Senator Phillip Paulwell chooses LNG over Coal - Power Engineers in Stephen King's Graveyard Shift

NKOB (New Kid on the Block) Minister of Energy, Mining and Telecommunications Senator Phillip Paulwell has been one busy little Senator indeed as he was already in the limelight since January 2012AD, the Year of the Dragon for his utterances on aspects of his ministry: Telecoms and Energy!

This after the PNP (People’s National Party) won an historic, unexpected and crushing landslide victory over the JLP (Jamaica Labour Party) as stated in the article “It's Portia! - PNP delivers crushing 41-22 seat defeat to JLP’, published Friday, December 30, 2011 BY VERNON DAVIDSON Executive editor — publications, The Jamaica Observer
 

First Minister of Energy, Mining and Telecommunications Senator Phillip Paulwell’s controversial pronouncements on Telecoms!

The Telecoms Provider Digicel swap with America Movil that gave them the CLARO Jamaica Spectrum and licenses for their Caribbean-wide HSDPA+ (High Speeds Downlink Packet Access) Release 7 Network and then ramp up to LTE (Long Term Evolution) push by 2014AD under dubious circumstances was his first controversy. This was given Minister of Energy, Mining and Telecommunications Senator Phillip Paulwell’s tacit support from early on as stated in the article entitled “Paulwell endorses new Digicel/Claro merger condition”, published 2012-01-13 09:22:52, Go-Jamaica.

Hopefully Telecoms Provider Digicel will build out the Islandwide HSDPA+ Release 7 Network but give up some of the spectrum to encourage competition in Jamaica’s Telecoms Market as the FTC (Fair Trading Commission) desires as noted in my blog article entitled “Digicel to shut down CLARO's Voice Network in HSDPA+ Push - The Louisiana Purchase of Spectrum”.

As for the former employees and contractors associated with CLARO Jamaica, they may not even have time to rest on their laurels! Canadian-based Solamon Energy Corp is an entrant into the newly liberalized Energy Sector looking to compete in the recently liberalized Energy Sector and in the process employ thousands of Jamaicans as stated in my breaking Geezam article entitled “Solamon Energy Corporation to build Caribbean’s Largest Solar Plant – Jamaica to get a Green Energy Boost”.

So I guess it will all work out after all for the disenfranchised CLARO Jamaica employees come Thursday March 1^st 2012AD when CLARO GSM Voice Network will be turned off, not down……

Thus Canadian-based Solamon Energy Corp may take on former CLARO Jamaica employees with IP RAN (IP Radio Access Network) experience to:

• Build out the communications backbone between their three (3) massive fifty (50) acre Solar Plant
• GPRS (Global Packet Radios System) and EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) Remote Billing System based on smartmeters

This as noted in my blog article entitled “Solamon Energy Corp & Green RG invest in Jamaica's Alternative Energy Future - Let the Cheaper Energy Hunger Games for Latin America Begin”.

Now here comes Minister of Energy, Mining and Telecommunications Senator Phillip Paulwell’s latest pronouncements on Energy and what appears to be the coming Liberalization of the Energy Sector and with it competition and even Broadband!

Earlier in January 2012AD year Minister of Energy, Mining and Telecommunications Senator Phillip Paulwell even served up the possibility that JPS Co could offer PowerLine Broadband as a means of offsetting the loss of revenue due to competition in a Liberalized Energy Sector as stated in the article Paulwell wants JPS to offer broadband Internet service, published Sunday January 22, 2012 10:39 am, The Jamaica Gleaner and “JPS invited to offer broadband Internet service” published Sunday January 22, 2012, The Jamaica Gleaner.

However, such an offer, even if taken up by JPS Co, would be impractical due to the level of signal attenuation Broadband signals would face traversing on Power lines, not to mention interference with terrestrial communications and even Hospital Equiptment as noted in my explanation blog article entitled “Senator Phillip Paulwell and PowerLine Broadband - Ice Station Zebra”.

Game, set, match on that issue, as its impracticability is well known to Telecoms Technicians working at JPS Co!!

But apparently undeterred, his latest pronouncement on Energy is one that I welcome. It is Minister of Energy, Mining and Telecommunications Senator Phillip Paulwell about turn from his earlier held position on the use of Coal as an alternative fuel to imported Bunker Seed Oil to generate electricity by JPS Co as opposed to LNG (Liquid Natural Gas) as stated in the article “Full speed ahead with LNG”, published 9^th February 2012, Go-Jamaica, which the JLP Supports, makes the news yet again!

The PNP’s original position was to support the use of Coal as it was cheaper and plentiful on the world market, commanding lower prices as stated in the article “Eyes on coal”, published Friday February 3, 2012 by Steven Jackson, Gleaner Writer, The Jamaica Gleaner, expressed some six (6) days ago in the Media.

I guess this means that the Licenses being offered by the Government of Jamaica to invite international bidders to supply LNG as well as to construct the LNG Floating Storage and Re-gasification Terminal and the pipeline infrastructure as laid out in December 2011AD article  “Bids to open next year for LNG terminal”, Published Sunday December 4, 2011, The Jamaica Gleaner is still open.

Additionally, Minister of Energy, Mining and Telecommunications Senator Phillip Paulwell backtrack may also be a means of avoiding sending mixed signals to the Bidders in the international community as it relates to the GOJ’s commitment to the JLP’s previously signed Bilateral Trade Agreements and MOU’s related to LNG

It seems that they [PNP] have finally awakened - yet again - to the fact that LNG would save Jamaica US$300 million per annum on their Oil Bill as stated in the article “JPS: LNG power plant to cut US$300m from oil bill”, published Friday February 10, 2012, The Jamaica Gleaner.

This in addition to the added savings from the coming expansion of the Wigton Wind Farm as stated in the article “In Five Months, Wigton Saves Jamaica $229 Million”, published Sunday September 25, 2011, The Jamaica Gleaner

The last time the debate on LNG surfaced was in June of 2010AD in the article “Government eyes LNG cure for Energy problems”, published Wednesday June 16 2010 by Laura Redpath, Senior Staff Writer, The Jamaica Gleaner but little action had been taken since then, with embattled Minister of Energy and Mining Paul Robertson having to demit office over a LNG

Back then I also did several articles on the subject, most notable of which was an article which outlined the benefits of LNG as a part of Jamaica’s Energy Mix entitled “Alternative Energy and LNG - Is Energy Sector Liberalization necessary?” and the coming Peak Oil Crisis coming in 2015AD as described in my blog article entitled “Alternative Energy and the Caribbean - Peak Oil in 2015 and The Day After Tomorrow”

To wit:

• LNG is cleaner burning in combustion engines than Oil and results in lower Maintenance costs
• It’s easier to store than Oil or Coal, oweing to the fact that it can be gasified or compressed easily, the energy for which being supplied by Alternative Sources
• It’s easily transported using pipelines, as opposed to Coal which has to be transported by road using Trucks, large Trailers or via Trains
• LNG only poses an explosion danger to the environment as opposed to Coal which poses a health and dust nuisance problem to residents living near to the LNG Regasification plant
• LNG has a higher Energy Density than Gasoline or Diesel as stated in the article “Energy Density”, viewed Monday January 18 2010 by WikiPedia packing 53 MJ/kg compared to Diesel and Gasoline sporting figures of 46.2 MJ/kg and 46.4 MJ/kg respectively
• It can also be used as fuel in Motor Vehicles as stated in my blog article entitled “LPG and the Challenger Transport Co. Ltd.  - A Cheaper Fuel” and the supporting article in The Jamaica Observer entitled “Challenger Transport pioneers Auto LPG”, published Friday, March 05, 2010 by Patrick Foster, The Jamaica Observer.
• It can be used as fuel for Public Transport, saving the GOJ billions of dollars in fuel costs as stated in my blog article entitled “JUTC, Challenger and LNG - Journey to the Center of the Earth”
• Most importantly, the source of LNG fuel is actually sustainable and can be made in commercial quantities Anaerobic digestion of organic matter by Methane producing Bacteria as per my blog article entitled “Alternative Energy and the Caribbean - Peak Oil in 2015 and The Day After Tomorrow
• Improved production at companies that use vast amounts of energy to produce their products e.g. Bauxite at JAMALCO as mentioned in the article “US$3-B infrastructural upgrade coming with Natural Gas - Robertson”, published Sunday, October 03, 2010, The Jamaica Observer and explained in my blog article entitled “Alternative Energy and Distributed AEPP - The GoldenEye Talk Shop”
• Generators that use LNG are Gas Turbine Generators. These Generators can be easily modified to use Hydrogen Gas in the future as per my blog article entitled “Hydrogen Economy and Natural Gas - Wall-E and the Rise of the Oceanospirillales Microbes.
• Gas turbine Generators can enable Jamaica to eventually transition to the so-called Hydrogen Economy in the future using Hydrogen Gas obtained from the electrolysis of Seawater to produce Hydrogen and Oxygen, with Salt and other minerals as byproducts as per my blog article entitled “Whither the Hydrogen Economy”

That the GOJ and Jamaicans at large are divided along political lines on an issue that should be of national importance and unite us as the high cost of Cheaper Energy it is a problem that affects us all as stated in my blog article entitled “Minister Clive Mullings retrogade step on Energy Sector Liberalization - JPS Co's Monopoly An Inconvenient Truth” is intriguingly strange. It also speaks volumes about our mindset as it relates to achieving Developed World Status in keeping with the bipartisan ideals as laid out in Vision 2030.

So it’s going to an interesting year for both Telecoms and Power Engineering. With the Telecoms Sector, more specifically Telecom Provider LIME still awaiting the changes in the archaic Telecommunications Act of 2000 and the provision of a Telecom Regulator separate and apart from OUR (Office of Utilities Regulation) as stated in the article “Sinclair demands regulatory protection in high stakes telecoms market” Published Friday February 10, 2012 by Lavern Clarke, Business Editor, The Jamaica Gleaner.

Along with former CLARO RF Technician and Network Engineers, Power Engineers at JPS Co, it seems, will be kept working for the next five (5) years to install the new Gas Turbine Generators that use LNG on Stephen King’s Graveyard Shift (1990)