T&T’s inaugural Clean Energy Conference was well attended. The Energy Chamber did an excellent job of facilitating. Participants and presenters appeared to have aligned goals; to achieve a 15% reduction in T&T’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and to have 10% of our energy come from renewable sources by 2021. The impetus for these goals came from the Paris Agreement.

The major players that contribute to industrial emissions in T&T appear to be onboard with achieving the outlined objectives. Both NGC and T&TEC gave excellent presentations that signaled their commitment to the process.  Having said that, there was no clear indication from the Power Generators (Powergen, TGU and Trinity Power) regarding whether they would be open to switching all their generation units to the more efficient combined cycle option. At the moment TGU uses a combined cycle facility.

On a couple occasions it became glaringly obvious that two key things must happen before any action is taken; revisions must be made to the T&TEC Act and the Regulated Industries Act. Such revisions will allow individuals to feed their excess (renewable) energy on to the national grid.  In this regard we are relying on Government Ministries to jump-start the process, or to put it another way, to remove the legal obstacles.

Other areas for improvement include government or agency incentives for individuals wishing to switch their homes or cars over to green or renewable energy sources. The cost of solar panels and wind turbines is substantial. Infrastructure also needs to be put in place e.g. charging ports for electric or hybrid vehicles, or CNG stations for cars wishing to switch from traditional gas or diesel tanks to CNG.

Info on the conference:
http://energynow.tt/clean-energy-conference/