A number of Caribbean islands are experimenting with the use of renewable energy and hope to provide a model for other nations. The effort is being led by the Carbon War Room, a nonprofit organization founded by billionaire Richard Branson to help fight climate change.
Currently, diesel generators are the most common source of electricity on Caribbean islands, but they are neither cheap nor environmentally friendly. The new effort aims to prove clean energy can be just as inexpensive as fossil fuel.
Branson is leading the charge with a plan to create a “microgrid” of solar, wind, and battery technologies on his own Necker Island. The proposed plan would cover roughly 80 percent of the island’s power needs but must be approved by regulators in the British Virgin Islands before it can go forward.
Other islands are already on board with plans to create microgrids of their own. Aruba is creating wind farms, one of which is already in operation, and has plans for other innovative methods that include underwater compressed air and flywheels.
St. Lucia is exploring solar, wind, and geothermal technologies, and Turks and Caicos and the British Virgin Islands have also committed to the effort. Experts say that these microgrids are currently too expensive for the continental U.S. but may work for Alaska and other less populated locales.
Caribbean officials hope cultivating these renewable energy sources will be good not just for the environment but for their economies, reducing energy costs and creating new jobs. And if successful, their efforts may help inspire the use of clean energy on a larger scale.
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Caribbean Islands Agree to Swap Diesel Power for Renewable Sources
Photo, taken on November 12, 2013, courtesy of David Goehring via Flickr.
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Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio. Support for Earth Wise comes from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, NY.