Senator doubts 2030 renewable energy date

Opposition Senator Crystal Drakes has cast doubt over whether Barbados can meet the goal of 100 per cent renewable energy generation by 2030, suggesting the country has ‘unfinished business’ standing in the way.

And she questioned why the Mia Mottley administration has not enlisted a world-leading authority on energy storage, a Barbadian, in its power drive.

Speaking on the Fair Trading Commission Amendment Bill covering the use of renewable energy sources such as solar power, biomass, biogas and wind power, Senator Drakes said: “In fairness, the Government is trying to do something in ten years that is done over a much longer time frame, for example, 15, 20, or 25 years so if you want to do it in such a short space of time, a lot has to change quickly to meet these targets.”

She accused the Government of not utilising the services of entrepreneur Carlton Cummins whose UK-based company, Acceleron, has become a world leader in electricity storage.

Senator Drakes declared: “People all over the world have been calling on him to share his expertise with them. The market value for stationary battery storage for 2030 will cross the threshold of $120 billion US; if Barbados was to leverage 20 per cent of this, we would be in good stead, but we do not tap into our young people’s creativity, we should have had the foresight to embrace someone coming into the energy market causing disruption. We may not have had the infrastructure, but the intellectual property would have been here.”

She raised an issue with the energy storage capacity and the ownership of the electricity grid, now fully owned by the Barbados Light and Power Company Limited and building storage capacity.

She told the Senate: “Barbadians have become used to reliable electricity services, so it will be critical for us to maintain that level of stability when new players are added to the mix. Having a mix that is both renewable and with fossil fuel is recommended by experts as there is a level of back up that fossil fuel will allow you – 100 per cent renewable is a good thing, but you need some supply that is consistent at any given time; what I am concerned about is because we are doing it in such a short space of time, we don’t have a lot of things figured out. We are implementing while putting together management strategies and this may create conflict going forward.”

In noting the arrival of the 33 electric Transport Board buses last week, Senator Drakes questioned what would happen to the owners of private cars and used car dealers, who would be expected to turn in their conventionally powered cars for electric vehicles by 2030.

Senator Drakes said: “Having a 100 per cent electric-powered fleet of Government vehicles is one thing, but when you speak of private vehicles, this is another conversation Government must have with the people of Barbados, and this should have started a bit earlier. How do you tell someone who has just bought a 2019 internal combustion-engined car that in three years he will have to replace it with an electric one?

“Under the Paris Declaration for Electro Mobility, 35 per cent of vehicles must be electric by 2030 in Barbados. Putting that in terms of the amount of cars on the road, it means 2,000 electric vehicles will have to enter the country annually. I think we have just about 500 now, so if we are to reach this 2030 target, that means there will be a significant shakeup.”

She also raised concerns about a proposed $325 million waste-to-energy plant, asking what types of materials would be imported for disposal and whether these would create environmental hazards.

The senator said: “What was also not indicated was what type of waste – organic or inorganic, for example, municipal solid waste, or chemicals that can harm the environment, then it was also noted we are using agricultural lands to produce the organic matter to feed the plant.

“COVID-19 was a test run and an example of how the climate crisis is going to change life on earth because if we consider how COVID-19 disrupted the global food supply chain, the question becomes what is more important; taking up arable land to produce energy or using this arable land for food production?

“Even if we are bringing in non-toxic waste, we must also ask whether a centralised biomass waste-to-energy plant is the best way to set it up, or do we use organic waste from our communities to get Barbadians on board with waste diversion?”

Senator Drakes also wondered whether it was necessary to move in the direction of waste-to-energy generation given the abundance of wind and solar power available on the island.