Solar ice plant soon for Barbados

by Mike King

BARBADOS will soon be producing "green" ice.

It will be the first for the English-speaking Caribbean, when the ice-plant at the new fishing complex at Skeete's Bay, St. Philip, starts generating power using solar energy. There is no recurring monthly cost because the refrigerator will be using the sun for power. It was designed by William Hinds, project manager for the University of the West Indies' Solar Energy Programme. Hinds, who was commissioned by the National Council for Science and Technology, says the ice-plant will be able to produce a tonne ( 2 200 pounds) of ice daily.

"It is a breakthrough. People have been fascinated about the concept of producing ice which is cold from sunshine which is hot. This is something that everyone was hoping could be developed in Barbados," he said. "It's cheaper and the way to go. It's good for the environment. A step  in the future," says the holder of a master's degree in alternative energy from the University of Reading, England.

He said the photo-voltaic panels on the roof delivered electricity ranging between 48 and 80 volts of direct current and can produce a maximum current of 240 amps. According to him, design and construction costs totalled just over $150 000.

So what happens when the rain falls and there is no sun? The energy is stored in batteries.

"Solar ice machines not only work through the day but at night too. On days when it is raining, the need for ice would be less because it is cool and there would be ice available in storage from the previous day. Most days, the solar system will produce more energy than is needed for the ice production. This extra energy will be stored for the proverbial "rainy day" in the batteries," he said.

Small states, big lobby

SMALL island states are organising to mount a sustained lobby to pressure the international community to take acceptable tangible steps to avert further global warming and climate change. Minister of the Environment Rawle Eastmond said the effort, being spearheaded by the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), is expected to come to a head in Bonn, Germany, by mid-year. That is  when the world's governments gather to break a stalemate on climate change. Countries of Latin America have now joined the lobby in support of small islands which stand to lose the most should the theories of climate change materialise. Prior to that meeting Eastmond said that climate change was to be on the agenda during the Summit of the Americas being hosted by Canada, one of the governments supporting the position of small island states.

"AOSIS has been meeting in caucus and constituted itself into a pressure group to take the message to the international community but we are frustrated by some of the bigger countries where there are stakeholders who make a lot of money out of energy sectors that are utterly dependent on fossil fuels and hydrocarbons," said Eastmond.

It was these business interests of which the American government was mindful and whose concerns helped to shape the American position on global warming and climate change. I was heartened recently when the president of France and the government of Holland openly sided with the concerns of AOSIS but I am very unhappy that the United States does not seem, right now, ready to reduce emissions the way AOSIS wants them reduced. America's strategy is to plant up the earth in forestry and shrubbery, but that is not the strategy small island states' support," Eastmond said.

The entry of Latin America as a forceful lobby alongside the Caribbean has come about because they are beginning to experience problems related to forestry, drought, and desertification. Talks at the last conference in The Hague, in November last year, broke down because a United States-led group of 12 countries refused to reduce levels of greenhouse gases which Eastmond said it might very well take a number of disastrous floods or forest fires for the Americans to realise their error.

Composing project gets under way

THE Rotary Club of Barbados and the Challenor Complex have teamed up on an eco-project. The club last week donated two Earth Machines to the St. Thomas institution for producing compost. Director of the Challenor Complex, Julie Sealy, said the Earth Machines would be used to train their young people in composting and recycling. She said they were presently scouting for funds to get the project off the ground. Its objective is two-pronged. One is to provide agricultural and environmental skills to the youth. The other is to invite non-disabled people to participate in the project and to help integrate slow-learners into the society.

How we got our white beaches

BARBADOS boasts some of the most beautiful white sandy beaches in the Caribbean, thanks to the coral reefs and diversity of sea life around the island.

The chub, or parrot fish, which Barbadians refer to as reef fish, are in part responsible for about 10 per cent of all the sand on our beaches. The mouth of this grazer is shaped like a beak and as it feeds on the algae on the coral reef, its "beak" picks up a small portion of the coral which it excretes as sand and which is carried by the waves onto the beach. The sand also comprises the remains of dead fish and sea urchins. The wave action grinds the body, bones, and teeth into fine particles which make up another portion of the island's beaches. A third source is degradation of the coral reef itself through either bio erosion (that is when sea life erodes the reef) or natural erosion caused by open ocean waves. There is also a chalky algae which people trample on every day at the beach and may not recognise it. It is usually green when attached to the reef but after it falls off and is carried away to the shore it eventually turns white, crumbles, and becomes sand.

Notice board

Treading Lightly's rap session tomorrow on Sustainably Healthy will be led by Minister of Health Senator Phillip Goddard. Please call 425-0073 for further information.