Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS), James Paul is reiterating that there are opportunities being missed by Barbados, as a result of no meaningful partnership being established between the agricultural sector and the burgeoning renewable energy sector.
In a recent interview with The Barbados Advocate, Paul lamented that it is unfortunate that waste from livestock farmers is not being used for the production of energy. He said a lot of the focus in the renewable energy sector has been on solar power, which called for the importation of numerous component parts to develop such systems, and not concentrating on what is available locally and in abundance. Paul made the point while indicating that there has also been some talk about farmers being involved in a wind turbine project, erecting wind turbines on their properties to generate electricity.
He made the comments as he noted that pig farms for example produces a lot of waste which can be turned into sustainable energy to power operations on those farms, increasing the viability of the farms and by extension, helping to meet the country’s energy needs. Paul said if Barbados moves in this direction it can draw on the experiences of other countries where biogas production is currently being pursued, utilising their best practices to ensure successful implementation.
Paul explained that there is great potential within the pig farming sector, indicating that there are some 400 to 500 such farmers registered with the BAS, and that, he said, is not the extent of the numbers. With that in mind, the BAS head noted that in order to really capitalise on the possibilities that exist, the farmers would need to have access to financing to retrofit their farms accordingly. He made the point as he suggested that if Barbados can utilise the manure as an alternative energy source on a big scale, not only will the farmers reap the benefits, but the wider society as well. He explained that reducing the cost of their operations would translate into reduced costs to the consumers.
“So instead of just throwing away the pig manure they can actually save money and possibly make money from it. They can use the biogas to run equipment on the farms and possibly even feed the excess power into the national grid. If the farmers can sell that energy to the grid that would save valuable foreign exchange and help to supplement the farmers’ income,” he said.
Paul said there are also environmental advantages to utilising biogas, as it is a non-polluting energy source. (JRT)
