The idea of shifting to renewable energy was not a bad one, says new CEO of the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce Ian De Souza, but it required a lot of investment and culture change for it to make a difference.
In an interview with Business Day last week, he said while climate change needed to be tackled from a larger perspective and globally, the thrust by small island developing states (SIDS) to play their part and facilitate change was overwhelming.
Since the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), focus has been ramped up on reducing and achieving net-zero emissions to deliver action to help vulnerable communities and habitats adapt to the impact change, such as Trinidad and Tobago, as a SIDS.
As part of TT's intended nationally determined contribution (iNDC), the Government has outlined several initiatives in the way of renewables, and while it was an admirable plan, De Souza said it would require a lot of financing and educational campaigns to foster a shift.
“There is always more that can be done with renewables. If we want to go into renewables in the context of the existing technology, there is wind, solar and thermal. The capital investment to go into wind and putting up those wind farms is horrendous, and similarly with thermal. So you can go the route of solar.
“But it will come down to a question of priorities and what is seen as being necessary. We will, and for a few years, continue to enjoy the benefit of a lower cost of energy in TT, and in terms of the allocation of resources, I suspect that may not be a major priority at this time. We want to get there, but there is a capital element to it.”
Having had the experience of working in other SIDS in the region, De Souza pointed to the efforts they made to shift to renewables in the areas of wind and solar energy.
In the Caribbean, largely dependent on tourism, with some exceptions such as TT and Guyana, he said, protecting investments in this area was important to sustain economies and livelihoods.
For TT, he added that the shift to renewables may have to be forced by increasing the costs of fossil energy to facilitate change, but at what cost to the country’s market competitiveness?
“The economies of the islands and the livelihoods of people are affected; remember, they are tourism-oriented. The effects of climate change and the impact of floods, hurricanes, and varying weather patterns put a strain on the insurance system and the cost.
“We (TT) have an energy industry; the cost to the consumers is less because of subsidies. Some of those subsidies, though, need to be rolled back, particularly those to industry. If this happens, then that would change TT’s industrial competitiveness, and the competitiveness that the manufacturing sector would have enjoyed.
“You would literally have to force people that way (into renewables) by making energy that is generated from the fossils expensive, so if it is very expensive to use that sort of energy the
