Newsletter: Benefits of Honua Ola’s Forestry Program

Carbon Negative Operations

Honua Ola’s forestry program will capture more carbon than its plant emits, which will allow our project to be carbon negative. How does this happen? We have to look at the entire picture. Trees capture greenhouse gases and because Honua Ola will plant many more trees than it harvests for fuel, the greenhouse gases captured by the trees will offset those released by the plant.

By replanting and regrowing more eucalyptus trees, the process will neutralize the carbon emissions created from also harvesting trees and transporting equipment and fertilizer. When Honua Ola replants many more trees than it harvests through our own renewable energy operations and partnerships with nonprofit organizations, such as the Friend of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, the amount of CO₂ emissions we remove from the atmosphere is greater than the amount of emissions we put into the atmosphere.

Our Commitment to Growing More Trees

1. Planting Seedlings
   Eucalyptus seedlings planted are being grown to create more forests.
2. Regrowth from Living Stumps
   Growing new eucalyptus trees from a living stump, or coppice, keeps the carbon sequestered in the roots and soil captured by the trees before they were harvested.
3. Honua Ola Will Use Invasive Species as Feedstock; Albiza, Strawberry Guava and Gorse
   Honua Ola will put these invasive species to good use to create energy, while also helping to remove them and the damage they cause to the natural environment. By dong this, it will allow native trees to recover and grow.
4. Honua Ola Is Providing Financial Support to Conservation Nonprofits
   Honua Ola has made arrangements with nonprofit organizations, like Friends of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, to fund their efforts to plant millions of trees.