On our visit to the forbidden island, the color scheme was mostly green. Monk seals frolicked in the shorebreak.
It was a very different place when the island was purchased as a private family holding in the 1800s.
"There were no seals. None,” co-owner Bruce Robinson explains, “because the Native Hawaiians killed them all. They knew that the seals were too big of competition for the foodstock. It was them or the seals."
"The island was also very bare,” he continues, “and my grandfather got into a tree planting program where he planted, the old records show, 10,000 trees a year and basically put the forests on that we see now which increased rainfall and was very good to the climate."
Agriculture used to contribute more to economy here. In years since charcoal for instance can't compete with offshore underpricing. Robinson sees renewable resources as a way to bring agriculture revenue back.
"That could be a very viable agricultural business, producing energy," he says.
So all this the greenery planted generations ago could help fuel future generations.
"Hopefully in the future if lignocellulose process gets developed to the point where we can get JP8 or JP4 out of it , we'll have a fuel source,” Robinson says. “It can help the military, it can help commercial airlines."
The village already demonstrates how to live off the grid
"We have solar here, and now that we've got solar in the school, it's probably the first 100% solar school in America," Robinson says.
They're also exploring more water resources.
"I'm quite certain in the future there are going to be technological advance,” he said. “We're looking right now in the cooling of air to get water out of the marine environment."
The often howling winds Niihau is known for could be harnessed by windmills, he said.
"They're not the prettiest things in the world, but put in the right places and done properly it would probably be alright," Robinson said. "In other parts of the state they have a lot of bird issues because of the flights of seabirds going in. We don't have that issue."
Getting the power across the channels to a metro grid is the problem.
"The transmission line is not at the moment technologically feasible,” Robinson said. “Nobody has developed something that can go that deep. Otherwise we have the best wind site in the state."
That's not to say anything goes. The family puts the people, the culture, conservation, and the military above all other priorities here.
"It's got to be that it's beneficial to the residents an the ranch,” he said. “If it isn't we don't want to do it. It also has to be good to the environment. If it's going to damage what is here, it's not worth it."
