Free Republic

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. Twenty - three former employers of the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corp. in Keaau were getting job advice and filing unemployment forms Tuesday at the ILWU hall on Lanikauala St. following their layoffs last week. The 23 workers, more than 10 percent of the company's work force in Keaau, were given 30 - day notices Thursday but told to pack up their things and leave immediately. The workers, members of ILWU Local 142, will be paid and keep their medical coverage through Jan. 5 under terms of the collective bargaining agreement,...

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - A new renewable energy source has emerged in Australia with the development of the world's first power station to be fueled by waste macadamia-nut shells. Construction began this week on the A$3 million ($2 million) power plant in the northern state of Queensland, which will use 5,000 tonnes of shells annually from Australia's native macadamia nuts as fuel for the 1.5 megawatt generator. The biomass co-generation plant, which is a joint venture between Queensland state-owned Ergon Energy and macadamia nut producer Suncoast Gold Macadamias, will generate 9.5 gigawatt hours of electricity annually to supply more than 1,200...