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Island Nation Gets Crushed by Energy Dependence. But There’s An Upside
by Stacy Feldman - Jul 6th, 2008
in
There is bad news and good news for the Marshall Islands, which have been thrown into a state of economic emergency from sharp increases in barrel prices.
The bad news is that there's only enough diesel to power the island until the end of August. Worse: Its national power utilities are dead broke, facing a $20 million shortfall -- 20 percent of the national budget.
The good news is that President Litokwa Tomeing has declared a state of emergency that could supercharge the adoption of short- and long-term clean energy and efficiency measures.
The full declaration is here. Some key parts:
(1) All Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies are hereby ORDERED to take immediate steps to implement energy conservation measures, to save on utility costs.
On energy efficiency:
(i) The Ministry of Public Works shall:
(A) carry out a survey of all lighting, air conditioning and other electrical systems on all public facilities and where necessary, to replace and re-fit all public facilities with more energy efficient equipment;
(B) reduce the public street light hours and commence the procurement process for suitable solar street lights.
(C) assist other Ministries and Agencies with Contingency Plans to ensure that the essential infrastructure and delivery of public services are safeguarded.
(D) adopt future public facility design concepts based on energy efficient models, inclusive of alternative energy sources and related specification requirements, for long term sustainability and affordability.
(E) ensure that the combined utilities (MEC/KAJUR) are directed to further reduce operational expenditures, where necessary, and to secure favorable terms with vendors abroad to ease the current fiscal pressure resulting from the high energy costs.
(F) takes steps to ensure that the combined utilities (MEC/KAJUR) are further directed to take pro-active steps to reduce loss of energy generation, improve operational efficiency and other measures as necessary.
On solar:
(i) The Ministry of Resources and Development shall: (A) devise an arrangement that will make available alternative energy projects, such as the Outer Islands Solar Project, to residents in the urban centers (Majuro and Kwajalein).
It's an interesting development -- even for a speck-on-the-map Pacific island nation -- given all the talk over whether historic oil prices will fast track the global clean energy economy.
An article in today’s Sunday Times argues definitively yes. Indeed, soaring oil prices are speeding up the tectonic technological shift from dirty to clean fuels, with more and more global leaders expected to pass the political courage test, too.
To paraphrase the author, the thirst for oil could save the whole planet. This is really going to bear watching.
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Even though this is an
Even though this is an extreme situation for the Marshall Islands, it is environmentally good that we have a country now dedicated to finding sustainable energy solutions. Let's hope that other countries follow their plans for conserving energy and finding renewable sources BEFORE we get to the extremes that the Marshall Islands are experiencing.
'save the planet'
As evidence comes to light that our momentum will carry us way past tipping point, it becomes increasingly naive to talk of 'saving the planet'.
For a start, the planet is not really at risk, it is the biosphere, or more specifically, the current set of species within it, and the web of their dependencies. What we would like to save is the current stable state in which the present ecosystem developed, so we can continue to grow food and have access to other benefits from our natural environment.
Climate change is regarded as primarily a threat to humans, especially the poor, but most species can expect some disruptive changes in their habitat, their diets etc.
We have to put the brakes on our carbon emissions because
1) we don't actually know where tipping point is
2) a new stable state is more likely to be reached sooner if we emit less.
So can we stop talking about saving the planet as if it were some kind of helpless furry animal, and start acknowledging that we haven't yet seen half the damage we've caused, while most of the world is begging for more oil.
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