Confusion in GOJ energy policy?

[Don1]

Gov't to unveil new energy policy
Targets significant reduction in oil dependence


Thursday, May 14, 2009
GOVERNMENT is within six weeks to unveil a new energy policy that will effectively guide the diversification of Jamaica's energy sector, according to Minister of Mining and Energy James Robertson.
Energy Minister James Robertson at yesterday's launch of Green Expo 2009 in Kingston. (Photo: Joseph Wellington)
That policy, he said, will reflect current and emerging energy realities facing Jamaica - an island that is 90 per cent dependent on oil and which in 2008 reportedly spent US$2.7 billion on petrol imports.
"We have accepted that it is impossible to run a country where 90 per cent of our energy comes from oil," Robertson said.
He was speaking yesterday at the launch of the Jamaica Conservation and Development Trust's (JCDT) Green Expo 2009 in Kingston.
The new policy is to be an improvement on the National Energy Policy that was tabled in Parliament as a Green Paper in 2006, according to the minister.
A move toward liquefied natural gas (LNG) will be reflected in the new policy as Government seeks to balance energy demand with the interest of the environment.
Among the objectives of the new policy, according to information from the energy and mining ministry's
website, are:
. to ensure stable and adequate energy supplies at the least economic cost;
. reduce the island's dependence on oil through development of renewable energy sources and technologies, as well as bio-fuels; and
. minimise the adverse environmental effects and pollution caused by the production, storage, transport and use of energy.
"We are going LNG, which is the most friendly source of energy apart from renewables (wind, solar, hydro power)," the minister told his audience at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston.
At the same time, Robertson said that while Government was not currently looking at nuclear energy as part of plans to diversify Jamaica's energy sources, no alternative to oil would be ruled out.

Is LNG back on the front burner?

I seem to recall a few short weeks ago the policy as outlined by the then minister was for shelving LNG proposed by the PNP regime in favour of coal. This new guy seems to be flipping back to LNG.

Do they know what they are doing? Is this Maudib's handiwork?


To be really serious a "new" energy policy must contain:

1. A planned shift of our transportation fuels towards bio fuels... eventually with a big local value added component... tied in with the cane ethanol industry.

2. To accomplish the above Jamaica needs to mandate and incentivize the conversion of our entire rolling stock to flex fueled engines... say over 20 years.
Then we can utilize whichever fuel is the cheapest at any given time.
The former regime developed a partnership with Brazil, the world leader in flex fuel tech applications... this needs to become a strategic partnership.... we need to import vehicles mainly from Brazil (and other flex fuel producers) with a maximum transfer of technology.

3. Conversion of oil fired plants to Coal/LNG/Petcoke and also new build plants of course. Incentivize investments in waste-to-energy plants using municipal and private waste. Plasma gasification preferably... not simple combustion. Monetize garbage.

4. Mandate and incentivize renewables especialy solar.
No new development should be considered without a solar or other renewable energy component where possible. Retrofitting of renewable energy sources/technologies to exisiting buildings must be vigorously incentivized.
Once the conditions are set for this renewable energy market locally.. explore production of solar and/or other renewable energy inputs locally thru private capital or public/private partnerships.

5. Adopt a locally optimized version of our own LEED standards

6. Start an unending campaign of education on energy efficiency and conservation

Jamaica should aim to be the renewable energy capital of the Latin American/Caribbean region with 10-15 years.
This is definitely a growth area now that the Yanks seem to be getting serious on the issue under Obama.


Now that's a change I can believe in... anything less... is less than serious.

[1of1]

solar panels to diffray cost of electricity in home or business, kinda expensive in the short term, but needs to be championed by somebody, anybody!

[Muadib]

What does the New Energy Policy contain ?

[Willi]

Yuh get mi email dem?

[Don1]

What does the New Energy Policy contain ?

Does even the GOJ know? LOL!

A minister says one thing a few weeks ago... then the new kid on the block says the diametric opposite.

Next month... maybe nuclear? LOL!

[Don1]

Confusion we can believe in

Does even the GOJ know? LOL!

A minister says one thing a few weeks ago... then the new kid on the block says the diametric opposite.

Next month... maybe nuclear? LOL!

GOJ's position in March:

Jamaica goes for coal - Supply problems move LNG from top of energy mix



Jamaica's inability to source LNG has forced the Golding administration to abandon the [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]commodity[/COLOR][/COLOR] as the primary energy source for the country's development and instead look to coal as its key fuel source, the energy minister, Clive Mullings, has disclosed.
But Mullings told Wednesday Business that a final embrace of coal was contingent on the island's alumina refineries agreeing to having coal-fired [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]plants[/COLOR][/COLOR], which would require the building out of a US$300-million (J$21.6 billion) infrastructure to enable the burning of the carbon. He said the Government was prepared to facilitate the [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]construction[/COLOR][/COLOR] of the facility by [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]private [COLOR=orange! important]investors[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR].
The bauxite/alumina sector uses approximately a third of the power generated in Jamaica.
"LNG (liquefied natural gas) is not an option now, " Mullings said. "... For LNG to become viable, international research has shown that you need 600 megawatts ... . We would have to switch the entire system to LNG."
Added Mullings: "We don't want to switch wholesale to one energy source because you are then tied to that and when that price moves, you have no options."

Cheap and cleaner than oil
Jamaica's national domestic energy grid - outside the bauxite alumina sector - is about 800 megawatts, but the Government has projected that this needs to increase by 210 megawatts by 2012.
The past administration had planned much of the expansion of a substantial conversion to LNG and hoped that this fuel, cheap and cleaner than oil, would help to drive industrial expansion here. Among the projects predicated on LNG was a US$1-billion expansion of the Jamalco alumina refinery - jointly owned by the Government and Alcoa - whose capacity was to be nearly doubled to 2.8 million tonnes a year.
Initially, Jamaica expected to get 1.1 million tonnes of LNG annually from its Caribbean Community (CARICOM) partner, Trinidad and Tobago, starting in 2009. But that deal fell through when Port-of-Spain fell behind in developing new fields and told Kingston, with existing contracts, it had none to sell.
Venezuela then said it would supply, but it too is still developing new fields and all its current output is earmarked to domestic production. The past government had also looked to Colombia providing compressed natural gas (CNG), but without any deal being struck.
When the Jamaica Labour Party came to office a year ago, deciding on an energy mix was still being debated by technocrats until an apparently exasperated Prime Minister Bruce Golding announced that his administration had committed itself "to establishing LNG facilities for the long haul".
In short, LNG would become the new primary energy mix, alongside oil and renewables such as wind, solar and hydro-power.
However, Mullings explained demand for LNG has been increasing, tightening supplies and raising prices. Coal, on the other hand, is abundant and cheap.
Carbon emissions

While in recent times, proponents of coal have touted the development of 'clean' coal technology, critics still often point to the carbon emissions from this fuel, which, like the emissions from oil, contribute to global warming.
It will not be Jamaica's first foray into the use of coal. In the 1980s, the JLP government under Edward Seaga had put in a coal-fired plant at the then state-owned Caribbean Cement Company, and for a while imported the fuel from Colombia, which Mullings again expects to tap for the commodity. The conveyer that transported the coal from the ships to the cement plant is still visible at the CCC's facility at Rockfort, east Kingston.
With using coal, however, Mullings said it was more conducive to small- and medium-scale expansions, thereby allowing for a gradual upgrade in power production to meet demand as required. "Coal affords us the opportunity to increase from 100-150 megawatts, so you can increase over time," he said. But with LNG, he explained that "the high cost of infrastructure would require that nearly all the generation capacity of the country be converted at the same time".
Willingness
While nothing was finalised, Mullings told Parliament the bauxite companies, as well as power producers, have essentially signalled their willingness to move to coal.
"In discussions with key players in the bauxite alumina and power sectors, they have indicated their willingness to install coal plants (and) I am encouraging them to share in the cost of developing a single coal receiving facility," he said.
Such a move would lower costs and, ultimately, the price at which electricity is delivered to consumers.
"I can confirm that coal as an alternative source of energy is one of the options to which active consideration is being given," said Leo Lambert, public relations and government affairs manager at Jamalco.
Lambert said, however, that rather than examining one energy source, it would be better to consider a combination of options. He could not provide a time frame for the conclusion of those talks, but said it it was important that it happen in a timely fashion.
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GOJ's position in May:

Gov't to unveil new energy policy
Targets significant reduction in oil dependence


Thursday, May 14, 2009
GOVERNMENT is within six weeks to unveil a new energy policy that will effectively guide the diversification of Jamaica's energy sector, according to Minister of Mining and Energy James Robertson.
Energy Minister James Robertson at yesterday's launch of Green Expo 2009 in Kingston. (Photo: Joseph Wellington)
That policy, he said, will reflect current and emerging energy realities facing Jamaica - an island that is 90 per cent dependent on oil and which in 2008 reportedly spent US$2.7 billion on petrol imports.
"We have accepted that it is impossible to run a country where 90 per cent of our energy comes from oil," Robertson said.
He was speaking yesterday at the launch of the Jamaica Conservation and Development Trust's (JCDT) Green Expo 2009 in Kingston.
The new policy is to be an improvement on the National Energy Policy that was tabled in Parliament as a Green Paper in 2006, according to the minister.
A move toward liquefied natural gas (LNG) will be reflected in the new policy as Government seeks to balance energy demand with the interest of the environment.
Among the objectives of the new policy, according to information from the energy and mining ministry's
website, are:
. to ensure stable and adequate energy supplies at the least economic cost;
. reduce the island's dependence on oil through development of renewable energy sources and technologies, as well as bio-fuels; and
. minimise the adverse environmental effects and pollution caused by the production, storage, transport and use of energy.
"We are going LNG, which is the most friendly source of energy apart from renewables (wind, solar, hydro power)," the minister told his audience at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston.
At the same time, Robertson said that while Government was not currently looking at nuclear energy as part of plans to diversify Jamaica's energy sources, no alternative to oil would be ruled out.
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Am I the only person who finds this policy confusion utterly ridiculous?

Or is it inadequate reporting?

[Muadib]

Non-issue.

Get back on the track of wondering if the new policy has some of your 'recommendations'

All and more were recommended..

[Muadib]

You have seen the new policy ?

[Don1]

Non-issue.

Get back on the track of wondering if the new policy has some of your 'recommendations'

All and more were recommended..

It may be a non issue to those who don't pay attention to this vital issue.

It's of concern when senior GOJ spokesmen say contradictory things on matters of such huge importance... all within a few weeks of each other.

One hopes it doesn't portend policy confusion or paralysis.

Also recommendations are one thing... firm plans and resource commitments... quite another. Let's see the plans then the action shortly thereafter hopefully.

If the GOJ commits to converting our entire rolling stock (or the bulk of it) to flex fuel engines as it seems prudent to do... that would be impressive.

[1of1]

yes bless, thank you, pardon mi manners