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Efficiency
The inability of the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries to decide on a certification system for energy service companies (ESCO) is a major barrier to efforts to increase energy efficiency in Trinidad and Tobago, according to Christopher Narine-Thomas, Chairman of Energy Efficiency and Alternative Energy Committee of the Energy Chamber.
Point Lisas Industrial Estate and Tamana Intech Park could potentially be locations for the first solar panel manufacturing plants in Trinidad and Tobago. Marcia Maynard, Manager Energy Industry Development, National Energy Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago Ltd. (National Energy) revealed their plans for the plants while presenting at last month’s Clean Energy Conference hosted by the Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago.
With the government already having announced its intention to remove the transport fuel subsidy, there is now a new focus on the cost of the electricity subsidy in Trinidad and Tobago. The cost of this subsidy has been largely ignored in the past as it was borne, not by the central government, but by The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Ltd. (NGC). However, with gas shortages plaguing the petrochemical and LNG sectors, and with NGC seeing its margins being squeezed by low commodity prices in the downstream and higher natural gas sales prices being demanded by the upstream, this issue has come to the fore.
In December 2015, the landmark Paris climate agreement was agreed to by 195 nations around the world. The agreement signals the global resolve to reduce CO2 emissions and to curb the rate of global warming. To date, out of 197 countries that have signed onto the Paris agreement, 153 (78%) have already ratified the agreement and put it into force in their own country, committing themselves to a self-determined plan to reduce CO2 emissions. Trinidad and Tobago is among the minority (22%) of countries which have not ratified the agreement.
The Energy Chamber has put Trinidad & Tobago on the map for the work being done in the development of a carbon market or emissions trading system (ETS), according to Katie Sullivan, Director of the Americas, International Emissions Trading Association.
Apply sanctions to those oil and gas-producing companies in Trinidad and Tobago who vent carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into the atmosphere, rather than sequestering it underground – that's the firm advice of the country's leading geologist, Dr. Krishna Persad.
Port of Spain, Trinidad, and Tobago is one of three cities in the Americas chosen to implement a Western Hemisphere Affairs-funded ECPA energy efficiency project. Under the project, the cities will work to lower energy consumption in municipal buildings through the development and implementation of sound energy efficiency policies over a three-year period. The other cities in the project are Goiania Brazil and Valdivia/Los Rios, Chile.
