Sedn september 2015

Sustainable Energy & Development News

VOL.1 SEPTEMBER 2015

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 Across The Region...

Barbados Contributing To Climate Agreement Barbados is playing its part in contributing to a new international climate agreement, to be presented at the the United Nations Framework Convention in Paris, France, in December ...

Read more Jamaica Participates In Renewable Energy Confab In China Jamaica is expected to be a key participant in the highlevel ministerial workshop on Mechanisms of Renewable Energy Utilisation and Development for Developing Countries being held in ...

Read More Wisynco Opens $200m Solar Plant As a “key driver... to promote environmental sustainability and to have the most environmentally friendly operation”, Wisynco Group last Thursday commissioned into operation a one-megawatt solar plant at its Lakes Pen headquarters in St Catherine.

Read more

SEPTEMBER 2015 IN REVIEW BE IN THE KNOW ON RENEWABLE ENERGY

We are connected!

Join us on…

CIPORE EVENTS See All Events

CARILEC 2015 Renewable Energy and Regulatory Forum September 6th Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe ACEEE 2015 National Conference On Energy Efficiency As A Resource September 20th Statehouse Convention Center Rock, AR Annual Energy Caribbean Conference (15th) October 13 - 14, 2015 The Hilton, Trinidad Caribbean Renewable Energy Forum (CREF) 2015 October 19th-21st The InterContinental Miami Florida, USA

28-09-2015 || State Minister Welcomes Renewable Energy Projects Kingston, Jamaica (JIS) – State Minister for Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Julian Robinson, has welcomed the installation of renewable energy and energy efficient infrastructure at three locations across the island, which is already realising significant savings from facilities.

The energy systems, inclusive of solar panels and wind turbines, have been installed at the University of the West Indies’ (UWI) marine laboratories in Port Royal, Kingston and Discovery Bay, St Ann ... Read more 22-09-2015 || NNSA Removes U.S.-Origin HEU from Jamaica, Makes The Caribbean HEU Free The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) announced today that it has removed approximately 1 kilogram of U.S.-Origin highly enriched uranium (HEU) from Jamaica’s “Safe Low-Power Kritical Experiment” (SLOWPOKE) research reactor and returned the material to the United States, making the Caribbean region completely free of HEU. “Cooperating with Jamaica and Canada in completing this HEU removal is an outstanding example ... Read more 21-09-2015 || Energy Company Looks To Power Hinterlands –Provides Solutions For High Energy Cost With more than 30 years in the business of providing affordable renewable energy for both commercial and residential needs, Solaris Energy is looking to expand operations here, mainly in the hinterland regions.

The company headquartered in Trinidad and Tobago with operations in Trinidad, Barbados and St Kitts; and California and New Jersey, USA, is pushing to enable a green stamp throughout ... Read more 19-09-2015 || Antigua Government Advances Discussions On Renewable Energy The Environment Division is forging ahead with plans to make the twin island state the most environmentally friendly country in the region and the Renewable Energy Capital of the Eastern Caribbean.

This was disclosed during consultations held at the Environment Division with a high profile delegation from the People’s Republic ... Read more

REPORTS World Energy Scenarios: Composing Energy Futures To 2050 Sustainable Energy and its Use Challenges to Renewable Energy in the Caribbean 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

DOCUMENTS National Energy Plan - Final Draft Commonwealth of Dominica Sustainable Energy Plan - Final Draft - Commonwealth of Dominica Jamaica Public Service Company Limited Standard Offer Contract for the Purchase of As-Available Intermittent Energy from Renewable Energy Facilities up to 100kW - May 2012 JPS Amended and Restated All-Island Electric Licence 2011 The Changing Energy Landscape in the Caribbean 1999 - 2008 (10 Years Impact Assessment Report) Available at the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) A New Paradigm for Caribbean Development: Transitioning to a Green Economy

17-09-2015 || European Chambers Question Dominican Government On Renewable Energy Santo Domingo.- European Chambers of Commerce (Eurocamara) president Hans Witsenboer on Wednesday said the country must increase its share of renewable energy to counteract the effects of climate change, to which the Caribbean nation is highly vulnerable.

He criticized the Dominican government goal to increase the percentage of alternative energy to just 3% in 2017 and 5% in 2020... Read more 17-09- 2015 || Government Signs MOU To Have Geothermal Energy in St. Kitts by 2020 The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis has taken additional steps to bring relief to energy consumers in the Federation, as a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Geothermal Exploration in St. Kitts was signed on September 04, 2015 in Guadeloupe with Tervanov, an engineering and services company. Nevis is faced with major challenges as it relates to energy and assured that the government has taken ... Read more 17-09-2015 || Solar Power Initiatives Need More Support Renewable energy systems are only for the rich. So say the gainsayers here in Cayman who oppose the worldwide move from fossil fuels to electricity generated by sun and wind. But within the last two years a program was developed specifically to lower the cost of electricity by up to 50% for low income homes in Cayman. It was 100% privately funded and would cost the lower income home owners ... Read more 17-09-2015 || Barbados Electric Light and Power Act 1 Barbados continues to maintain a leadership position in solar energy within the Caribbean. Building on a successful Renewable Energy Rider program which has seen 9MW of distributed solar PV installed, the electricity market has finally opened up to independent power producers (IPPs) to develop utility scale solar projects. This is the first time in over 100 years that an entity other than the Barbados Light and Power Company could generate electricity. The Electric Light and Power Act 2013 (ELPA) is “an Act to revise the law relating to the supply and use of electricity, to promote the generation of electricity from sources of renewable energy, to enhance ... Read more 15-09-2015 || Disability Association Loses Solar Panel To Thieves The Antigua & Barbuda Association of Persons with Disabilities (ABAPD) has described the recent theft of the solar panels from its All Saints Road Headquarters building as a “kick in the gut.”

President Bernard Warner said he last saw the panels Sunday at about 5 pm, only to be passing yesterday morning to notice the four panels from the roof gone. “This was an exciting time for us when we saw the panels going up, Ms Ruth Spencer (Global Environment Foundation representative) came forward through the ... Read more 12-09-2015 || Puerto Rico Missed Opportunities In Wind, Solar And Energy Efficiency San Juan, Puerto Rico -- The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis released a report this week concluding that the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) is being overly generous with bondholders in its proposal to restructure its debt and short-sighted in its wind, solar and energy efficiency plans for the US territory. The report (“Opportunity for a New Direction for Puerto Rico’s Electricity System”) -- endorsed

by Puerto Rican leaders and activists including Archbishop ... Read more

Content Administrator, CIPORE Caribbean Energy Information System (CEIS), Scientific Research Council (SRC), Hope Gardens, Kingston 6, Jamaica W.I. 876-927-1779(w) | 876-9771840(f) | ceis@src-jamaica.org www.ceis-caribenergy.org www.src-jamaica.org

CEIS manages the Caribbean Information Platform on Renewable Energy (CIPORE) www.cipore.org

If you would like to receive past issues of the Sustainable Energy and Development News (SEDN) that you missed, just email us at ceis@src-jamaica.org

We greatly appreciate any and all feedback and testimonials in an effort to serve you better!

Email us at support@cipore.org

12-09-2015 || St Kitts-Nevis Joins Forces with Guadeloupe Company For Geothermal Development Point-A Pitre, Guadeloupe -- The government of St Kitts-Nevis and Teranov, an engineering and services company based in Guadeloupe, will join forces to establish a public-private partnership, with the ultimate goal of generating electricity by means of a geothermal power plant. A memorandum of understanding, committing the two parties and governing the terms of this collaboration, has now been signed. This ... Read more 11-09-2015 || PAHO/WHO Promotes Safe, Green And “Smart” Hospitals In The Caribbean Nearly 7 in 10 hospitals in Latin America and the Caribbean are located in disaster-prone areas, putting them at risk of becoming casualties themselves during hurricanes, earthquakes or flooding.

To ensure that hospitals can continue functioning during disasters and to reduce their environmental footprint, the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) is promoting safe, green and “smart” hospitals in the Caribbean PAHO/ WHO’s Smart Hospitals program, a multi-year initiative ... Read more 04-09-2015 || CARICOM Energy Programme Provides Solar Lanterns To Dominica Georgetown, Guyana, Sep 04 2015 – As part of the disaster response activities of the CARICOM Secretariat, the Energy Programme has provided 400 Emergency LED Solar Lanterns to the Government of Dominica. The lanterns are powered through a built?in solar cell and are designed with back?up battery and “hand cranking” charging options.

They provide light through energy efficient LED bulbs and include a built­?in USB port, which makes them capable of charging ... Read more 02-09-2015 || The Issue : Funding Among Key Obstacles Renewable Energy and energy efficiency are widely seen as key to the Caribbean reducing its long-standing dependence on imported fossil fuels. It is estimated that the region spends about US$22 billion annually to import oil with Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago the major producers in this part of the Western Hemisphere. So that countries like Barbados have been paying increasing attention to alternatives to foreign hydrocarbons, going as far as detailing, and in some cases implementing, energy programmes focussed on renewable source like ... Read more 02-09-2015 || US Hopes To Strengthen Energy Initiative In The Caribbean Bridgetown, Barbados (CMC) – The United States says it hopes to strengthen plans for a Caribbean Energy Security Initiative when regional policy makers meet in Miami next month. United States’ Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Robin Dunnigan met with the minister with responsibility for energy, Darcy Boyce, on Tuesday to ... Read more 01-09-2015 ||Small Island States Ditch Diesel for Cheaper, Cleaner Energy After oil prices hit a record high in July 2008, the tiny Pacific nation of the Marshall Islands was forced to declare an economic emergency since about 90 percent of its energy needs were met by imported petroleum products. The fuel price shock was a major incentive for the low-lying island country to reduce its ... Read more

SEPTEMBER 2015 IN REVIEW BE IN THE KNOW ON ENERGY EFFICIENCY, ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE

22-09-2015 || Climate Change Youth Ambassadors Trek Through Biosphere Reserve Basseterre, St. Kitts – The UNESCO Youth Ambassadors for Climate Change experienced “a walk down memory lane” when they trekked one of the walking trails of St. Mary’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Reserve.

The St. Mary’s Reserve includes the communities of Cayon ... Read more

SCAN ME AND LOG ON!

Join us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Subscribe to our RSS Feed!

22-09-2015 || Will Reformed Capitalism Solve The Problem Of Climate Change?

Unless capitalism is reformed, the very democratic order will be threatened,’ writes Thomas Piketty in Capital in the Twenty- First Century.

However, corporate America stands in renunciation of this statement, especially when it concerns the devastating effects of ...Read more 20-09-2015 || Talkin’ ‘Bout my Generation: Climate Change in Latin America and the Caribbean Port - of - Spain, Trinidad – “If you want to rebel, rebel from inside the system.

That’s much more powerful than rebelling outside the system.” ― Marie Lu It has been said time and again that climate change is not just about the melting polar caps. Although it is a central aspect of the climate change crisis, the matter goes far deeper. In fact, much like an ... Read more 20-09-2015 || Hundreds Of Volunteers Turn Out To Clean Up Hellshire Beach Kingston, Jamaica (JIS) – Hundreds of persons turned out on Saturday to clean up the Hellshire Bay beach in St Catherine, organised by the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) and the Urban Development Corporation (UDC).

Held to observe International Coastal Clean Up Day, the activity began early in the morning with volunteers clearing debris from ... Read more

BE IN THE KNOW ON ENERGY EFFICIENCY, ENVIRONMENT, CLIMATE CHANGE & renewable energy

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

Join us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Subscribe to our RSS Feed!

20-09-2015 || Clean Up Barbados 2015 Hailed a Success The Future Centre Trust (FCT) is hailing yesterday’s Clean Up Barbados a success. According to the FACT, 27 teams turned up for the event, and collected over 4,000 pounds of garbage and 1500 pounds of recyclable material. “It was great to see how committed they were to the cause, sometimes deploying 2 teams in different ... Read more 14-09-2015|| More Bad Weather Threatens Drenched, Storm-Hit Dominica Roseau, Dominica – Dominicans have been advised to be vigilant as more rains are expected over the coming days, as the island tries to recover from the damage caused by Tropical Storm Erika.

According to a 6 a.m. advisory from the Dominica ... Read more 12-09-2015 || New Climate Change Deal to Impact Every Resident — Black-Layne Antigua & Barbuda would have to address “the elephant in the room” as it prepares to sign a new climate deal in Paris, France, Chief Environment Officer Diann Black-Layne has said.The country’s climate change ambassador was making reference to government’s ... Read more 11-09-2015 || Buchanan: Water Restrictions Still In Place Despite Rainfall Kingston, Jamaica – Charles Buchanan, corporate public relations manager at the National Water Commission (NWC) says despite a series of rainfall recently, there has been no significant improvement ... Read more 10-09-2015|| Climate Change: Antarctic Ocean Increases Absorption of CO2 Defying earlier fears, researchers say the Antarctic Ocean has been absorbing increasing amounts of carbon dioxide over the past decade, making it critical to mitigating the worst effects of climate change. The findings upend estimates, put forward a decade ago, that the seas ... Read more 08-09-2015 || Dominica PM Issues Warning As Tropical Storm Grace Approaches The Island Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has urged Dominicans to take precautionary measures even though Tropical Storm Grace is expected to weaken on Tuesday as it moves closer towards the Lesser Antilles. Read more 07-09-2015|| Caribbean Represented at Pre-COP21 Meeting in Paris St Lucia’s Minister for Sustainable Development James Fletcher, is in Paris participating in the second informal ministerial meeting on climate change.

The meeting is hosted by the incoming President of the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Laurent Fabius, the French Minister ... Read more 04-09-2015 || Pacific Governments to Give Youth a Say in Climate and Development Decisions Youth Ministers from Commonwealth countries in the Pacific have vowed to champion a greater focus on young people in decision-making processes in order to achieve new global sustainable development goals.

In a joint statement, representatives from Australia, Fiji ... Read more 03-09-2015 || OECS to Host Mini-Festival on Climate Change in Antigua Castries St. Lucia – The OECS Commission will host a three day “Climate Fest” here beginning this Sunday. The event will be opened to the public during which time students and other can see various display pieces, informational spreads, educational posters and ... Read more