Tourist Rich Small Island With Big Energy Strategy

COUNTRY FEATURE: ARUBA

See interview with Prime Minister Mike Eman

Aruba is a small Caribbean island of just 193 sq. km located 30 km north of Venezuela. A former Dutch colony, in January 1986 Aruba gained status aparte, removing itself from the Federation of the Netherlands Antilles. It gained autonomy over its internal affairs, but remained part of the Kingdom of Netherlands. Commercial and economic matters are handled by the national government, while the Netherlands retains political control over Aruba's diplomatic relations and defence.

Aruba has a small and open economy. The island possesses few natural resources and is heavily dependent on imports, including food and manufactures. Its main industries are tourism, offshore financial services and transport (mainly shipping). Until recently, the economy also relied heavily on a major oil refinery but it closed in 2012. Tourism grew rapidly from the early 1990s and, as a consequence, tourism-related industries - particularly construction - boomed, contributing to strong economic growth and to a low unemployment rate. Over 80% of the economy depends directly or indirectly on tourism, making Aruba the second highest tourism-dependent country in the world.

The global financial crisis in 2009 and the shutdowns of Aruba's oil refinery temporarily in 2010 and more permanently in 2012 led to an economic contraction but the economy grew again in 2013. The recovery was backed by a strong growth in the tourism sector, and in 2014 the economy has continued to be supported by a steady upswing in tourism and tourism-related investment. Economic output could be boosted sharply again if efforts to partially restart the oil refinery are successful.

The incumbent prime minister, Michiel Eman of the Arubaanse Volkspartij, isserving a second consecutive four-year term that will run until September 2017. The government holds 13 of the 21 seats in the legislature. Its greatest challenges remain improving the island's volatile economic performance and stimulating employment growth.

Economic policy is simultaneously focused on stimulating tourism growth, with projects to boost investment in this sector, and on economic diversification to achieve sustainable growth and to reduce the risks caused by Aruba's great dependence on tourism. The authorities are pursuing a new growth pillar anchored around the renewable energy sector and the promotion of knowledge- and technology-intensive industries. Taking advantage of Aruba's location and abundant solar and wind resources, the government has a strategy aiming to make Aruba more dependent on renewable energy; to turn it into a gateway between South America, the United States and Europe for commerce and investment, and to establish research laboratories.

The Prime Minister has pledged that the government will seek a transition to 100% renewable energy sources by 2020. In recent years Aruba invested US300m to build a 20-turbine wind farm rated at 30mw that meets 20% of the island's power needs. It replaced its old electric turbine with more efficient models, and is building a solar panel park. Between 2006 and 2013 Aruba reduced its imports of heavy fuel oil from 3,000 barrels per day to 1,700 barrels, saving some US50m a year. The construction of a second wind park due for completion in 2016 will mean renewables will provide half of the island's energy needs.

In April 2014, the government signed a partnership agreement with the international lighting company, Royal Philips, to revamp the island's entire public lighting system by completing an in-depth assessment and providing solutions for public buildings and outdoor lighting systems. As part of the agreement, public buildings will be retrofitted with LED lighting to realize the benefits of energy efficiency. Philips will design a tailored solution for outdoor living that allows Aruba to maximize energy efficiency and improve current lighting levels to international standards. Philips estimates sustainable lighting could result in initial energy savings of 50-80% and lower annual CO2 emissions by 3,000 - 4,000 tons.

To demonstrate its commitment to the development of sustainable tourism, the authorities have entered into an agreement with the KLM airline to demonstrate the viability of aviation biofuel. For six months from May 2014, 20 KLM flights between Amsterdam and Aruba and the neighbouring island of Bonaire will be powered by biofuel. The airline declared that the flights represent an important step towards proving that more sustainable aviation is possible.

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Event Renewable Energy Exhibition Mchewel 2015

The Renewable Energy Exhibition (REE) McHewel 2015 will take place on Wednesday February 18 to Tuesday January 20, 2015, at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, 650 Dixon Road, Toronto, Canada in Toronto, Ontario.

The theme for this year is "Increasing Energy Capacity with Sustainable renewable sources." REE is Canada's Leading renewable energy event, it is organized by the McHewel Investment Group.

REE showcases products like wind, solar, bio fuel, hydrocarbon, geothermal, agriculture, environment, finance, and hydrogen based products and services associated with this field etc. in the Power, Renewable Energy & Energy Conservation industry.

REE will feature an impressive line-up of local and international speakers, delegates and exhibitors, who will gather to debate a new energy future for Canada. This event takes place in partnership with Canadian Association for Renewable Energies, as well as numerous other local and multinational organizations, like Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP), Canadian Renewable Energy Alliance, World Bank from both the public and private sectors. This year event will attract more than 3,000 renewable energy power professionals and exhibiting companies from all over the World.

THE OBJECTIVE OF REE IS TO:

o Create a platform for all stakeholders to network and transfer knowledge and skills. o Raise awareness and educate the public about renewable energy sources and climate change in Canada and the World. o Showcase both local and international initiatives and technologies. o Mobilise Consumers across all sectors to act on climate change in all aspects of their lives. Create a platform for Business, Government and NGO's to showcase Renewable Energy solutions and climate change initiatives and technologies.

Renewable Energy Exhibition is designed to enable participants stay abreast of developments and highlight issues affecting the energy industry and further highlight technologies, strategies and policies covering the wind, solar, biofuel, hydrocarbon, geothermal, agriculture, environment, finance, and hydrogen in Canada.

THE REE EXPO

This session will be held concurrently with the Conference, the Expo will focus on presentations by leading companies and Organization on sustainable energy solutions for today and the future of Canada. The exhibitor will present their latest technologies and innovations that are already on working in other markets. Features of REE 2015:

REE will stimulate local by give back to the community we do business with follow feature over and above the event:

1. ECO-LEADERS

This Programme is aimed at helping local government officials turn clean energy visions into reality. This will serve as a virtual clearing house of clean energy policy information and tools, and leverage assistance of global partners to offer policy best practices, peer-to-peer learning, expert policy assistance, and training. This programme will promote synthesized lessons from several countries on policies, regulations, planning, and practices for effectively achieving and managing significant renewable energy penetration into municipalities. Participants will be connected to a global network of clean energy experts for personalized attention and quick response to technical assistance on strategies, regulations, standards, financial incentives, and deployment programs.

2. GREEN AWARD

This initiative is to honour and recognize companies (of all sizes), government departments, schools, individuals and organizations who have demonstrated their commitment to the advancement of energy efficiency by implementing policies, projects and training that are relevant, innovative and effective in the fields of Green Economy, Energy Efficiency, Urban planning, Communication, Ecology, Engineering, Policy, Clean technology, Lean process, ERPs, Counteracting the disruption of nature such as Mitigating water scarcity border:0"/> Subscribe in a reader

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Energy Update August 15

IN THE STATES

ND - The North Dakota Industrial Commission, which regulates the State's energy resources, including the drilling and production of oil and gas in the State, will hold public hearings to gather input on how to "reduce volatility at a well site before oil is stored or transported." Governor Jack Dalrymple, who sits on the Commission, said state officials are considering treating the crude oil that is pumped from the Bakken Shale prior to transport. Federal officials are also considering whether to require the crude, which has proven to be more combustible, to be stabilized before it is shipped. The stabilization process involves boiling and removing certain hydrocarbon molecules from the crude oil. Amid federal safety push, North Dakota considers new energy regulations - "TIME" and North Dakota considers requiring treatment of Bakken crude - "The Wall Street Journal"

WY - The State's Industrial Siting Council voted unanimously to approve Power Company of Wyoming's plan to build a 1,000-turbine wind farm in the State's Carbon County. The proposal, which is called Chokecherry and Sierra Madre, still requires several federal approvals and environmental assessments. If built, the 5 billion-project would be the largest onshore wind installation in the United States and is expected to produce up to 3,000 megawatts of electricity, or 10 million megawatt hours annually. Chokecherry and Sierra Madre is also projected to create almost 1,000 construction jobs and to employ more than 100 workers after completion. Wyoming board gives key OK for Carbon county wind farm - "The Casper Star Tribune"

REGIONAL

Governors Jerry Brown of California, John Kitzhaber of Oregon, and Jay Inslee of Washington recently wrote a letter to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell requesting a ban on any new oil and gas drilling off their coasts. In their letter, the Governors also discussed their efforts to promote and expand clean energy projects and technologies and their interest in working with the Obama Administration to "invest in energy efficiency, alternative renewable energy sources, and pricing carbon." The Governors' letter was offered as formal comment on the Interior Department's proposal for oil and gas leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf from 2017 through 2022. "We must meet the environmental and economic imperative of climate change, and in so doing," said the Governors, "seize the opportunity for our region and our nation to build a low-carbon economy that can be the envy of the world." A copy of the letter can be found here.

According to a new report by Environment America, 10 States, including Arizona, California, and Colorado, are responsible for about 89% of solar energy capacity in the United States. The same States, however, according to the report, account for only 26% of the total U.S. population and 20% of electricity consumption nationally. In addition to the aforementioned States, the report finds Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, and North Carolina also possess strong solar energy markets and/or policies. The report also found that the amount of photovoltaic capacity increased from 97 megawatts in 2003 to 12,000 megawatts in 2013. A copy of the report can be found here.

FEDERAL

The Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy awarded more than 18 million in grants to 32 projects to research, expand, and advance geothermal energy development. For example, 10 million will be granted to research and development projects to study geothermal energy reservoirs and extraction processes. The remaining 8 million will be evenly split between projects that will help to map subsurface geothermal energy resources and explore power generation and mineral extraction "as a path to developing commercially viable, low- to moderate- temperature geothermal resources. More information can be found here.

Kansas Republican Representative Mike Pompeo and 53 other House members wrote to Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy to ask them to let certain federal energy subsidies, namely the wind energy production tax credit (PTC), expire. The House Members said "Ensuring that our nation's patchwork tax code undergoes significant reform is a noble goal and, as part of this process, we believe Congress should stop picking winners and losers and finally end the wind PTC." In their letter, they also asserted the PTC costs too much, inflates energy costs, and distorts the overall energy market's prices. House Republicans: End 'harmful' wind tax credit - "The Hill"

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Setting Up Of Non Conventional Power Plants

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has set a target of capacity addition of 29,800 MW from various renewable energy sources during 12th Five Year Plan period. This was stated by Sh. Piyush Goyal, Minister of state for Power, Coal ">In reply to another question, Sh. Piyush Goyal stated that the Government is providing a range of fiscal and financial incentives for promotion of renewable energy under various schemes. These include capital and/or interest subsidy, 100 per cent tax holiday on the earnings for 10 years, generation based incentive, accelerated depreciation, financing solar rooftop systems as part of home loan, and concessional excise and custom duties, preferential tariff for power generation from renewables and National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF) support for on-lending to viable renewable energy projects by Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA). In addition, foreign direct investment up to 100 per cent under the automatic route is permitted, the Minister added.

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Mid Term Elections Renewable Energy Cleans Up

by Michael Vickerman, RENEW Wisconsin

November 16, 2006

The gale-force winds that reshaped the political landscape this November augur well for new initiatives to substitute fossil fuel use with renewable energy.

To a degree unmatched in previous elections, candidates articulated an energy agenda that emphasized greater reliance on bioenergy, wind, solar, and conservation-and won, often by convincing margins. The renewable energy tide swept through not only both chambers of Congress but also many statehouses across the country. Only the Southeastern states seemed to escape its impact.

For example, the incoming governor of Massachusetts, Deval Patrick, distinguished himself by endorsing the controversial Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound. Patrick's sensible support for what could be the nation's first offshore windpower plant is a welcome departure from the unremitting hostility that his predecessor, Mitt Romney, directed toward it.

In Patrick's eyes, Cape Wind is the only large-scale generating option that does not add to the load of greenhouse gases emanating from Massachusetts sources. Contrast that understanding with Romney's decision to pull Massachusetts out of a New England-wide greenhouse gas reduction initiative and you'll begin to appreciate just how much more friendly towards renewable energy the Bay State will be.

Here in Wisconsin, Governor Jim Doyle repeatedly pointed to his leadership on energy policy, highlighted by the recently adopted Efficiency and Renewables Law, as a compelling reason to return him to office.

This law, which will increase the renewable energy content of the state's electricity to 10% by 2015, was the culmination of a bipartisan, deliberative, consensus-building process that took more than two years to complete.

By contrast, Doyle's challenger, Congressman Mark Green, was unable to persuade voters that he, too, staunchly supports renewables. Moreover, voter perceptions of Green were colored by his long association with the "drill 'em dry" camp in the House of Representatives, as exemplified by Tom DeLay and Richard Pombo. The disparity in their respective energy agendas contributed to Doyle's surprisingly easy reelection.

There were a few Republicans, like California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who chose effective governance over the strident partisanship that characterized the 109th Congress. This summer, Schwarzenegger and the Democratic-controlled state legislature worked cooperatively to pass a landmark law that seeks to cut California's greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent, dropping them to 1990 levels by 2020. This initiative will undoubtedly increase renewable energy's market share in the Golden State.

For clean energy supporters, the sweetest moment came when voters in California's 11th District handed the aforementioned Richard Pombo a stinging defeat. Pombo, who has never met an environmental law he didn't try to repeal, is the architect of a House bill that would open up the entire Outer Continental Shelf to oil and gas drilling. In a symbolic twist, Pombo lost to a challenger, Jerry McNerney, who has worked in the wind energy industry for over two decades.

The campaigns of Patrick, Doyle, Schwarzenegger and McNerney succeeded in framing renewable energy as an economic development strategy that also happens to prevent pollution and address national security. And, as happened during Doyle's and Schwarzenegger's first terms, it is possible to mobilize strong bipartisan backing for pro-renewable energy initiatives even in the teeth of an election year.

The election results are indicative of two positive developments: that Americans are taking energy issues more seriously, and that renewable energy's appeal now transcends partisan affiliations. We now have, for the first time in many years, a window of opportunity to establish a responsible national energy policy instead of the smorgasbord of subsidies we now have.

Indeed, the message from the voters could not be clearer: let conservation and renewables lead the way to a cleaner, healthier, more secure energy future.

Vickerman is executive director of RENEW Wisconsin, an independent, nonprofit organization that acts as a catalyst to advance a sustainable energy future through public policy and private sector initiatives. For more information on RENEW's work, visit our web site: www.renewwisconsin.org. These commentaries also posted on RENEW's weblog.

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Environmentally Friendly Building Materials

The main goal when you find yourself looking for environment friendly products is to locate the right balance between function, performance and eco credentials. Designs for room by having an focus on sustainable and ecofriendly materials has become easier thanks to the introduction of eco timber products, as an example the family area floor or feature wall, kitchen walls or bathroom feature panels with mosaic tiles which have each of the appeal of natural material yet still provide a practical solution. Have you ever considered a coconut floor, or mahogany tree bark walls? All these things can be done using ecofriendly products.

Before going in the materials which might be considered eco-friendly, we should be cognizant on why we need to rely on them. The demand in using these materials based on types or nature. Wood is one of the most frequent found in constructing building structures. Where do woods originate from? Trees. It only takes us a short while or hours to cut down trees, however it takes us years growing them. So if we all consume these resources, it may well lead to further destruction to your planet. The utilization of these eco-friendly materials will help us decrease an excessive amount of using our natural supplies.

SUSTAINABLE WOOD SOURCES : BAMBOO

Bamboo is often a rapidly renewable resource harvested every six years. The bamboo plant is harvested sustainably and quickly regenerates new growth from its vigorous rhizome system. While most hardwood forests take decades to mature and replenish, bamboo matures in approximately 5-7 years. It is known as an environmentally friendly material under LEED so that as i was told that in Environmental Building News, 'Environmentally, it's difficult to argue with a wood substitute that matures in 3 years, regenerates without dependence on replanting, and needs minimal fertilization or pesticides.' Through the accreditation bodies like FSC, bamboo (and also other materials) may be tracked through each stage of manufacture, production and distribution using responsible practices. In order for a company to obtain certified with the FSC, it takes adhering to stringent guidelines and demonstrating a consignment to environmentally responsible practices. The process is tedious and time-consuming, nonetheless it helps to make the world a better place, so any company ready to cope with the operation is certain to assume responsibilty. While there are numerous manufacturers of bamboo, and tons of different bamboo products out there, they're not all 'green.' Many products, in particular those originating from China, use harmful chemicals in their adhesives and finishes, creating the bamboo causing more harm on the environment than good. In order to determine how green a specific product is, you'll want to talk about FSC and LEED standards.

WHY ECO-FRIENDLY CONSTRUCTION

Careful planning retreats into an eco-friendly construction. The surrounding land is developed to promote biodiversity and ensure water savings. Landscaping accounts for the natural lay from the land and plant species native to the region. Materials employed for building are typically salvaged or recycled byproducts using their company industries. Use of toxic chemicals and materials are reduced. A green home is designed to enjoy the best using sun light. The home may generate an important part or every one of its energy needs from renewable sources such as solar or geothermal power. A home that generates energy in excess of its needs can earn credits by arranging using utility supplier to feed excess power to the principle power company.

Green architecture or sustainable building seeks to lessen waste of water, energy and materials used in the construction of senior housing. For example, in the state of California nearly 60 percent of waste comes from commercial buildings. During the construction phase of a project, one goal should be to relieve the volume of materials that find yourself going to landfills. Well designed buildings also help decrease the quantity of waste generated by occupants by on-site solutions like compost bins that reduce matter going to landfills.

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