Some of the staff from the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources in attendance at the service, including Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Wilfred Abrahams (far right, front row).
There is a need for Barbados and Barbadians to change the way we go about utilizing energy.
This view was hammered home by Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Wilfred Abrahams as he addressed the congregation at Saint Christopher’s Anglican Church yesterday during that Ministry’s Thanksgiving Service. This month has been designated as Energy Month.
He stated this is critical because although Barbados contributes “actually less than one per cent of all greenhouse gases in the world”, it is among the many countries which “are most affected by what is happening with climate change”.
“Barbados is going through an energy revolution. It is necessary because circumstances, climate change, economic facts have put us in the position where we have no choice but to make wise choices about what we do going forward that affects us.”
He added, “We have to purge ourselves of our fossil fuel addiction. We have burned oil and gas and coal and carbons for too long. The planet is rebelling against it.”
Abrahams revealed that his Ministry is taking steps to reduce its energy use and is leading the charge in making this island “a fossil fuel free Barbados by 2030”. Some of the work done so far, he stated, includes partnering with Barbados Light and Power to switch the street lighting across the island to LED lighting and placing solar panels on some government buildings and schools. He additionally highlighted during this week the ministry will be commissioning a 381-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system at the Grantley Adams International Airport.
“I believe if we take action now, we can stop and start to reverse some of the effects of what it is that we are going through, but we have to do it now,” he stated.
In agreement with the message brought in the sermon delivered by Reverend Davidson Bowen, Abrahams called for all to adopt a more energy-efficient approach and to invest in renewable energy.
“We have become way too comfortable in the way that we live. We are way too comfortable in the way that we use and waste water. We are way too comfortable in the way that we use and waste electricity. We are way too comfortable in the way we worship and the way we represent ourselves as Christians, so I believe that Barbados does actually need a shake-up. My Ministry is doing its part from the energy sector and I urge all of you pay attention the amount of things you are going to see happening from our ministry in the electricity side, in the energy side and also from water over the next couple weeks and months are going to make you dizzy.”(MG)