Education

Listed below are materials (in pdf document format) prepared by the education committee of the Puna Pono Alliance and individuals from the community.  These documents represent work in progress, evolving with the situation and being improved by edits.  If you wish to contribute your thoughts, please send an email message with comments or suggestions.  Below the list of documents are further references.

PDF Documents:

• A Grassroots Call to Action
• Why Should I Be Concerned About Geothermal?
• HELCO Has Big Plans for Puna
• The History of Geothermal Development in Hawai`i
• Dangers of Geothermal
• Why is There a Breach of Trust With the Puna Community?
• Are Geothermal Emissions (H2S) the Same as Vog (SO2)? NO!!!
• We’re Being Poisoned
• Isopentane Questions – True or False
• Bad Vibrations 
• Two Types of Geothermal Resources
• Enhanced Geothermal Fracking
• Act 97 and Empowering Communities
• Follow the Money – Geothermal Power in Hawai`i
• Read This…Is It All About Money?
• Skin in the Game: Geothermal Power in Hawai`i
• Drilling Sites and Concerns - A Visual in Lower Puna (map)
• Geothermal Questions We Need to Ask

Further references:

  While hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is released both by the volcano and geothermal sources, the volcano has a quick and natural H2S abatement system while in geothermal areas, by contrast, H₂S is removed by reaction with oxygen in a process that can take a day or more....

(The following material is from Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.)

Sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and lesser amounts of hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) are the most abundant sulfur gases emitted in volcanically active areas that are very hot, or where molten magma is close to the surface. These areas include the summit of Kilauea, the eruptive sites on and near Pu'u 'O'o, and the lava-tube system going down to where lava enters the ocean. In geothermal areas, such as Pohoiki, however, hydrogen sulfide is essentially the only sulfur gas emitted. ...

An interesting chemical relationship exists between the sulfur dioxide and the hydrogen sulfide released by the volcano. These two gases react quickly (within minutes) with each other to produce sulfur particles and water vapor. Both of the products of this reaction are odorless and are less toxic than either H₂S or SO₂. Most of the hydrogen sulfide released in eruptive areas on Kilauea is consumed and is converted to sulfur particles by this process, because there is much more sulfur dioxide than hydrogen sulfide coming out of the volcano. This is why you seldom smell hydrogen sulfide at the summit caldera or along the eruptive east rift. The volcano has its own hydrogen sulfide abatement system! Geothermal areas, by contrast, have no large quantities of SO₂ available for reaction, so any H₂S released is removed by reaction with oxygen in the air to form sulfur dioxide, a process that takes a day or more....

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