears to be a crucial year for the Neighbor Islands. The future of agriculture is being passionately debated, tourism is at a crossroads, and the sources of county revenue are up in the air. Hawaii Business interviewed the three Neighbor Island…
How Fish Get From the Sea to Your Plate
Some afternoons, after lunching on a mess of ahi furikake or fried ahi belly at Nico’s, the big fish restaurant down on Pier 38, I like to walk across the street and amble down the docks and survey the ragtag fleet…
Editor's Note: This Fishing Story is No Tall Tale
Dennis Hollier is one of the best writers I’ve worked with during 36 years in the news business. His rare combination of intelligence, curiosity and writing skill generates stories that are both a pleasure to read and an insider’s guide…
Geothermal is a Red-Hot Topic
Some things are almost impossible to oppose: Mom, apple pie and renewable energy. After all, renewable energy promises independence from world oil prices, fewer greenhouse gases and, possibly, lower prices. For many people in Hawaii, geothermal perfectly fulfills that promise…
All of Hawaii's Eight Gecko Species are Nonnative
Geckos are iconic in Hawaiʻi, as much as pineapples or ukuleles, and, like them, are not native to the Islands. The Polynesians brought them here about 1,500 years ago along with other plants and animals.
Aquaculture Ahi: The Holy Grail of Fish Farming
Ahi, also known as yellowfin tuna and bigeye tuna, have suffered from overfishing and are becoming harder and harder to catch in the wild. That’s why farm-raised ahi are so coveted, but the prize has proved elusive. Others are trying…
Figs are Hawaiʻi's Most Lucrative Crop
A report by UH’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources compared 12 newly introduced crops in Hawaiʻi and found figs way ahead of the pack.
Balancing Hawaii's energy supply and demand
The sun and wind create clean, local energy for Hawaii, but they’re intermittent. They come and go on a schedule that doesn’t follow the Islands’ demand for…
Hawaii Beekeeping Makes a Comeback
“My bees were dying. I was crying. I had 40 hives and 36 of them were dead. My friends said, ‘Find a new job. The bee business is done.’ ” Diminutive Puna beekeeper Jen…
Sustainable Hawaii Businesses
The pace at which sustainability has been adopted as a sound business imperative is impressive. A few years ago, most companies would have put it in a silo, where a small portion of profits would be dedicated to “greening” along…
Navatek's CEPAS technology makes more efficient wind turbines
What is C.E.P.A.S.? Navatek, the R&D subsidiary of shipyard operator Pacific Marine, specializes in developing advanced hull forms and flow-control technology. Its new Catalyst Enhanced Plasma Actuation System is designed to improve the efficiency of large, commercial wind turbines by…
Military Drives Alternative Energy in Hawaii
The Pentagon is investing billions in alternative energy and conservation, and that’s good news for local companies it’s good news for hawaii’s economy and local aspirations when the state’s goals align with the American military’s goals. That’s because the U.S.…
Hawaii Beef Comes Home
Call it Hawaii’s most unusual export. For years, the vast majority of calves born in Hawaii have been sent to feed lots on the mainland, where they matured, and then were slaughtered and shipped to grocery stores and restaurants around…