Finding Kirk Hamilton the Jamaican architect who is encouraging sustainable tourism, I was led to this:

http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/travel/11eco.html

Surely we are not going to wait on Mr Skylar, Branson, DiCaprio and others to come and do it for us. Maybe with us.

"...a small wind turbine on every building..." Great food for thought turey.

Yes, a very good idea.

As someone who used to have some knowledge of Jamaica's energy situation*, I've long had the dream of seeing the responsible use of the island's natural resources (wind, solar, hydro, biogas, etc.) put a serious dent in the importation of foreign oil --and reciprocal exportation of US$ to pay for it, not to mention the air pollution it creates at the local refinery.

There are three main obstacles to overcome in my opinion:
1) High expense up front. The fuel is free, but the machines to turn wind and sun into energy is fairly expensive.
One solution is to subsidize the purchase price. The Canadian Greenfund provided a large (if not complete) chunk of the money to buy and install Munro College's turbine in the early 1990s. Obviously smaller turbines designed for houses are much less expensive, but they still ain't cheap.

Around the same time Barbados had a tax incentive for those buying solar water heaters. The result was a 10 fold increase in their number. I do not have data on the amount of imported oil it offset (or the increase in free heated showers :-) but the positive effect cannot be denied.


2) Cost and availability of maintenance. The Munro project would not have been successful without the donation of yearly maintenance by Vestas, the company that produced the turbine. Or, for that matter, my free service in collecting the logs and restarting the sucker when the grid forced it offline.

I've spoken to many people who own property in TB about solar and wind and a recurring question is 'Who do I call if it breaks down?" I never had an answer. Perhaps there are local companies that can reliably provide support for such equipment these days.?


3) Political will. Without delving too deeply into politics, there is money being made by the current system. Any type of change like this --regardless of the country, political system, or individuals involved-- is always an uphill battle.


-Eric



* I was fortunate enough to manage the Vesta 225kW wind turbine at Munro College in the mid 1990s (See an image of it on the cover or Dr. Wright's excellent if somewhat outdated book Jamaica's Energy. He wrote a newer book in 2001 dealing with the Caribbean as a whole titled Wind energy development in the Caribbean) I also mentored the school's Environmental Club which looked at solar and hydro power on the island.

Sadly I have not kept up with the statistics and evolution of renewables on the island other than to smile each time I see the 22 (24?) turbines on Spur Tree Hill. Munro's much smaller turbine was used as a pilot project for them and, I'm told, they would not have been built without the data we generated.

And for those of you wondering what the difference between a wind turbine and a windmill is, a windmill creates mechanical energy that does things like pumping water. A turbine creates electrical energy (current) that gets put into batteries or the electric grid and is used by TVs, lights, appliances, etc.

22? now, time flies.

I read somewhere recently (sorry can't find it), that a local electrical energy producer advised the government that alternative energy would not be in it's best interest at this time. I'm not sure who's best interest.

There is a JPS wind farm being planned for the Malvern area. They were holding a community meeting on it tonight. Just searched the papers and did not see anything on it. Maybe someone can provide further information.

Wind must indeed be a part of our planning along with Photovoltaics (Solar Cells), Solar Water Heaters, Wave Energy Collectors, Geothermal Energy, Heliostats with Sterling Engines or Thermoacoutic Generators, High Energy Density Batteries, Electric Vehicles and importantly Human Power Machines. I'm sure Water Power is also appropriate if we are very careful about slowing the passage of water and disturbing ancient habitats.

Electrical generation is one thing, energy conservation and sensible use must accompany these strategies.

I'm glad to hear JPS is putting up a wind farm.

The enabling and encouraging of the second power generating conglomerate, Us Individuals (UI Inc), by the public and private sectors is needed.

When solar panels and small windmills are available in every hardware shop at sensible prices, backed by technicians and warantees, I'll know we're getting serious. I can walk into Canadian Tire here and buy solar cells, batteries, controls and inverters. Customs took my last set away, I'd lost the invoices. Hurdles!

If Jamaica was to go carbon neutral and cut soil loss etc, it would mean squat to the planet.

It would mean much to us. Here is also the opportunity for Jamaica to be a leader in sustainable development. It does not take big bucks, just the right attitude and correct valuations of Natural Assets and Externalities. Cousin Island may beat us to it:

http://www.natureseychelles.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=363&It emid=106

If we are serious about freedom and flourishing , the doors are open. The inner doors, always.