THE Caribbean Solar Energy Society (CSES) recently held a conference and exhibition on Sustainable Alternative for Island States (SATIS) at the Hilton Kingston Hotel.

The four-day event which ended on August 31, brought together scientists and developers of renewable energy from around the world to review developments in renewable energy technologies particularly wind, solar, ocean thermal and hydropower.

It featured presentations of work being done around the world from as far as India, Germany, the United Kingdom, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Canada, United States, Curacao, Barbados and host country Jamaica. The widespread use of renewable energy for a range of applications including solar cooking in India was highlighted by Dr Gouri Datta of the University of Delhi.

The exhibition also had demonstrations on solar lighting for various applications, solar heating and wind energy equipment together with highlights of local projects being undertaken by the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ).

One of the keynote speakers, Dr Larry Kazmerski, director of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado, updated participants with developments in new methods to convert solar energy to electricity through photovoltaic technology. Another participant, Eaton Haughton, explained the use of solar energy for crop drying in Jamaica.

Barbados’ lead in the use of solar energy for water heating and the recent installation of photovoltaic energy equipment at the Harrison Cave and at Combermere School, were highlighted by professor Oliver Headley of the Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies at the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies. Professor Ali Sayigh of World Renewable Energy Network addressed the conference on renewable energy as the world’s best option.

CSES is a voluntary organisation of scientists, technicians, researchers and practitioners dedicated to the expansion of use of all forms of renewable energy especially solar energy for a sustainable. Its mission is to accelerate the use of renewable energy in the region and around the world.

According to the conference chairman, Dr Raymond Wright, who is also group managing director of PCJ, Jamaica “is set to utilise technologies which are well known such as solar water heating, solar electric energy, wind farms, ocean thermal energy and expand its hydropower regime”.

PCJ is the local agency responsible for promoting the government’s Renewable Energy Policy and programmes.

“Renewable energy and energy efficiency will be an important part of Jamaica’s energy future because we have no known oil and gas resources at this time. For this reason we have to depend on the domestic resources of energy we have which are wind, solar, and hydro-power and the biomass (bagasse),” Dr Wright told the Environmental Journal.

The next conference of the association will be held in August 2003 in Trinidad and Tobago and will be hosted by CSES president, Indra Karaksingh of the University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus, who also presented a paper on solar cooking at the recent conference.

Energy companies, British Petroleum Solar, Shell West Indies, The Jamaica Public Service Company (JPSCo), Duke Solar and PCJ were sponsors of the event.