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COMMUNITY CASE STUDY article

Front. Sustain. Cities
Sec. Sustainable Infrastructure
Volume 6 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/frsc.2024.1496241
This article is part of the Research Topic Exploring the Role of Construction in Achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals View all articles

Community Engagement in the Development of Bioenergy Projects from Cellulosic Urban Waste Feedstock in Hawaii for Sustainable Aviation Fuel Dr. Leslie M. Rush University of Hawai'i-West O'ahu

Provisionally accepted
Leslie M Rush Leslie M Rush 1*Joelle Simonpietri Joelle Simonpietri 2Naomi Kukac Naomi Kukac 3
  • 1 University of Hawaii–West Oahu, Kapolei, Hawaii, United States
  • 2 Simonpietri Enterprises LLC, Kailua, United States
  • 3 Aloha Carbon, Kapolei, Hawaii, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The purpose of the research project was to reveal the perceptions of residents and communities of the City and County of Honolulu concerning bioenergy projects, feedstock, and sustainable aviation fuel. The perception study was conducted via community-scale surveys, interviews, and town meetings to gather feedback on the preliminary design of a proposed bioenergy project, including feedstock choice and the need for sustainable aviation fuel in Hawaii. Residents on the west side of Oahu were targeted due to their proximity to the proposed plant site location. Findings from this study aim to identify resident perceptions, understanding, and desire for bioenergy projects and new infrastructure to, improve the energy efficiency and sustainability of Hawaiian islands. While Hawaii has created policies and mandates to move towards 100% renewable energy sources by 2045, the focus has been predominately on renewable electricity, largely overlooking other sustainable energy options such as sustainable aviation fuel. There is a lack of research on the community engagement and perceptions of Hawaiian residents on bioenergy projects and sustainable aviation fuel, contributing to the low adoption of bioenergy projects on the islands. Insights from this study aim to add literature on the need for community engagement in the design process, the importance of accepting new sustainable infrastructure, and the production and use of sustainable aviation fuels.

    Keywords: Community Engagement, bioenergy, sustainable aviation fuel, feedstock, Hawaii

    Received: 14 Sep 2024; Accepted: 26 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Rush, Simonpietri and Kukac. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Leslie M Rush, University of Hawaii–West Oahu, Kapolei, 96707, Hawaii, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.