JAMAICA CAN SURVIVE THE OIL CRISIS
Philip Ramsey, posted on the 21/7/08

We are now experiencing the devastating effects of oil costing US$150 a barrel. By the end of 2009, this commodity is expected to reach US$200 per barrel and maybe US$300 per barrel by 2012. Can Jamaica survive this pressure on its oil-dependent economy?

Oil is used for electricity generation and transportation but is also consumed in the manufacture of fertilizer used by Jamaican farmers. So, as oil prices go up the cost of food production goes up
because of the increased costs of transportation and fertilizers.

I will discuss renewable energy for electricity production because I believe it is the most important issue that will help boost employment opportunities for Jamaicans while providing a more stable and affordable electrical service. Major developments in solar, wind and wave-powered electrical generation, combined with lower manufacturing costs, have in many cases brought the cost of power generation in competitive line with the costs of power generation from oil.

Wind turbine generation from wind farms: Jamaica could supply a significant portion of power generation from wind farms located off the north-east and east coasts. Also, there are a number of wind turbine manufacturers in Europe and America that build wind turbines for deep water applications. (Do a search on Technology Review's web site http://www.technologyreview.com/) for more information and listing of manufacturers.)

Wave generators: Wave generators may be deployed around the island from Morant Point to Negril; St Ann's Bay to Old Harbour. Deployment of wave generators could drastically reduce Jamaica's dependency on oil by harnessing the sea's natural wave action to generate power. (See "A new technology could provide a cheap way to harness wave energy" http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/21072/?nlid=1205). This
article also lists a few companies that are developing the technologies and manufacturing the equipment.

Solar panels for hybrid cars: First of all, Jamaica should ban the importation of fuel (gasoline and diesel) powered cars for private use; and only allow the importation of hybrid powered cars. The only exception should be vehicles used by emergency services i.e. police, ambulance, fire department and the military. Solar panels may be installed by shopping mall operators to provide shade for their parking areas as well as provide recharging stations for hybrid vehicles. (See "Does Car-Mounted Solar Make Sense?"(http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/21073/?nlid=1205) and "Researchers consider plug-in hybrids charged by stationary solar arrays a better bet." (http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/21073/?nlid=1205).

Jamaica must start implementing these technologies ASAP to soften the impact that high-priced oil will have on the economy and the society as a whole. It will also help to create jobs and business opportunities. The renewable energy technologies when implemented will immediately create construction jobs for thousands. Once completed, these facilities will need maintenance workers to maintain the facilities.

Jamaica may be able to get assistance from the United States through USAID; and from the United Nations through UNDP. EU may also provide assistance for buying wind turbines and wave generators from European suppliers. The cost of implementing these technologies will be recovered from savings from reduction in oil imports, increased employment and a general improvement in the economy due to a more reliable production of electricity at a more stable and affordable price.

NOT BY SCIENTISTS ALONE…
Angela Ramsay, posted on the 25/3/08

In the Caribbean, we still find a great under-utilization of science and technology to address the problems of health, environmental management and trade imbalances. Yet we often continue with the common mistake of simply transporting technologies that have worked in other countries with different physical and social conditions cultures to our own country.

Innovation in how science and technology is utilized is required. Yet that innovativeness cannot be realized by scientists working independently of professionals in other fields.
As Lynn Margulis reminds us, ‘…independence is a political, not a scientific term’. Neither science nor scientific approaches can accomplish everything. Traditionally, there has been a distance between the physical and biological studies from the social and behavioural sciences. Happily, social scientists are finding the results from scientific knowledge to be increasingly useful, as seen in interdisciplinary studies. For example, pregnant women who smoke are predisposed to having more violent male children.

We need to link science with human welfare, human rights and democracy – and move from a straight science perspective into a more cultural perspective. This multi-disciplinary approach would allow a better examination of the information regarding the most appropriate sources and best conditions for the negotiation and transfer of foreign technologies. This approach would also allow for a better analysis of the possible causes for success and failure of past strategies. There are hundreds of documented cases where various poverty reduction methods using science and technology have or have not worked.

The multi-disciplinary approach suggests a blending of professional talent, which is not always easy. The blending will require effective organizational structures to ensure that this takes place as seamlessly as possible. The variety and quality of talent used will ensure either a tendency toward progress, or a tendency toward a repetition of old mistakes. We cannot afford a repetition of the old mistakes.

LET’S PROTECT JAMAICA’S NATURAL BEAUTY
Middleton Wilson, posted on 12/2/2008

I welcome Farquharson institutes Forum and would urge FIPA anD others interested in preserving Jamaica’s natural environment to consider and oppose any threat to the beauty of Portland and the eastern end of the island.
I have in mind the scene on Flynn’s estate. Travel an early morning to Port Antonio via the Ken Jones Highway and watch Orion rise over the Caribbean, turning the colour of the sea from dark grey to silver then back to blue, at that particular point where there is an uninterrupted view; or watch Red Poll cattle move through the early morning dew getting both water and grass in one bite. I am afraid some unthinking persons might change this into a ghastly square structure of a hotel to block such a paradisaical view from the public’s eye.

I am not worried about who buys those properties. We should just all ensure that some aesthetic and environmental stipulations are imposed so that we keep and continue to enjoy God’s grandeur. All interests should come to recognize that it wasthe ecology and pleasant aesthetics that won Jamaica a place as a tourist destination. When those banana boats of the United Fruit Company came out of Boston for fruits, they began to bring tourists who wanted to escape the harsh winters of New England. They came to sit in the sun of ‘a prospect that pleased’ and this development proceeded on the principle that Jamaica was selling the beauty and novelty of the geography of this jewel of the Caribbean.