Pacific Biodiesel Makes First Delivery of Biodiesel Produced from Its Kaua'i Ag Operations | | |
Last month, Pacific Biodiesel made its first delivery of biodiesel produced with sunflower oil from the company’s recent expansion of regenerative agriculture operations on Kauaʻi.
Pictured above, the 6,500-gallon container of the company's 100% renewable fuel was delivered to longtime customer Hawaiian Electric for its 50-megawatt Schofield Generating Station on O’ahu.
| | Pacific Biodiesel President Bob King (center) and Director of Operations Jenna Long oversee this biodiesel delivery to Hawaiian Electric. | | |
"This milestone delivery represents the first commercial-scale liquid biofuel produced in Hawaiʻi entirely from Hawaiʻi grown feedstock, ever," said Pacific Biodiesel Founder and President Bob King. "By significantly scaling up local agriculture, we are rapidly expanding our capacity to support Hawaiʻi's energy security and food security. Now more than ever, our locally grown biofuel supports energy resilience in our state and is an important domestic fuel supply to help support national security for our country."
Founded on Maui in 1995, Pacific Biodiesel has remained the only commercial producer of liquid biofuels in Hawai'i for three decades.
Read more on our website and watch the Hawaiʻi News Now exclusive report below by Jonathan Masaki.
| | New Company Website Now Live! | | |
Pacific Biodiesel is a renewable fuel industry pioneer and the longest operating biodiesel company in the USA – so it's no wonder our website URL is Biodiesel.com!
Timed for our company's milestone 30th Anniversary this year, we have launched an all-new website that streamlines our story, highlights our history, and shares videos and other helpful content about our biodiesel, agriculture operations, used cooking oil collection services and company culture.
Mahalo to Maui Video & Marketing and 47scapes Consulting for partnering with our Marketing Department to complete this major overhaul of our website.
| | | Annie Nelson Joins Board of Managers | | |
Pacific Biodiesel has announced the appointment of Annie Nelson to the company’s Board of Managers. Nelson’s nomination was unanimously approved at the company’s annual Members meeting earlier this year.
“As Pacific Biodiesel celebrates its 30th Anniversary this year, we are honored that our longtime supporter and friend Annie Nelson has enthusiastically accepted the invitation to join our company's Board of Managers,” said Pacific Biodiesel Co-Founder Kelly King.
| | Annie Nelson first introduced Pacific Biodiesel to her husband, music legend Willie Nelson, in the late 1990s. Shown here, the couple participated in the grand opening of the Pacific Biodiesel refinery in Salem, Oregon back in 2008. | | |
Throughout 2025, our 30th year, we are sharing a special Kākou series of social media posts recognizing 30 significant people who’ve supported our business and mission over the last three decades.
In April, we celebrated longtime biodiesel supporter and our good friend, Willie Nelson, in honor of his birthday. Thanks to his loyal fan base, the week's first post was our most shared of the year (with nearly 50,000 views).
Watch the reel and discover our other 30th Anniversary stories on Facebook and Instagram.
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In Hawaiian, kākou means “us” or “everyone,” symbolizing inclusivity, collective responsibility and collaboration. In this milestone anniversary year for Pacific Biodiesel, now more than ever we are grateful for our customers, employees and other advocates who together with us – in the spirit of kākou – continue to support our companyʻs mission.
This month, we enjoyed recognizing several our restaurant customers around the state whose tasty menu items generate tons of used cooking oil that we collect and recycle for our local biodiesel production.
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Several Oʻahu team members enjoy their Jollibee lunch on National Fried Chicken Day. | |
July 6 = National Fried Chicken Day
We are grateful for our chicken-frying restaurant customers in Hawaiʻi who recycle their used cooking oil with us, including Chick-Fil-A, Foodland, Jollibee, KFC, McDonald’s, Minit Stop, Raising Canes, Vons Chicken, Zippy’s and many others. Our driver teams around the state celebrated National Fried Chicken Day by enjoying fried chicken lunches from several of our longtime customers.
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Photo courtesy of McDonald's Hawaiʻi. | |
July 11 = National French Fry Day
McDonald’s locations throughout Hawaiʻi have been recycling their used cooking oil (UCO) with Pacific Biodiesel for nearly 15 years, keeping this waste out of local landfills.
We estimate that in the last 12 months alone, we produced 94,000 gallons of biodiesel from the UCO we recycled from McDonald’s locations around the state.
As a result, nearly 2 million pounds – or 900 metric tons – of CO2 was prevented from entering our atmosphere when those gallons of our clean-burning biodiesel were used in diesel engines around our state – from electricity production to powering boats, cars and trucks. That's equal to eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from 6 mass transit buses fueled with fossil diesel for an entire year!
Mahalo, McDonald's!
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An Update by Pacific Biodiesel Director of Agriculture Operations James Twigg-Smith
This summer, our newest crop sprouting up in Kaumakani is... feed corn! This crop, a non-GMO variety that’s suitable for human and animal consumption, will be harvested initially for local chicken feed.
"We chose feed corn as a summertime rotation with our sunflowers because it is a great fit within our crop rotation and strongly supports our mission of producing locally grown feed and fuel," said Pacific Biodiesel Director of Agriculture Operations Jamie Twigg-Smith.
"There’s also the potential to produce cornmeal from this crop – a product that was once milled in Hawaiʻi back in the early 1900s before other crops such as pineapple emerged," he added. "As we’re scaling up regenerative agriculture for food and fuel in Hawaiʻi, we’re excited to be able to contribute to expansion of local food production in this way."
Pictured at right, Operations Manager George Twigg-Smith stands in the company's first field of feed corn last week; and, Jamie with Farm Manager Kurt Galatro inspect that same field in May when the corn plants first began to emerge.
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KITV Features KIUC + Pacific Biodiesel
KIUC's efforts to reach 100% renewable electricity production, supported by locally produced 100% renewable fuel supplied by Pacific Biodiesel, were recently featured in this KITV4 segment.
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A Kauaʻi Sunflowers Cover Story
In its Summer 2025 cover story, Kauaʻi Family Magazine featured Pacific Biodiesel sunflower fields and ag expansion on the Garden Isle. Known as the "go to resources for Kauaʻi families," the issue includes summer camps, community events, information and resources for all. Read the article about Pacific Biodieselʻs Kauaʻi operation beginning on page 18.
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HNN Interview with Bob King
Hawaiʻi News Now interviewed Pacific Biodiesel President Bob King for an in depth look at energy alternatives in Hawaiʻi. Watch the report here.
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"Seeds of Change" in Maui No Kā ʻOi Magazine
"Sunflowers, sustainability and spirit of innovation" is the theme in this recent Maui No Kā ʻOi feature story that spotlights the 30 year history of Pacific Biodiesel. Enjoy this informative article.
| | One of Hawaiʻi's Best Places to Work | | |
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For the 14th year in a row, Pacific Biodiesel was honored to be recognized among the state’s medium-sized businesses as one of 2025’s ”Best Places to Work in Hawai’i.”
The list, released by Hawaiʻi Business Magazine, is based on input from employee surveys.
Attending the March 31 awards dinner were members of our Pacific Biodiesel team from around the state: (left to right) Alfred Leung, Plant Manager, Hawai'i Island Refinery; Brigitte Koike, Office Manager, O‘ahu; Jan Alejandro, Controller, Maui; and Ferdinand Ballesteros, Senior Dispatcher, Maui.
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Hawaiʻi Buildings and Facilities Expo
The Pacific Biodiesel team was on hand in March for the Hawaiʻi Buildings, Facilities and Property Management Expo in Honolulu.
Attendees received information about Pacific Biodiesel’s collection division that recycles used cooking oil from restaurants and foodservice facilities across Hawai’i for use in our local production of 100% renewable fuel. Info on our grease trap service and maintenance programs was shared as well as the availability and use of biodiesel for fleets and generators.
| | Providing info at the expo were Senior Dispatcher Ferdinand Ballesteros and O‘ahu Fleet Manager Dana Shinsato. | |
Butterflies Love Our Sunflowers!
We recently gave a bucket of our Maui sunflower blooms to the folks at The Maui Butterfly Farm, an educational farm in Olowalu. Since we don’t use pesticides, our sunflowers are healthy for their butterflies
"All of our flowers need to be non-GMO and pesticide free," said Geoff Wilson who runs The Butterfly Farm with his wife. "Our butterflies love the sunflowers since there are so many tiny flowers on each head that supply lots of pollen and nectar."
| | Geoff and Siobhan Wilson with the sunflower blooms at their Olowalu butterfly farm. | |
Bob King Hosts Youth Climate Class
Pacific Biodiesel President Bob King welcomed a group of high school students to the company’s new crushing mill in Kaumakani earlier this year.
The students were participants in the Kauaʻi Office of Economic Developmentʻs 3rd Youth Climate Class. The program connects students to organizations working on sustainability while exploring career opportunities in the field.
King explained how Pacific Biodiesel’s circular economy model exemplifies the six sustainability goals of the program: Clean Energy, Waste Reduction, Local Food Production, Smart Sustainable Communities, Natural Resource Management, and Green Workforce & Education.
| | Pacific Biodiesel's Bob King with students from Kauai's 3rd Youth Climate Class. | |
HRA's Food Service Expo
Hawai‘i’s largest food service-focused expo took place earlier this year at the Neal Blaisdell Exhibition Hall on O‘ahu. The Hawai‘i Restaurant Association Food Service Expo supports and celebrates the state's restaurant and food service community during the two day event.
Our team was proud to share info about our company's circular economy model that includes used cooking oil recycling and grease trap pumping services for local restaurants, renewable fuel for all diesel engines, regenerative farming and our sister company's premium culinary oils.
| | On hand at the 2025 HRA Food Service Expo were Sales Manager Christopher Long, Neighbor Island Operations Manager Jason Imamura and O‘ahu Fleet Manager Dana Shinsato. | |
Supporting the HTA Golf Tournament
Hawaii Transportation Associationʻs Spring Golf Tournament at the Hawaiʻi Prince Golf Course was a big success thanks to the attendees, sponsors and volunteers.
Pacific Biodiesel Director of Operations Jenna Long volunteered at this yearʻs event, helping to register the attendees while Pacific Biodiesel sponsored one of the golf holes. Long also serves as 2nd Vice President of the HTA Board of Directors.
| | Director of Operations Jenna Long, center, joined other volunteers to register golfers at the 2025 HTA tournament. | |
Pacific Missile Range Hosts Earth Day Event
Pacific Biodiesel was invited to participate in the annual Earth Day event hosted by the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) at Barking Sands on Kauaʻi.
The theme for this yearʻs event was ʻOur Power, Our Planet." Attending the educational event were nearly 250 keiki from West Kauaʻi schools who rotated through each exhibit. The Pacific Biodiesel team gave each student a packet of sunflower seeds from its recent Kaumakani harvest to plant in their own gardens.
Learn more in this article by PMRF Petty Officer 1st Class Louis Lea.
| | Pacific Biodiesel Marketing Director Joy Galatro explains how sunflowers are used to make food, then renewable fuel for Hawaiʻi. | | Director of Operations Jenna Long was presented with a certificate from the Office of the Secretary of Defense recognizing Pacific Biodiesel. | |
Company Recognized as Patriotic Employer
Pacific Biodiesel has been recognized as a "Patriotic Employer" for supporting employee participation in America's National Guard and Reserve Force.
Accepting the honors in a ceremony in Hilo last month, Director of Operations Jenna Long also signed a "Statement of Support for the Guard and Reserve." Pacific Biodiesel joins other employers in pledging to "appreciate the values, leadership and unique skills Service members bring to the workforce" and to "continually recognize and support our country's Service members and their families in peace, in crisis, and in war."
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Sunflowers at the
Maui AgFest
The 16th Annual Maui AgFest and 4H Livestock Fair, presented by the Maui County Farm Bureau, was held last month at the War Memorial Complex in Wailku.
The Pacific Biodiesel exhibit featured the company's renewable fuel used in types of many farming equipment, its regenerative agriculture operations, and Maiden Hawaii Naturals premium culinary oils that were available for sale.
| | Pacific Biodiesel's Beth Mathias and Dora Viramonte greeted visitors in the Pacific Biodiesel exhibit at the Maui AgFest. | | |
Iowa launches B99 biodiesel pump for fleet use
In Iowa, Iowa Biodiesel Board and Iowa Soybean Association joined Pilot Travel Centers, PepsiCo and Optimus Technologies to celebrate the launch of a new B99 biodiesel pump for fleets at Pilot’s Des Moines travel center—one of only a few in the nation dispensing almost pure biodiesel to commercial trucking fleets. Find the article in Biofuels Digest.
| | Founded in 1995, Pacific Biodiesel is the nation's longest operating and most experienced biodiesel producer, and the only commercial producer of liquid biofuels in the state. A Maui-based company with nearly 100 employees statewide, we established the first retail biodiesel pump in America and for three decades we've been an innovative leader in the renewable energy industry. With a nameplate production capacity of 5.5 million gallons annually, our refinery on Hawaiʻi Island utilizes advanced technology to produce premium distilled biodiesel. Our company has always focused on recycling with a zero waste philosophy that incorporates development of value-added co-products. Today, our collaborative, community-based "regenerative agriculture and renewable energy" production model demonstrates a circular economy approach to fighting climate change and helps Hawaiʻi achieve a clean, sustainable energy future. | | |
Founded on Maui in 1995, Pacific Biodiesel is Hawaiʻi's only commercial producer of liquid biofuels.
Our Mission: To promote a clean, sustainable energy future through the community-based production of renewable fuels
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Pacific Biodiesel
2050 Main Street, Suite 3B
Wailuku, HI 96793
Editor: Joy Galatro, Marketing Director
Staff Writer & Layout: Beth Mathias, Marketing Associate
For more information visit our website
biodiesel.com
or contact Beth Mathias at
bmathias@biodiesel.com
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