Sustainable Energy & Development News February 2014

Sustainable Energy & Development News

VOL.1 FEBRUARY 2014

THE MONTHLY REVIEW OF SUSTAINABLE ENERGY & DEVELOPMENT NEWS IN THE CARIBBEAN FROM THE REGION”S LEADING INFORMATION PLATFORMS

This publication is prepared by the Caribbean Energy Information System

What’s Happening Now Across The Region...

The World’s Largest Solar Thermal Power Plant Started Generating Power Today The amazing Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System uses 300,000 computer-controlled mirrors, to focus Sunlight to the top of 459-foot towers, where water is turned into steam to power turbines. The implications of this new project are great, but even more amazing solutions exist.

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Branson Gets Clean Energy Commitments Political delegations from several small Caribbean islands who gathered on British tycoon Richard Branson’s private isle have committed to working with his renewable energy non-profit organisation and move at a faster pace to cut their dependence on fossil fuels.

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Climate Consciousness Increasing Jamaicans are becoming more conscious of climate change as their knowledge of the phenomenon and the risks it poses to the country increase.

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FEBRUARY 2014 IN REVIEW BE IN THE KNOW ON RENEWABLE ENERGY

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Renewable Energy Latin America & Caribbean Conference & Expo (RELACCX) April 24-25, 2014 Puerto Rico Regsa International Conference 2014: Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency And Sustainable Development May 6 - 8, 2014 Florianopolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil 2014 Energy Conference June 9-11 2014 Hyatt Regency Trinidad, Trinidad The University of Technologys’s 3rd International Scientific Conference June 25 – 27, 2014 Kingston, Jamaica

28-2-2014 || Feasibility Studies for Guyana-Brazil Hydropower Development The Guyanese government will be conducting pre-feasibility and feasibility studies on the development of a hydropower project in the Mazaruni, said Minister of Foreign Affairs Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett. Read more 28-2-2014 || Ocean Energy of Interest to Barbados and the Region While the Caribbean may not be rich in traditional petroleum energy resources, the evolution of renewable energy has revealed that the region possesses an abundance of another valuable source – water. Read more 28-2-2014 || Cayman Islands, Caribbean Pioneer in Use of Electric Vehicles The Cayman Islands are now the pioneer in the Caribbean region in using renewable energy sources to fuel electric vehicles, with a view to long term economic and ecological sustainability. Read more 27-2-2014 || Rosalie Bay Resort Showcases Renewable Energy in Action for Local Students “It is our passion to share the beauty of the Nature Island and empower people of all ages to protect the environment,” said Beverly Deikel, owner of Rosalie Bay Resort, located on Dominica in the Caribbean. Read more 27-2-2014 || IDB Launches Caribbean Energy Initiative to Tackle High Costs The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) says Caribbean finance ministers have expressed concern about the high energy costs in the Caribbean that “constrain living standards and growth.” Read more 26-2-2014 || JSIF/JBI Launch $192 Million Greenhouse and Water Catchment Project A total of 20 greenhouses are being constructed in each of the eight targeted communities, with a mined-out pit at each site to be converted into a surface water reservoir to be used for irrigation purposes. Read more 24-2-2014 || WTEC Enters into Suriname U.S. renewable services leader WTEC and its engineering affiliate, RERC, will undertake an engineering project for a solar power plant for Iamgold’s Rosebel Gold Mine in Suriname, South America, reducing electricity costs in Iamgold’s Suriname operations. Read more

REPORTS Jamaica Sustainable Energy Roadmap: Pathways To An Affordable, Reliable, Low-Emission Electricity System Climatescope 2014 : New Frontiers for Low-Carbon Energy Investment in Latin America and the Caribbean Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Report: Renewable Energy could power all of Latin America and Caribbean

DOCUMENTS Status of Net Billing offered in Jamaica (Version 1) Proposed Incentives for the Energy Sector - JAMAICA

24-2-2014 || Little Cayman Could Lead Green Revolution Could Little Cayman become 100% fossil fuel free? One social scientist believes the smallest of the Cayman Islands is the perfect candidate to become completely reliant on renewable energy. Read more 21-2-2014 || Funders Splashing $100m on Dominican Republic Clean Energy A power company in the Dominican Republic is getting $100 million (£60m) from investors to develop more gas infrastructure and renewable energy sources. Read more 17-2-2014 || Sharing German Energy It wasn’t difficult for German Ambassador Josef Beck to identify renewable energy and climate change as two areas to give special attention when he arrived here in 2011. Read more 17-2-2014 || St Lucia Increases Target for Production of Green Energy Following this month’s high-profile renewable energy conference on Moskito Island in the British Virgin Islands, St Lucia Prime Minister Dr Kenny Anthony has asked Energy Minister Dr James Fletcher to increase the island’s target for green energy production. Read more 17-2-2014 || OUR Fast-Tracks Renewable Energy Power Purchase Agreements The Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) has moved up the date for the signing of the Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) for the three entities selected to provide the 78 MW of renewable energy capacity. They are now expected to sign the PPAs with Jamaica Public Service in February 2014 instead of the June 2014 original date. Read more 17-2 -2014 || CARICOM Talks Renewable Energy Plans with Germany A four-year, 5.02 million-euro project to assist Caribbean Community member states move toward renewable energy technologies has been the focus of discussions at CARICOM Secretariat Headquarters in Guyana.

Read more 14-2-2014 || Six Caribbean Islands Sign on to Replace Diesel with Renewables Brought together on Sir Richard Branson’s Caribbean island retreat by the Carbon War Room and Rocky Mountain Institute, to work out a framework to effect a transition away from fossil fuels, six Caribbean island nations have agreed to replace diesel-fueled power with a mix of clean, sustainable renewable power generation, energy storage systems, and greater energy efficiency. Read more 13-2-2014 || ACORE Announces The Renewable Energy Latin America and the Caribbean Conference and Exhibition (RELACCx) The American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE) will be convening finance, development and thought leaders from the Latin American, the Caribbean and around the world at the Renewable Energy Latin America and the Caribbean Conference and Exhibition (RELACCx), on April 24-25, 2014, at El Conquistador, A Waldorf Astoria Resort in Fajardo, Puerto Rico.

Programme. Read more 13-2-2014 || Barbados Could Receive Up to $100 Million in EU Grant Funding The European Union says it is willing to provide BDS$100 million (One BDS dollar = US$0.50 cents) to Barbados in grant funding. Read more

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11-2-2014 || In Search of Cheaper Energy: Britain Funds Training Laboratory at Wigton Windfarm For Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell, a planned British-funded training laboratory at the Wigton wind farm complex in Rose Hill, Manchester, is one more step in the long, hard drive towards competitive energy costs for Jamaicans. Read more 11-2-2014 || Wind of Change Sweeps Through Energy Policy in the Caribbean Aruba in the southern Caribbean has 107,000 people, a lot of wind and sun and, until very recently, one very big problem. Despite the trade winds and sunshine, it was spending more than 16% of its economy on importing 6,500 barrels of diesel fuel a day to generate electricity. Read more 11-2-2014 || OAS Supports Talks on Renewable Energy Usage in the Caribbean The Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Albert Ramdin, met with government officials, private sector leaders and renewable energy experts from around the world this week to promote increased use of renewable energy in the Caribbean. Read more 10-2-2014 || Richard Branson Pledges to Turn Caribbean Green The palm trees and billiard table have been shipped in, work on the infinity pool overlooking the coral reef is progressing and the tennis courts are celebrity-ready. But few of the super-luxury buildings rising on Moskito island’s beaches are finished yet. Read more 7-2-2014 || Op-Ed: Green Energy in the Caribbean Climate change is one of the greatest threats to our security and prosperity. So, now is the time for people around the world to work together, to protect our future and that of our children. Read more 6-2-2014 || Branson Hosts Renewable Energy Summit Caribbean politicians and renewable power experts gathered on British billionaire Richard Branson’s private isle to discuss ways of transitioning to clean energy in an effort to spur small island nations to slash their dependence on fossil fuels and prepare for the impacts of climate change.

Read more 6-2-2014 ||St. Lucia Sets Sights on Geothermal Energy St. Lucia has begun exploring the potential of geothermal energy as several of its neighbors in the Eastern Caribbean begun using this form of renewable energy as a replacement for fossil-fuels. Read more 4-2-2014 || Renewable Energy Fearing ‘Significant Harm’ from VAT Bahamian renewable energy providers yesterday warned of “significant harmful effects” if the sector is subject to 15 per cent Value-Added Tax (VAT), adding that it would undermine a key aspect of government policy.

Read more 4-2-2014 || Regional Seminar on Cleaner Fuels Under Way in Jamaica Representatives from seven Caribbean and Latin American countries are in Jamaica for a two-day regional workshop to create national action plans on the implementation of cleaner fuels and more efficient vehicles.

Read more 2-2-2014 ||Improved Cookstoves Company Tackling Market Barriers in Haiti An ICS producer is about to change the face of Haitian cooking by breaking down barriers that are preventing the adoption of improved cookstoves in the local market. Read more

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27-2-2014 || Indoor Mini-farms to Beat Climate Change Industrial engineer Ancel Bhagwandeen thinks that growing your food indoors is a great way to protect crops from the stresses of climate change. Read more 26-2-2014 || Race on to Save Caribbean Banana Industry From Impact of Climate Change When Dean, the first storm of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season, lashed Dominica on Aug. 16, it left behind a trail of destruction, claimed the lives of a mother and son, and decimated the island’s vital banana industry.

Seven years later, Dominica’s agricultural sector remains painfully vulnerable to natural disasters and climate variability. Every year, farmers lose a significant portion of their crops and livestock during the six-month hurricane season. Read more 24-2-2014 || EU Supports Launching of the 2014 UN International Year of Small Islands Development States (SIDS) The International Year of Small Island Development States (SIDS) was officially launched on 24 February 2014. The European Union acknowledges that SIDS face common challenges and experience specific vulnerabilities across the economic, social and environmental dimensions.

They are all greatly affected by climate change and confronted with rising sea levels, and face frequent natural and man-made disasters. Read more 21-2-2014 ||WISYNCO Finds Partner for Cogeneration Plant WISYNCO Group says it has already identified a partner for its cogeneration plant. When the company first signalled its intention to invest in the energy savings facility, it noted that it would opt for a system that uses a liquid propane gas generator to both power its chilled water system and produce carbon dioxide to be effectively utilised to create the bubbles in its soft drinks. Read more

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Content Administrator, CIPORE Caribbean Energy Information System (CEIS), Scientific Research Council (SRC), Hope Gardens, Kingston 6, Jamaica W.I. 876-927-1779(w) | 876-977-1840(f) | ceis@src-jamaica.org www.ceis-caribenergy.org www.src-jamaica.org

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20-2-2014 || Pickersgill Launches Climate Change Discourse Minister of Water, Land, Environment, and Climate Change, Robert Pickersgill, last week kicked off a series of public consultations aimed at sensitising Jamaicans about the issue of climate change. As part of the consultation, the Government revealed its Climate Change Framework Policy and Action Plan, and asked the audience to comment on the presentation. Read more 19-2-2014|| Grand Bahama Confirms Lack of Radiation Detection Programme Grand Bahama Port Authority officials have confirmed the organisation does not have a radiation detection programme amid growing speculation over the screening of Japanese imports. Read more 19-2-2014 || PBPA mangroves have carbon sequestration value The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the world’s authority on biodiversity conservation, has written to Jamaica’s environment minister on the subject of the trans-shipment port planned for the Goat Islands in the Portland Bight Protected Area (PBPA). The organisation argued that given the ecological services to Jamaica and the global importance of the area in terms of its variety of plant and animal species, Portland Bight should be left in tact. Read more 18-2-2014 ||UN carbon market panel picks Barbados scientist Sealy as chair A panel overseeing the United Nations’ carbon market has elected a scientist from the Caribbean as its new chair with a German climate policy expert as deputy, the U.N.’s climate change secretariat said. Hugh Sealy, an environmental scientist and chemical engineer from Barbados, was elected to head the Clean Development Mechanism’s (CDM) executive board. Read more 14-2-2014 || Jamaican Firms Team up to Form RECYCLE NOW JAMAICA Seven local private companies have teamed up to pump $23.75 million, over three years, into a new national recycling initiative, Recycle Now Jamaica — a public/private partnership with the Government. The Government will invest $50 million each year from cash taken from collection from the environmental levy, making the total investment for the initiative over three years, $200 million. Read more 11-2-2014 || Nevis Launches Project to Restore Waterfront in Charlestown Nevis is taking steps to restore the Charlestown Waterfront to “its former glory,” according to the Nevis Island Administration. The project, which launched on Jan. 23, is a partnership between the Nevis Air and Sea Ports Authority, the Ministry of Tourism and government of Taiwan. Read more 11-2-2014 || Climate Change: Prevention Better, Less Costly Than Cure Anyone who has been observing weather patterns worldwide over the past few years will notice the increasing effects of climate change.

Unusually cold weather in the United States south in recent weeks, as well as the unseasonal rains that devastated a number of Eastern Caribbean islands over the last Christmas holidays, have been just two of the latest examples of what is going wrong. Read more 10-2-2014 ||Government Drafting Policy on Organic Agriculture The Government is currently drafting a policy on organic agriculture as it seeks to advance the development of a modern, efficient and internationally competitive sector. Read more