The project will use 10 percent of the Maui Electric plant’s CO2 emissions as feedstock. The CO2 will be delivered by pipe from the Maalaea pipe, and the plant will produce up to 3 Mgy of algae oil based on a projected 750-acre algae farm producing 5,000 acres per gallon.

The company said that it expected that it would take up to three years to obtain permits for the operation, which would be profitable in the first year of production according to HR Petroleum execs. Last year, the company announced a six-acre demonstration project on the Big Island in cooperation with Shell and the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii in Kona.

Hawaii has been at forefront of efforts to adopt second-generation biodiesel feedstocks. Although the state is exempted from the US Renewable Fuel Standard, Hawaii has an E10 mandate on the ethanol side, and all diesel and gasoline is imported and is costly. Efforts to date have revolved around jatropha and kukui nut cultivation.

Shell Oil (US) chief John Hofmeister has said that that Americans would not give up their SUVs despite new laws requiring US automakers to increase fuel efficiency by as much as 40 percent. A national tour by Shell executives had uncovered deep hostility to oil companies and deep loyalty to SUVs and big cars in general.

He predicted that new vehicle fuel efficiency standards would have only a “modest” impact on overall fuel consumption.