Why Biodiesel and Hydroelectric Power at PCJ's Alternative Energy Expo a must before 2020

“We have one objective, which is to identify and exploit Jamaica's indigenous Energy resources to secure affordable supplies for the nation....We see this event as an effective vehicle for fulfilling the ultimate goal of all our public education efforts, which is to foster a population that uses Energy efficiently and wisely”

PCJ's Group Chief Financial Officer, Robert Clarke at the annual PCJ-sponsored Jamaica Alternative Energy Expo at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel, New Kingston, on Thursday April 7th 2016.

The JUTC (Jamaica Urban Transit Corporation) might soon be running on biofuel after all.

This as the PCJ (Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica) is researching the use of biodiesel as a fuel for the JUTC buses as reported in the article “PCJ Researching Biodiesel As Transport Fuel”, published Friday April 8, 2016, by McPherse Thompson, The Jamaica Gleaner.

This came to light at the annual PCJ-sponsored Jamaica Alternative Energy Expo at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel, New Kingston, on Thursday April 7^th 2016. The Jamaica Alternative Energy Expo is a showcase of Alternative Energy Technologies, products and solutions designed to reduce Energy usage and cost. The two day Expo saw some 40 organizations mount display booths for two days up until Friday April 8^th 2016.

Apparently the PCJ, on behalf of the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining is looking into using vegetable or animal fat-based oil as Biodiesel that are reacted with alcohol producing fatty acid esters. The resulting moisture of esters and oils makes for a combustible mixture that is lead free and burns more cleanly than Diesel from petroleum.

In fact it can obtained from the recycling Cooking Oil as explained in my blog article entitled  “UWI and YCWJ team up to Recycle Waste Cooking Oil - How to make National Bio-Diesel Production from Waste Cooking Oil”.

So why the sudden interest being shown by the PCJ in biofuels even though we're now experiencing Oil prices as low as US$26 per barrel as pointed out in my blog article entitled “US$50 per barrel Oil from OPEC – Why Ford Motors is predicting a bright future for All-Electric Vehicles”.

PCJ's Jamaica Alternative Energy Expo - Why Renewables are a must before 2020 as Oil prices set to Rise

It's set to get worse now that OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) cannot achieve consensus on an output freeze from Iran as noted in the article “Top oil countries fail to reach deal on production freeze”, published April 17, 2016 by Charles Riley and John Defterios, CNN Money.

So Jamaica’s interest in Biofuels may seem puzzling. however, the reality is that the low oil prices are temporary; as soon as world demand rises to meet the current glut of oil on the market, prices may rise as high as US$300 a barrel by 2020 as predicted in my blog article entitled “Why Jamaican Private Sector funding Oil Exploration by Tullow Oil for US$300 per barrel in 2020”.

The Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining and the PCJ are using this opportunity to basically diversify the Energy mix in Jamaica away from cheap Oil so that when the price of oil rises by 2020, we would have been getting the majority of our Energy needs from Alternative or Renewable Energy.

Sources. So says permanent secretary in the Science ministry, Hillary Alexander, quote: “Alternative Energy sources are of great value, particularly as the global conversation on Energy is taking a more serious look at issues related to climate change and cleaner Energy sources”

For that reason, Energy diversification also includes looking into Alternative Energy options as follows:

1.      Biomass Energy

2.      Wind Energy

3.      Solar Energy

4.      Geothermal Energy

5.      Hydroelectric Energy

6.      Tidal Energy

7.      Wave Energy

8.      Wood Energy

No matter the form that the Alternative Energy Source takes, it has to ultimately be converted either into Electricity to power businesses and homes or Biofuel to power vehicle and Electricity generating facilities. PCJ's Group Chief Financial Officer, Robert Clarke says that they're also looking in other sources of Renewable Energy on the list and Hydroelectricity one of them.

Hydroelectric Energy in Jamaica - Alternative Energy is Jamaica's long term savior from Imported Oil

Despite the fact that Hydroelectric Power is somewhat prone to fluctuations in the water levels of rivers due to drought as noted in my blog article entitled “JPSCo says Hydroelectric down 15% - Solar and Wind fill 115MW Renewable Energy Contract” the OUR (Office of Utilities Regulation) has plans for a 2 MW hydroelectric power plant in Laughlands Great River in St Ann is still seen as feasible.

The Energy potential of Hydroelectric Power form this particular project is huge, as it may mean a lot of households being supplied with hydroelectric power, to quote Robert Clarke: “If our proposal is approved, our hydro project could potentially supply an average of 13,002 megawatt hours of Energy to the grid each year”.

There are other plans aside from Jamaica going Renewables by 2020:

1.      Enforcement of Energy-efficiency standards and codes for appliances and buildings

2.      50% reduction of Energy consumption in new buildings

3.      Ensuring that all new buildings use zero net Energy by 2025

The BCJ (Bureau of Standards Jamaica) is already coming up with regulation as it relates to the importation of Electronics and Appliances as noted in my blog article entitled “BSJ's Energy Standards for Imported Electrical Appliances - Why a Ban on Light Bulbs may lead to Chinese Manufacturing in Jamaica”. 

Hopefully they'll eventually ban the importation of Fluorescent and incandescent bulbs. Also A switch to using Hydrogen to replace Cooking gas would also cut our fuel importation bill as noted in my blog article entitled “UTECH and Hydrogen as Cooking Gas – How Hydride Salts make Hydrogen Cooking Gas and Fuel Cells possible”. 

Finally making Biofuel into an industry in Jamaica could help to solve out islands problem with Organic Waste and our Landfill problem as argued in my blog article entitled “Why Knockalva Enterprises Limited can solve Jamaica's Organic Waste, Bio-Fuel and Water Problem”. 

Alternative Energy is Jamaica's long term saviour from Imported Oil. The PCJ’s efforts to diversify Jamaica’s Energy mix towards mainly Renewables will give us the Energy stability and lower prices that encourage manufacturing that are needed for our economy to grow.

Here’s the link:

Jamaica Alternative Energy Expo

Alternative Energy