At most major Energy Chamber conferences, I find that there is one simple phrase that really sticks with me and I end up thinking about a lot in the days and weeks after the event. At the 2021 Energy Efficiency and Renewables Conference it was a simple statement from Prof. Avinash Persaud, advisor to the Prime Minister of Barbados, who reminded us all that “just because something is obvious, does not mean it will happen”.
Avinash was talking about the abundant solar and wind resources that we have in the region and the fact that this makes renewable energy from these sources an obvious choice. He actually gave a specific example of rooftop solar water heaters, widespread in Barbados but absent in most other countries, even with excellent sunshine. It seems such an obvious thing to do, yet in most places it has not happened. But the statement could equally be applied to many other issues that we addressed over the threeday conference.
Avinash’s phrase came to mind during Aleeya Ali’s presentation on Proman’s plans for low carbon fuels. I find it difficult to understand why we have not moved to implement the simplest 5% methanol fuel blending concept, especially since the closure of the refinery and the fact that we now import all of our transport fuels. Blending locally manufactured methanol into our gasoline would result in lower foreign exchange outflows and lower carbon emissions, with no need for any changes to the existing fuel infrastructure. It seems like an obvious thing to do – but just because it is obvious does not mean it will happen.
Avinash’s phrase also came to mind when we were discussing the decarbonisation of the transport sector.
Dr Graham King, of UWI and Dr. Curtis Boodhoo of UTT, presented on the transition to electric mobility for Trinidad & Tobago and the wider Caribbean, respectively, but Dr. Rae Furlonge made the crucial point that all the discussion on decarbonisation of transport is meaningless without an overall transport policy (Curtis added a sustainable transport policy). Rae made a plea that if we’re really interested in decarbonisation, we need to get people out of cars and into public transport and especially to move under their own power, either on foot or on bicycles. This needs an integrated sustainable transport policy with measures to get people out of their cars, such as creating pedestrianised zones in major urban centres. Again, this seems like an obvious thing to do – but just because it is obvious does not mean it will happen.
The transport panel was one of the most active sessions in terms of comments in the meeting chat platform, with the session on how energy service companies can also play a role in the energy transition also generating a lot of interest. Much of this was sparked by Ian Boon’s presentation and his central point that even after years of discussion, there was still no system in Trinidad & Tobago to allow households or businesses to connect rooftop solar PV systems to the grid. There have been promises made that this will be put in place during 2021, but as Ian pointed out, these promises have been made many times before.
Colm De Freitas, speaking in the same session, reminded the conference that the Government had introduced a tax credit for energy efficiency audits back in 2010, but these audits needed to be conducted by an energy services company certified by the Ministry of Energy in order to access the credit. The Energy Chamber has long offered to conduct the certification role on behalf of the Ministry, as we do for safety management systems through STOW, but we have never received the approval. Again, it seems an obvious thing to use an industry body with certification capabilities to do the necessary certification – but just because it is obvious does not mean it will happen.
There were many other times during the conference when I thought to myself that just because this is obvious it does not mean it will happen, from the waste to methanol project, to the implementation of a carbon credit scheme able to integrate with other markets, to the widespread adoption of CCS, to the phasing out of natural gas subsidies for electricity, to the implementation of time of use adjusted electricity tariffs.
Of course, there are always reasons why the obvious has not been implemented, be it stakeholders vested interest or administrative inertia or lack of a shared understanding. I anticipate that keeping in mind the phrase “just because something is obvious does not mean it will happen” is going to be a useful lens for me to think about the Energy Chamber’s advocacy work. Our job is not just to state the obvious – which is an easy thing to do – but to identify in detail why the obvious is not happening and then, based on that knowledge, drive through the needed changes. It seems like an obvious thing to do.