Pacific Biodiesel Teams With Nature Conservancy’s Atoll Project

Pacific Biodiesel delivers biofuel to reserch station on Palmyra Atoll in the North Pacific. Courtesy photo.

By Sonia Isotov

Pacific Biodiesel, a Maui-based biodiesel company, has teamed up with the Nature Conservancy to wean Palmyra Atoll, located in the North Pacific, off of fossil fuels.

In 2012, Pacific Biodiesel reports that it supplied the Nature Conservancy with 10,000 gallons of fuel sent across the Pacific to a little known distant atoll.

The research team on Palmyra Atoll, located in the North Pacific, were so pleased with the biodiesel, they requested a second delivery for 2013.

Pacific Biodiesel teamed up with the Nature Conservancy to wean Palmyra Atoll. Courtesy photo.

On January 23, 2013, another second delivery of 10,000 gallons of Pacific Biodiesel fuel was sent to the atoll.

The Nature Conservancy’s Palmyra Project strives to “conserve unique biological resources on the atoll; supporting scientific research which will enhance our understanding of coastal and marine environments and guide future management actions while maintaining an efficient research station on this remote atoll,” said Laurie Moore, the Palmyra Project program director, in a written statement.

With environmental consciousness in more than just marine life and ecosystem, the Palmyra research station hopes to wean off fossil fuel in five years.

“We began using biodiesel in our generators,” said Moore. “Over the coming year, we will develop an overall strategy for reducing our energy demands and implementing renewable energy solutions, thus lowering our costs and our carbon footprint.”

Palmyra encompasses only 680 acres, but its 16,000 acres of lagoons, coral reefs and submerged lands support everything from whales, sharks, sea turtles, manta rays and giant clams to thousands of exotic fish.

As the only refuge within 450,000 square miles of ocean, this tiny atoll is known for its ecological importance.