Policymakers, energy experts and other major stakeholders gathered together yesterday morning to discuss energy efficient policies.
CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (CROSQ) Technical Officer, Fulgence St. Prix, revealed that the three-day conference, which was held at the Divi Southwinds Hotel, was aimed at discussing and finding ways to implement energy efficient policies in the region.
“We talk a lot in the Caribbean about energy efficiency and introduction of renewable energies, but there isn’t the understanding at the national levels sometimes about how this actually benefits the countries, in terms of dollars and cents. This is what this workshop is aimed at helping policymakers more effectively do,” he said.
St. Prix revealed that they were in the process of developing Energy Efficiency Building Codes for the region and noted that the “saving” factor is crucial to getting Member States in the Caribbean understand how being energy efficient benefits the economies at the end of the day.
Anthea Ishmael, the Acting Director of the Barbadian National Standards Institute (BNSI), said that there was great potential within CARICOM to discover more efficient uses of existing energy resources and for the development and utilisation of renewable energy sources. She noted that these strategies can have a positive impact on the competitiveness of CARICOM products and services.
“In this context, CARICOM has already drafted goals and strategies to make greater use of these potentials with the clear intention to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” she said.
However, Ishmael noted that in order to implement these goals and strategies, Quality Infrastructure (QI) requirements must be met.
She revealed that CROSQ, in collaboration with Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), the National Metrology Institute of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Standards Bureau of the Dominican Republic (INDOCAL), will seek to implement the project “Strengthening of the Regional Quality Infrastructure in the Caribbean in the Areas of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energies” (R3E project).
“This project seeks to increase regionally available services of quality infrastructure in the Caribbean for the use of energy efficient electrical appliances and renewable energy technologies through the
development of regional labelling and minimum energy performance standards for lighting and for air conditioners, refrigerators and freezers,” she noted. (CLF)