1st rcc meeting notes & decisions - sids...

DRAFT MEETING REPORT

“ENERGY SERVICES FROM WASTE: THE DEVELOPMENT OF A REGIONAL INTEGRATED ORGANIC WASTE MANAGEMENT SECTOR”

PREPARED BY THE

SIDS DOCK SECRETARIATMARCH 2016

TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

SUMMARY OF CONFERENCE RECOMMENDATIONS

LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

INTRODUCTION

OBJECTIVES OF THE MEETING

BACKGROUND

SPECIAL ADDRESSES

SCALING UP TECHNOLOGY DEPLOYMENT FOR WASTE-TO-ENERGY (WTE) WITHIN THE CARIBBEAN – KEY OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGE

Examining Opportunities for WtE Deployment within the Caribbean – The Practical and Realistic Options

Appropriate Technological Solutions for WtE within the Caribbean – Applications and Experiences

WIPO Green: The Marketplace for Sustainable Technologies – Key Requirements for Successful Development, Transfer and Diffusion of Technologies

REGIONAL CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIESThe Regional Waste-to-Energy (WtE) Situation

Caribbean Experience with Utility-Scale WtE Contracting

A number of Caribbean countries have sought actively to develop WtE projects: Why have none of the countries been able to “close” the project development cycle?

WORKING SESSION & ESTABLISHMENT OF WORKING GROUPSIdentifying the Barriers and Potential Areas of Focus for WtE within the Caribbean:

Working Group 1: Liquid Effluents: Sewerage, Breweries & Distilleries Working Group 2: Solid Waste: Municipal & Non-Municipal Working Group 3: Organic Residues: Large Farms & Food Processors Working Group 4: Organic Residues: Small Scale Operators

APPROACHES & STRATEGIES

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Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre/SIDS DOCK-Swedish Energy Agency (SEA) Project - “Building Resilience to Climate Change in Islands through the Energy Sector: North-South Cooperation for Sustainable Energy Development in Island States

Grenada Project Pipeline: GIZ-Integrated Climate Change Adaptation Strategies (ICCAS) Programme

The WtE applications considered most suitable to Caribbean countries: Linkages to local pollution and global climate issues

Lessons Learned from Success Cases:” Austria Antigua and Barbuda Caribbean Germany Grenada Jamaica Sweden

A formula for success: If there is a checklist for achieving a successful W2E programme in Caribbean countries, what would this look like?

Draft Global Environment Facility Project Identification Form (GEF-PIF) – Caribbean Regional Waste-to-Energy (WtE) Project

Identification of the objectives, design and components of the Regional W2E GEF-Project - Discussion of the Working Group Presentations:

Working Group 1: Liquid Effluents: Sewerage, Breweries & Distilleries Working Group 2: Solid Waste: Municipal & Non-Municipal Working Group 3: Organic Residues: Large Farms & Food Processors Working Group 4: Organic Residues: Small Scale Operators

CLOSING THE GAPS

Relationships between Climate, Oceans and Waste – The Future of Small Islands

The Caribbean Region Waste-to-Energy (WtE) Indicative Project Pipeline

Discussion on The Caribbean Region Waste-to-Energy (WtE) Indicative Project Pipeline

Presentation of the Baseline Data Requirements and Identification of the Strategy to Close Data Gaps - Discussion of the Working Group Presentations:

Discussion of data gap and strategies to overcome them Presentations from the Working Groups

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

APPENDIXAgenda of the First Caribbean Waste-to-Energy (WtE) Technology Expo & Conference

List of Presentations

List of Participants


List of Documents

“This First Caribbean Waste-to-Energy Technology Expo and Conference will provide the governments and peoples of the region with a unique opportunity to explore project options that are not only cost-effective systems for managing waste, but also generating base-load electricity and reducing dependence on costly, volatile and unsustainable liquid petroleum fuels. These technologies provide societies like ours with options to convert the organic waste produced from a wide range of sources during the process of production and consumption of food and beverages, into new products.

By doing so, we prevent pollution and produce what I refer to as “black currency” – or money in the bank.”

- The Rt. Hon. Dr. Keith Mitchell, Prime Minister of Grenada


“As Prime Minister with responsibility for Science and Technology within CARICOM, and as a member of the SIDS DOCK Heads of State Council, I am heartened by the fact that this event, through the Technology Expo, is providing an opportunity for our countries to identify suitable and SIDS-Appropriate technology options for waste-to-energy conversion in view of the organic waste streams present in our systems.” Version#:5 | Revision#:9 | Draft: 6/24/2016 5

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

From the 20-23 January 2016, approximately 120 senior professionals with expertise in energy, climate change, environment and waste management gathered at the Grenada Trade Centre to share lessons learned and perspectives on Waste-to-Energy solutions that are appropriate for small island developing states (SIDS). The First Caribbean Regional Waste-to-Energy (WtE) Technology Expo and Conference was deemed a “tremendous success” by the delegates, as over four days, they worked collectively to frame the main pillars of a regional programme to upscale WtE investments, markets and industries. Delegates also expressed the need to transform untapped waste potentials and fossil fuel import dependency into local value creation and jobs. The Expo showcased technology solutions and case studies via presentations by technology providers from the Caribbean, Austria, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.

The conference was officially opened by The Rt. Hon. Dr. Keith Mitchell, Prime Minister of Grenada, on 20 January 2016. In declaring the WtE Technology Expo open, the Prime Minister said that as Island Nations, deployment of the technologies on display must be the priority. The Prime Minister said that the region must address improved management of waste and quickly deploy the waste-to-energy (WtE) solutions that we already know can contribute to environmental protection and strengthening coastal resilience due to climate change impacts. The workshop was organized to promote improved management of waste for environmental protection and strengthening coastal resilience to climate change impacts, and is intended to improve understanding that effectively managed waste can be a renewable resource, particularly for the provision of energy services (e.g., electricity and transportation fuel) and fertilizer, rather than a nuisance and a threat to irreplaceable coastal ecosystems critical to the survival of the population.

Do We Have a Problem? The intervention from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) highlighted some of the major challenges the region faces in the area of waste management:

Globally, two million (2,000,000) tonnes of sewage and agricultural industrial waste enters waterways.

Eighty-five percent to ninety-five percent (85%-95%) of domestic waste water sewage enters the Caribbean Sea, untreated or partially treated.

Fifty-one point five percent (51.5%) of households across the Caribbean lacks sewer connections.

Biological oxygen demands and nutrients into our coastal areas from leaching from poorly managed dumpsites can be a significant or even more impactful than domestic waste water.

Oceans are predicted to have more plastics than fish by the year 2050. Do we have a problem?

Two key things repeatedly stood out throughout the conference and which will be pursued by the CARICOM Secretariat and the newly-established Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE): Partnership and Leadership. It was recognised


that none of us, as entities, can do this alone. It requires public-public partnerships, public-private partnerships, and private-private partnerships. Sometimes we speak only of the public-private partnerships, but we also require partnerships between and among the public sector itself. The whole issue of how stakeholders can use this project to enhance the degree to which entities, agencies and different organs can partner is going to be very useful going forward. There was discussion about the role of regional banks and the many different sectors that are going to be engaged and involved. Waste is one of those things which is cross cutting and engages lots of sectors at all levels, both in terms of the feedstock production and technology operations to the financing and end use. Stakeholders agreed to make sure that they look at how we can build the synergistic partnerships that can make this happen.

We’ve often said that we can’t transform the energy sector without the utilities. So the offer of CALIREC’s partnership in this venture is appreciated. It was anticipated that working through the CCREEE, the region could look to a CARILEC partnership to help address aspects such as regulation, capacity building and the whole issue of policy and legislative framework necessary to move the transformation of the energy sector. SIDS DOCK, CARICOM and the CCREEE will follow up with CARILEC through the process of the development of the GEF project. CARILEC and its utilities are very much interested in waste to energy projects, albeit, not all utilities, as mentioned, because of certain barriers. CARILEC committed to working together with all the stakeholders attending the conference, and even those not present, but that are necessary for us to drive the transformation forward.

The conference highlighted the new partnership with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in facilitating technology transfer and matchmaking through the WIPO Green, which assists in facilitating the choice and the decisions to make as to which strategies and approaches are in the interests of the projects being implemented. WIPO Green committed to becoming an increasingly useful resource in order to make better connections, in order to know, to find information, relevant information, and to get better assistance, and help to deal with the specific IP related issues that may come up in the projects. WIPO’s mission is to promulgate a balanced intellectual property system, that encourages innovation, technology transfer, adaptation and diffusion.

Two major outcomes of the conference and expo include:1. “GEF-Supported Regional Project on Energy from Liquid Organic Waste,”

The Main Components of the Project: Technology demonstration and investment and business promotion. Strengthen policy and regulation frameworks and institutional coordination. Strengthen the knowledge base and capacities.

2. Convening of the First Meeting of the SIDS DOCK Island Women Open Network (IWON) and the “Start-up Proposal for the SIDS DOCK IWON,” jointly prepared with UNIDO. Over 25 professional Caribbean women committed to help build the capacity of women at the community and grassroots levels in Caribbean small islands and low lying developing states to allow them to participate in the transformation of the Caribbean energy sector.


The conference also facilitated the distribution of the “Questionnaire for CCREEE Baseline Report on Waste to Energy Markets and Industries in the Caribbean,” to participants. The SIDS DOCK Secretariat emailed the questionnaire to the relevant participants attending the conference.

Next Steps and Follow Up

What are we waiting for? Based on a projection by UNEP, a city of one million (1,000,000) persons, which is probably the size of Kingston and its environs, can generate in its sewage enough nutrients to fertilize fifty thousand (50,000) hectares of farmland which can in turn produce one hundred and fifty thousand (150,000) tonnes of crops. The waste water alone can meet the energy needs of one hundred thousand (100,000) people. What are we waiting for?

We have summarised all of this data from around the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific, because we have killed ninety-percent or ninety-five percent (90% or 95%) of our reefs in the Caribbean. What we need is specific coral reef water standards. We know, that one micromole per litre or 0.014 parts per million (ppm) of nitrogen and 0.1 micromole per litre of phosphorous or 0.004 ppm is sufficient to kill a coral reef. A resource that the region depends on to drive the most important industry – tourism. We can drink waste water with nutrients level one hundred (100) or one thousand (1,000) times higher and it will have no effect on our health. There are water quality standards related to human health and they are completely irrelevant for the environment. We need ecosystem specific standards and we need to have zero land based sources of nutrients going into the sea. We are killing our reefs by throwing away our waste that we can recycle, as presented at the conference, and save our marine environment at the same time.

The highest issue is the one of the data, and how it is that we can get the kind of data that gives us confidence to build the type of projects that in a sense are realistic, because if we are starting with the wrong data, we may end up building the wrong projects. So in a sense, there are some very clear things which we think we can do in order to lead us to the next steps, that can frame the progress that we make from here.

Step 1: Creation of a Regional Network Getting good quantity and quality data is progress, it is something that is going to take time and it is going to happen progressively. Therefore, in terms of next steps, the establishment of a regional network is a first step, because that network can be established immediately, and facilitate some of the knowledge exchange, some of the information sharing that could provide some orientation in some instances, on where we can increase the amounts of data or where we can already get those data from those of you who may participate in such a platform. This is consistent too with the knowledge management drive of the CARICOM Secretariat and in particular the energy program, which has started the process of establishing communities of practice with partners. Already one community of practice has been established for utilities with CARILEC and a similar community of practice can be established as that regional network for waste practitioners, potential waste to energy practitioners,


Over the next few months, you will see coming out, information regarding how this could be designed and you will be given a chance to comment on that, but that is one of the things we are proposing as a next step. Step 2: Regional Waste Assessment Scoping Exercise The second item we can pursue is the issue of a regional waste assessment scoping exercise based on the model of Grenada. That is something that has already been discussed with one of our partners that is the GIZ and already with the designated internal director of the CCREEE, we intend to set this up as one of the CCREEE activities supported by the CARICOM Secretariat wherein we will go country by country, sector by sector, looking first of course at those countries that would be prioritized based on their participation in the GEF project. Process can be started by collecting the scoping exercise by collecting the kind of data, doing a gap analysis, back filling data collection so that we end up over time, having the kind of comprehensive data that will facilitate us getting to the stage of beginning to talk about a regional data base. Therefore, that regional scoping assessment and exercise will be useful towards getting us to a stage of having a good project document.

Step 3: Project Development & Regional Priority Project PipelineUnder the regional assessment and scoping exercise we will begin to establish the ownership, quantity and quality of resources that are available in the respective countries, and then we will use that as the basis to develop projects, starting with the regional GEF project. We will work together with UNIDO, very closely, and the CCREEE, and the GIZ to develop that GEF portfolio of projects. Also, the EU has agreed that it will provide us with support, so we are not short on partners with whom we can work to get to the development of the regional project pipeline including, as the priority project pipeline, that to be financed under the GEF.

Step 4: Strategy and Policy for Waste-to-Energy in the Caribbean RegionThe fourth piece under the next steps is that we will then, of course, utilize what comes out of Steps 1-3, meaning there is expected to be a consistent set of dialogue through the regional network. The information that comes out of the scoping exercise, and indeed what comes out of the project as we develop it, to design and develop the strategy and the policy for waste to energy in the region. We intend it as a subgame to get to this stage, where we can have a strategy and policy which would speak towards issues like the management aspect of the waste resources, what are the dos what are the don’ts, who owns what, and who is responsible for what, and what are the regulations that we can put in place to ensure that the kinds of protections that are necessary to support the waste to energy activities do happen, and what are the strategic partnerships and strategic actions that we can deploy to ensure that when we go to our respective development partners, these things are framed within the regional strategy, and development strategy, so that it is consistent with what we ask the development partners.

Step 5: Reporting In terms of reporting, there is an opportunity to bring together the same community in November 2016, in Nassau, Bahamas, when we have the 5 th Caribbean Sustainable Energy Forum, and a side event is proposed, dedicated to carry on some of this discussion. By then, we would imagine that we would have certainly done the PIF and submitted that to the GEF, and have something to report. It is anticipated that by then, a couple of scoping exercises would have been completed,


we would have started our community of practice, and there would have some advances that we could tangibly speak towards and report on at that meeting.

That CSEP is usually the policy and decision makers’ forum for the CARICOM Energy Program. It usually engages ministers and senior technical officers within the energy sector. CARICOM Secretariat proposed inviting conference stakeholders to participate in a side meeting, at the four-day CSEP in November 2016.

Step 6: SustainabilityIn terms of sustainability, CARICOM committed to ensuring that the waste to energy issues are mainstreamed in the CCREEE work program and the CARICOM Energy work program. CARICOM is developing the Caribbean Regional Indicative program under the European Development Fund (EDF), and will ensure that a waste to energy component that reflects to a large extent some of what comes out of this meeting and some of what will eventually also come out of the scoping exercise are reflected in that so that some amount of mainstreaming, recognizing that the mainstreaming is important for us to in a sense bring about the kind of synergies and partnerships that we require for making waste to energy deliver the kind of transformative benefits that we need in the islands.

Step 7: Technology Support & Technology Assessment and MatchmakingSome of the outcomes that we will work towards are those outcomes related to technology support so that there is a technology assessment and matching process in place. CARICOM is committed to working through setting up this process, and perhaps it is an area that when it is established, the knowledge management platform, will provide some contribution towards us being able to understand and setup. Of course recognizing that there are options and opportunities to learn from what has been done elsewhere and not reinvent the wheel. We also would want to look at how we can support project development so some of these things are things which have been done for other sectors within the energy sector, project development support, so that we can take project from concept to bankability, and we would ensure that the waste to energy options are given priority within this framework, so the issue of concept to implementation takes center stage.

Step 8: FinancingWithin the financing model including the REETA+ program that is now bringing 3 million euros, additional monies to provide financing under a new component of the REETA project will be something that will have aspects dedicated towards waste to energy. The bottom line is synergies and partnerships are critical, especially in an environment where we are talking about a myriad of actors and complexity in the linkages between waste and multiple sectors as well as energy and the multiple sectors they support.

Information on the Waste-to-Energy Conference at our Sustainable Energy and Climate Resilience information portal supported by the Swedish Energy Agency

The conference website can be viewed here: http://sea.sidsdock.org/wte-expo-conference/ The conference documents - background papers, presentations, etc. can be viewed

here: http://sea.sidsdock.org/wte-expo-conference/wte-resources/


http://sea.sidsdock.org/wte-expo-conference/wte-resources/

http://sea.sidsdock.org/wte-expo-conference/

The password to view/download the documents is Ymk%Q7K7. The Conference Photo Gallery can be viewed here: http://sea.sidsdock.org/wte-expo-

conference/wte-photo-gallery/ You can also visit the SIDS DOCK Website at: http://sidsdock.org/. Please visit the Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency

(CCREEE) website at: http://ccreee.org/.


http://ccreee.org/

http://sidsdock.org/

http://sea.sidsdock.org/wte-expo-conference/wte-photo-gallery/

http://sea.sidsdock.org/wte-expo-conference/wte-photo-gallery/

SUMMARY OF CONFERENCE RECOMMENDATIONS

DAY 1: 20 JANUARY 2016

SUMMARY OF MODERATORS’ REMARKS

Ministerial Panel: “Scaling up Technology Deployment for WtE (Waste to energy) within the Caribbean-Key Opportunities and Challenges”.

Moderator: His Excellency Dr. Vince Henderson, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Commonwealth of Dominica to the United Nations and SIDS DOCK President

His Excellency Dr. Henderson expressed that one (1) of the things highlighted was the question of how do we develop the projects that could maximise the benefits from waste to energy. From the panellists it was clear that such projects were deemed as very expensive undertakings and that the benefits of same were not quite clear. Dr. Henderson advised that we had to start looking at the co-benefits and we have to do it in such a way that it demonstrates the true benefits of managing waste and converting it to energy. He further acknowledged that the question that remained was if this was not done then what would happen to the waste. He surmised that for some things you have to take the hit for the overall benefits. Further to this, from the perspective of politicians there was the need to see the true benefits so that they can be shown to the public. He underscored this point by saying that it was important for the organisers to come up with projects that made sense to governments and which reflected the benefits.

Dr. Henderson also shared that there were proposals that were developed in the past. As an example, he informed the meeting that there was a proposal that had been before the Government of Dominica for the management of waste. Due to the need for critical mass there would have been the need to have barges bringing in waste from other islands like St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. However, no one wanted to import waste into the country as there was the perception that Dominica which billed itself as the Nature Island would be seen as the Caribbean’s dumping ground. He advanced that there were movements, improvements and the development of new technologies and that the member governments should be worked with to be advised of same. At the end of the day the governments would decide if it made sense to them or not.

He recognised that the fact that the participants were talking meant that there was the acknowledgement of a problem. He noted that the discussion could be expanded to the wider Caribbean beyond the OECS. His Excellency highlighted the three (3) main points from the panellists as:

1. There is the need for more work to be done with pilot projects.


2. There is need for governments to receive not just technical advice, but also policy options to consider. Additionally, there may be competing policies in effect that the governments would have to address.

3. The state was responsible for managing the waste and would have to determine how best to do this and how the cost will be recovered.

Regional Experts’ Panel: ‘Examining Opportunities for Waste to Energy Deployment within the Caribbean – The Practical and Realistic Options’.

Moderator: Dr. Devon Gardner, Programme Manager, CARICOM Secretariat Energy Unit

Dr. Gardner noted that there was a wide spectrum of technologies that were readily available. However, there was the need to ensure that the technology selected was appropriate to the circumstance. Further to this he noted that the human technology interaction was important for the technology to work. Also, with respect to the technology it must be ensured that beyond being able to afford it that we should be able to use and maintain it in an optimised way. Additionally, Dr. Gardner reiterated the point made by the panellists that having a state of readiness on the part of the respective Government and stakeholders was critical. Fundamental was the need for both external and internal partnerships. However, at times bounded rationality affected the ability of Ministries and agencies to cooperate effectively. It was important that the stakeholders be properly identified and that the issues were worked through in a methodological manner. He recommended that delays should be built into contingency plans as we work forward.

Two (2) critical areas identified were finance and legislation. With respect to finance, the transactional cost was recognized not only in nexus with the banking sector, but also in terms of the cost of adapting and adopting foreign technology to the needs of the region. In this regard, capacity building could be done through partnerships. In terms of legislation one had to ensure that the legislation would actually support the things for which it was enacted.

Technology Panel: ‘Appropriate Technological Solutions for Waste to Energy within the Caribbean - Applications and Experiences’.

Moderator: Mr. Joe Bradley, Deputy Director, External Relations Division, World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

The moderator did not provide a summary of the presentations; however, some of the key points advanced by the presenters were as follows:Ms. Montserrat Lluch Cuevas, Okobit Biogas, Germany

1. Okobit is a manufacturer and planner of biogas plants with over 15 years’ experience in 175 projects both on the national and international level.

2. They offer sustainable waste management solutions.


3. There are benefits from the biogas and the biofertilizer can be used to increase yields.4. The company’s services include consulting, planning, training, technical feasibility

studies, breakdown costs, substrate analyses and batch engineering.5. There are currently engaged in projects at different stages of development in Germany,

Columbia and Grenada.

Ralf Sigrist, CEO, Bekon Energy Technologies, Germany1. Bekon offers another type of biogas technology with anaerobic digestion.2. A difference to Okobit solution is that we focus mainly on solid organic waste and that

can be the fraction contained in municipal solid waste that you collect from households without segregating in the collection process or it can be separated biowaste which can be food waste from food manufacturing that you can put on a pile.

3. They have built more than 20 plants in Germany, Switzerland and Italy and are about to complete one in Mexico.

4. For1 tonne of input they can generate about 224 hours of electricity and in addition to 230 KwH of thermal energy of heat that can be used for heating and cooling.

5. The CNG would be another possibility rather than producing electricity by using a combined heat cycle.

Mr. Ron Bailey, PRM Energy Systems, Inc., USA1. Their company has built plants of 5 continents.2. There is the capacity to implement more than one technology into a single plant.3. They provide thermal treatment systems for oxidizers, heat recovery steam generators or

boilers, internal combustion engines or any combination thereof.4. They have operated 2 plants on sludge with one being a waste water treatment plan and

the other a tannery sludge plan in Scotland.5. From the beginning of their business up until 10 years ago it was all about saving energy

for industrial purposes and not selling for revenue purposes.

Presentation I: “WIPO Green: The Marketplace for Sustainable Technologies – Key Requirements for Successful Development, Transfer and Diffusion of Technologies”.

Moderator: Mr. Alfred Watkins, Chairman, Global Solutions Summit, Consultant, World Intellectual Property Organization.

In reference to the clear need for scalable projects Mr. Watkins identified CaribShare as a company that has a solution to meet the needs at the level of the farm, farmer and resort. He also recognised General Electric as being on the opposite end from CaribShare in terms of scalable solutions.


From the presentations he highlighted that one of the practical questions was, “How do we make these projects go from technologically possible to actually put them in place to make them real projects that are financially and logistically feasible”?Some of the key points advanced by the presenters were as follows:

Ms. Carol Lue, CaribShare Biogas, Jamaica1. They operate central biodigesters.2. They customers are able to sell and generate energy and realise savings at least 35% from

the grid.3. Biogas technology can help to combat poverty which is the root of our development

challenges.4. Through the commitment of their hotel partners they have diverted 1,400 tonnes of food

wasted from landfills annually and reduced 200 tonnes of greenhouse gas.5. Their success is ensured from having the right business model.

Mr. Thomas Jaud, Gas Engine Sales Director-Latin America, GE Power and Water, USA.1. The company offers scalable proven technological solutions.2. It has long term and long standing expertise on fuels.3. Some of the barriers to development of technologies were seen as designing,

management of waste and the regulatory environment.4. One of their projects was a landfill in Mexico that was initially badly managed.

Currently, it is now self-sustaining and it grew from 2003 to 2010 to over 16 megawatts.5. Projects can be grown over time and the revenues can be used for expansion.

Summary and Close

Dr. Andreas Taeuber, Head, GIZ REETA (Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Technical Assistance), Project, CARICOM Secretariat

Dr. Taeuber expressed that the work of reviewing the political background, regional expertise, the experience of practical projects in the region and the intellectual property discussion were all very necessary. He noted that with waste to energy the Caribbean was not at the starting point, but that it was already in the middle. To underscore this point he said that some projects were already in development or already existing. He reiterated the point made by one politician that waste to energy was a question of survival.

He called for discussion on how public private partnerships could be relevant for island states. More specifically, how the producers of waste like the breweries, distilleries and farms could partner with the Government with the latter as a public service wanting to solve the waste management problem. In theory he believed that public private partnerships could lead to the development of bankable projects with the guarantee and commitment from the Government.


RECOMMENDATIONS DAY 1: 20 JANUARY 2016

Collaboration and Partnerships

1. The challenges and opportunities of the waste and energy management systems in the Caribbean need to be addressed holistically and in an integrated way.

2. The current unsustainable patterns of the waste-energy nexus are intervened with negative social (lack of energy service affordability, waste related health risks), economic (lack of energy security, fossil fuel import spending, lack of local waste value creation, productivity and income losses of companies due to high energy prices and pollution) and environmental (local air, soil, water and costal pollution, GHG emissions) impacts for the societies and economies of the Caribbean islands.

3. The Conference marks the starting point for the development of a regional programme which aims at the creation of organic WTE markets and industries in the Caribbean. There is the urgent need to transform the organic waste potential and fossil fuel imports into local value creation for the region. A smart mix of waste prevention, the reuse and material recycling and energy recovery is needed.

4. The Conference and Expo acts as a trigger for concrete actions for solutions.

5. There is need for cross-country and international partnerships to ensure the future and success of CARICOM.

6. Partnerships should be both internal and external.

7. There was a call for discussion on how public private partnerships on WTE could be relevant for island states.

8. The regional approach should be used to guide the national strategies to ensure the realisation of tangible projects and change on the ground that will make a difference to the respective economies. The key role of the CARICOM Energy Unit and the newly created CCREEE, as technical implementation hub, was emphasized.

9. The feasibility and viability of collective waste management (incl. WTE) solutions in the Caribbean context could be assessed. To reach economies of scales the waste could be treated in country hubs. A fair benefit sharing system would be needed.

10. The benefits from project partnerships can be divided among the participating countries.

11. It was recommended that there be more forums to bring proposals to the table and also to evaluate same.

12. Regional institutions should assist with evaluating projects and technologies so that the individual countries can move forward and reap harvests.


Technological solutions

1. There is high need for improved knowledge on available WTE technology options, sustainable business models and best practices. The Caribbean can leapfrog failures and mistakes, which were done in developed countries.

2. The importance of technology and knowledge transfer was underlined. However, there is need to adapt waste to energy solutions to the context of Caribbean islands. Every project and island context is different and blue prints need to be avoided.

3. It was recommended that there be the development of an economic model for taking action in the region.

4. Some pilot projects should be fast tracked to help with the assessment of waste to energy proposals.

5. WTE should focus on more than just electricity. There is also potential to provide cooking, process heat and transport services.

Capacity Building

1. There is the need for improvement in the technological capacity in the Region. Therefore, we should look at the options of what can be done to scale up local knowledge base and the local industry in the use of waste to energy.

2. There is a lot that can be learnt from other countries with broad experience in WTE (e.g. Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Austria and US).

3. It was suggested that the participants learn how to interact with the technologies and opportunities that are there and generate the kind of human systems to support the technological approaches that are available and create the kind of solutions that will transform our economies and support our human and economic development.

4. There is need for practical tools to assess and demonstrate the competitiveness and economics of waste to energy solutions in comparison to other renewable and conventional alternatives. Energy generation costs should be clearly separated from general waste management costs. Tools to assess and monitor social, economic and environmental co-benefits of WTE projects are needed (e.g. health improvements, reduction of pollution).

5. There needs to be a change in the public’s mind set from garbage disposal to waste management. Some islands are facing difficulties to mobilize labour working in the sector (incl. WTE).

6. Experiences from various projects could be documented so that others could learn from them. There is a need for real-time data of projects operating in the Caribbean context.


Co-financing

1. We should find solutions on how to manage waste and how to use the energy option to co-finance.

2. There was a recommendation that we move towards recognising that the energy piece of the waste to energy is really co-financing the waste management and not the power sale.

3. It was recommended that we start looking at the co-benefits in such a way that it demonstrates the true benefits of managing waste and converting it to energy.

4. The cost of waste to energy should be applied to all of the relevant sectors and not solely to the energy sector. For example, there is ICT in waste and electricity generation. Consequently, the ICT sector should also be charged for the cost of the waste to energy solution.

5. There is the need to review the taxes and levies in each respective country to ensure that they would not be double charging the population to finance the waste to energy projects.

Environment

1. The energy sector must prepare to attract independent energy producers.

2. There needs to be the development of policy options that can guide the Governments.


RECOMMENDATIONS DAY 2: THURSDAY, 21 JANUARY 2016

Capacity Building

1. Focus can be placed on educating decision makers to encourage the uptake of new technology by showing them the benefits to the population and by extension the opportunities to be elected and re-elected.

2. There is the need for good education and public awareness to assist with the development and implementation of plans. You need buy in from the stakeholders.

3. There is the need for technical assistance with the use and maintenance of the technologies.

4. Access to the technology must be done through education, training and demonstration.

5. Demonstration projects can be put in places that provide high visibility.

Legislation

1. There is need to mainstream WTE in energy and waste policies and regulatory frameworks. Often WTE is not considered in renewable energy promotion and waste management policies. There is need for policies and incentives targeting also small-scale biogas solutions and producers.

2. There is need to enhance coordination and policy harmonisation between various institutions (e.g. environment, energy, health).

3. There is the need for effective legislation and enforcement of same.

4. The governments need to provide the private investors with a reliable regulatory environment that would protect their investment for the next 20 years.

Financing and Enabling Environment

1. There is a need for a financial facility that would help developers create bankable projects and that would provide them with financial products.

2. Governments can provide tax incentives for imported equipment and also set up tax exemptions.

3. It was recommended that if the small projects are scaled up they will be better able to attract financial support.


4. It was suggested that the issue of transaction cost be dealt with by bundling several projects. This could be done on regional level and facilitated by CCREEE.

5. There needs to be a strategy for getting the national development banks on board and to identify a way in which the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) can get money at low interest rates and unload to the smaller banks.

6. It was recommended that a proper economic structure be created and a potential business model is set up for the waste to energy sector.

Power Purchase Agreements

1. There is the need to examine the price that the power companies are willing to pay for energy generated from waste.

Research and Development

1. Renewable energy master plans should be created. These will ensure that through legislation areas can be zoned appropriately.

2. There is the need to develop a detailed analysis of feedstock availability and characterization in each island. A feedstock database should inform of the types of waste, where they are generated, the quantity, the respective stakeholders who are the owners of the waste and the value of the waste.

3. A feedstock database should be set up to attract investors and potential developers.

4. A recommendation that was advanced was that power grids should be properly assessed to determine how much supply they can take before becoming destabilised.

5. The economic drivers that will lead to the expansion of waste to energy should be determined.

6. It was suggested that there is the need to internalize the cost of the value of the waste and the cost of avoiding the dumping of effluents that are captured in the sewage system.

7. Another recommendation was that regional blueprint solutions could be adapted at the national level.

8. There is the need for a strategy to develop the regional economic sector. This will assist the governments in determining where they want to go and how to deal with unsolicited proposals submitted by investors.


Collaboration and Partnerships

1. There is a need to identify the right internal and external partnerships that can help with problem definition, resource assessment, development, execution and management of good projects.

2. There is need for public private partnerships, public public partnerships and private private partnerships.

3. Small business developers should be taken by hand and assisted with transitioning from ideas to bankable projects.

4. It was recommended that going forward we remove the issues of bounded rationality.

5. There is the need for the provision of a comprehensive network to guarantee that the plans will be implemented in the intended manner.

Culture

1. The culture of the people must be borne in mind when selecting technological solutions.

2. People should be moved from seeing waste as an unavoidable evil to seeing it as a potential resource.

Monitoring and Evaluation

1. There is the need to develop solid, reliable systems of monitoring and assessing both the way we capture, store and utilise information and also capturing the successes of model projects in development as we move forward.

Technological Solutions

1. Post grid assessment there should be the determination of what are the appropriate technology solutions. There needs to be coherence in this regard.

2. That waste to energy solutions should be initiated using small projects through which the implementing partners can have the opportunity to master concepts then they can scale up as necessary.

3. The right products should be obtained that will foster confidence among the intended users.

4. There should be an integrated solid waste management approach that addresses the segregation and storage of the waste at its source.


RECOMMENDATIONS DAY 3: FRIDAY, 22 JANUARY 2016

Environment and Legislation

1. There should be the development of model regulations.

2. Develop protocols and strengthen existing standards in relation to land based sources of marine pollution.

3. It was recommended that we should use this period of low prices to shift to renewables so when the next oil hit comes we will be in a better situation.

4. There is the need to ensure that regulations are maintained.

5. There can be the creation of a market for the manufacture/construction and operation of biogas digesters. This would make the sector more commercially viable and attractive.

Collaborations and Partnerships

1. Due to the fact that scales and economies are quite small it was advanced that the smaller islands particularly those in the OECS should work together.

2. Pursuing sizeable scale would assist with accessing climate funds and reduce the related transaction cost.

3. There is the need for solid contractual agreements.

4. There is the need for commitment of the public and private sector.

5. Greater information sharing at the local level was encouraged.

6. South-south partnerships with SIDS in other regions should be encouraged. WTE cooperation between the regional sustainable energy centres could have an added value.

Technological Solutions

1. It was proposed that there be the identification of the treatment options and the separation of the solid waste from the sewage.

2. Buildings should try to produce as much water as they can, treat all the waste water and generate all of their own energy.

3. A recommendation was made that the focus should be on low hanging, but high political impact fruit.

4. It was advanced that in the developing world with decentralization biogas digesters is one of the more suitable solutions.


5. It was proposed that there could be a call for proposals for demonstration projects. The carefully selected projects could form the first bundle of projects.

6. A regional approach could help to upscale pilot projects.

7. Documentation of lessons learned and knowledge exchange.

Culture

1. It was recommended that the products be packaged to suit our cultural norms. For example, biogas is promoted by the Scientific Research Council in Jamaica as anaerobic technology.

Inputs for the Regional WTE Project

1. The proposal of SIDS DOCK and UNIDO to develop and implement a regional WTE Project under the GEF-6 cycle was welcomed. The project would be executed by the newly created CCREEE in close cooperation with the CARICO Energy Unit and the thematic hubs and national focal institutions. A revised version of the project concept note, and PIF will be presented by at the upcoming GEF Constituency meeting for the Caribbean, to be held from 1 to 4 March 2016.

2. The added value, objectives and project components were discussed in working groups. The following aspects were highlighted:

Investment and Business Promotion

a. The project could co-fund the development and implementation of a number of different types of pilot WTE projects covering various kinds of waste streams; the feasibility and viability of WTE can be demonstrated;

b. Document the lessons learned of the pilot projects and facilitate replication and up-scaling in other islands.

c. Establish as specialized funding instrument to support the development and implementation of WTE projects in the long-term; special window for small scale projects; facilitate cooperation with local banks and CDB.

d. Develop incentive schemes to promote WTE businesses and independent energy producers in various areas (e.g. power, heat, transport).

e. There should be active outreach to women groups and business opportunities should be identified for women in the waste to energy sector.

f. There can be the mentoring of female stakeholders by successful business persons; create business opportunities for female entrepreneurs


g. Resources can be pooled to finance local projects; projects can be bundled in a programme to make them more attractive for development banks and reduce interest rates;

h. Promote WTE project pipelines through investment fora.

i. Development of templates to simplify project development, financial structuring, as well as implementation and monitoring.

j. There should be opportunities for the capital which already exists in the region to be invested in the region.

Capacity Building and Knowledge Sharing

a. A competence centre should be established at the CCREEE; WTE becomes priority area in its work plan; close cooperation with CCCCC on waste management and climate adaptation issues;

b. Establishment of an information, data and knowledge sharing database (incl. GIS maps on waste streams, investment relevant information, project data) to be regularly updated by CCREEE and a network of national institutions; establish knowledge base on the characterisation of waste; harmonisation of data collection;

c. Create organic WTE innovation, applied research and industry networks.

d. Establish a network of Caribbean WTE experts to keep know-how and value creation in the region; maximize the use of local capacities throughout all activities.

e. Regional awareness raising campaign for key target groups.

f. Establish train-the-trainer mechanisms for different target groups of the WTE sector (e.g. developers, entrepreneurs, policy makers, banks and financiers, utilities, waste management operators).

g. There should be the developing of capacities to prepare bankable projects for private sector.

h. There should be work done with regional education institutions.

i. There should be coordinated sharing of knowledge.

j. Technology and knowledge transfer between SIDS on WTE (is discussed in all regions at the same time)

k. Stimulate applied research and accelerate the technology learning curve

l. Development and dissemination of feasible business models

m. Organize WTE technology workshops and exhibitions, as well as online training.


n. Certification of adapted technology solutions and trainers (e.g. through CCREEE)

Policy and Regulatory Frameworks:

1. Establish WTE C-SERMS Task Force at CARICOM Energy Unit

2. Assist in developing model policy measures and support mechanisms;

3. Taking lead in coordination and harmonisation of donor activities

4. Harmonisation of WTE standards

5. Handbooks and guidelines for policy makers

6. Gender mainstreaming tools

Monitoring and Evaluation

1. There is need for monitoring and evaluation to determine how much gas is produced, what is the efficiency of the system and its results, what is the quality of the effluent in the end because this is a very strong determinant of the income source of the investor.

2. There is need for holding hard data that is measurable, viable and that could be reported in the context of what we are undertaking or contributing in terms of the global effort.


RECOMMENDATIONS DAY 4: SATURDAY, 23 JANUARY 2016

Data, Information and Knowledge Management

1. Creation of a regional network - the highest issue is the one of the data and how it is that we can get the kind of data that gives us confidence to build the type of projects that in a sense are realistic

2. Establish Community of Practice - one community of practice has been established for utilities with CARILEC; similar community of practice established as part of regional network for waste practitioners, potential waste to energy practitioners,

Regional Waste Assessment Scoping Exercise

1. Assessment scoping exercise based on the model of Grenada

2. Gap Analysis

3. To set this up as one of the CCREEE activities supported by the CARICOM Secretariat wherein we will go country by country, sector by sector, looking first of course at those countries that would be prioritized based on their participation in the GEF project

Project Development

1. Under the regional assessment and scoping exercise we will begin to establish the ownership, quantity and quality of resources that are available in the respective countries, and then we will use that as the basis to develop projects, starting with the regional GEF project

2. work together with UNIDO very closely, and the CCREEE, and the GIZ to develop that GEF portfolio of projects

Strategy and Policy

1. Deals with management aspect of the waste resources, what are the dos what are the don’ts, who owns what, and who is responsible for what, and what are the regulations that we can put in place to ensure that the kinds of protections that are necessary, to support the waste to energy activities do happen, and what are the strategic partnerships and strategic actions that we can deploy to ensure that when we go to our respective development partners

Reporting

1. There is an opportunity to bring together the same community in November 2016, in Nassau, Bahamas, at the 5th Caribbean Sustainable Energy Forum – as a side event there, dedicated to carry on some of this discussion. By then we would imagine that we would


have certainly done the PIF and submitted that to the GEF and we would have something to report; completed a couple of scoping exercises, and started our community of practice, and there would have some advances that we could tangibly speak towards and report on at that meeting. Invitation can be extended to stakeholders to participate in a side meeting.

Sustainability

1. Ensure that the waste to energy issues are mainstreamed in the CCREEE work program and the CARICOM Energy work program.

2. CARICOM developing the Caribbean Regional Indicative program under the EDF, which is the European Development Fund, and we will ensure that a waste to energy component that reflects to a large extent some of what comes out of this meeting and some of what will eventually also come out of the scoping exercise are reflected in that so that some amount of mainstreaming occurs

Technology Support - Technology Assessment and Matching Process

1. Technology support is an area that when the knowledge management platform is established, will provide some contribution towards us being able to understand and setup.

2. Support project development, so that we can take project from concept to bankability, and we would ensure that the waste to energy options are given priority within this framework, so the issue of concept to implementation takes center stage.

Financing

1. Within the financing model, including the REETA+ program that is now bringing 3 million euros, additional monies to provide financing under a new component of the REETA project, will be something that will have aspects dedicated towards waste to energy.

2. Synergies and partnerships are critical, synergies and partnerships especially in an environment where we are talking about a myriad of actors and complexity in the linkages between waste and multiple sectors as well as energy and the multiple sectors they support


LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

ABWREC Antigua and Barbuda Waste Recycling CorporationBTUs British Thermal UnitsBMUB Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and

Nuclear SafetyCARICOM Caribbean CommunityCARILEC Caribbean Electric Utility Services CorporationCARPHA Caribbean Public Health AgencyCCCCC/5Cs Caribbean Community Climate Change CentreCCREEE Caribbean Center for Renewable Energy and Energy EfficiencyCDB Caribbean Development BankCDM Clean Development MechanismCEO Chief Executive OfficerCH4 MethaneCHENACT Caribbean Hotels Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy ActionCHIKV Chikungunya VirusCHP Combined Heat and PowerCNG Compressed Natural GasCO Carbon MonoxideCOP21 21st Conference of the PartiesCRT Cathode Ray TubeCSME Caribbean Single Market and EconomyDBFZ German Biomass Research CenterDC Direct Current DVRP Disaster Vulnerability Reduction ProjectECCB Eastern Caribbean Central BankECOWAS Economic Community of West African StatesECREEE ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency EEZ Exclusive Economic ZoneEIA Environmental Impact AssessmentEIB European Investment Bank EU European UnionEWASTE Electronic WasteGDP Gross Domestic ProductGE General ElectricGEF Global Environment FacilityGHG Greenhouse GasGIZ/GTZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (German

Agency for Technical Cooperation)GRENLEC Grenada Electricity Services LtdG-RESCP Reform of the Electricity Sector to Support Climate Policy of Grenada HP Hewlett Packard ICT Information Communication TechnologyIDB Inter-American Development BankIP Intellectual Property


IPP Independent Power ProducerIWON Island Women Open NetworkJI Joint Implementation (JI) mechanismK KiloKm KilometreKW KilowattLPG Liquefied Petroleum GasLUCELEC St. Lucia Electricity Services Limited M & E Monitoring and EvaluationMOU Memorandum of UnderstandingMSW Municipal Solid WasteMPA Marine Protected AreaMPPs Main Power ProducersMRV Monitoring, Reporting and Verification MW MegawattNADMA National Disaster Management AgencyNAWASA National Water and Sewage AuthorityOAS Organization of American StatesOECS Organisation of Eastern Caribbean StatesOTEC Ocean Thermal Energy ConversionO2 OxygenPAHO Pan American Health Organization PBT Polybutylene Terephthalate pH A logarithmic measure of hydrogen ion concentrationPPA Power Purchase AgreementPpm Parts per millionPPP Private Public PartnershipsPV PhotovoltaicsRDF Refuse Derived FuelREETA Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Technical AssistanceRFPs Requests for ProposalsRI Residual IncomeROI Return on InvestmentSDG Sustainable Development GoalsSDM Sustainable Development Mechanism SEA Swedish Energy AgencySGU St. George’s UniversitySIDS Small Island Developing StatesSIDS DOCK Small Island Developing States Docking StationSPREP Secretariat for the Pacific Regional Environment Programme TAMCC T. A. Marryshow Community CollegeT & TEC Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission TV TelevisionUK United KingdomUNEP United Nations Environment Programme UNIDO United Nations Industrial Development OrganizationUS United States


USD United States DollarsWIPO World Intellectual Property OrganisationWtE Waste to EnergyWTO World Trade OrganizationXCD Eastern Caribbean Dollar


INTRODUCTION

Subsequent to discussions with a number of partners, on 24 April 2015, the 5Cs/SIDS DOCK circulated a Meeting Concept Paper proposing a regional workshop, “Toward The Development of a Caribbean Regional Organic Waste Management Sub-Sector.” At that time, commitments were received from the partners, and it was agreed to convene the workshop in Belize, from 17-20 November 2015; the partners included: SIDS DOCK, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Climate Change Centre (CCCCC), CARICOM Secretariat, Government of Grenada, Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the German Federal Enterprise for International Cooperation (GIZ), Swedish Energy Agency (SEA), World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and the Clinton Foundation, Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI).

Preparation for the meeting began with the further development of the Meeting Concept Paper, documentation preparation and logistics. In August 2015, at the request of the CARICOM Secretariat, the workshop was designated as a main feature of the CARICOM Energy Week 2015, during the month of November, with a venue change to Grenada. The dates were changed to 10-13 November 2015, to coincide with CARICOM Energy Week. Further preparation was made and logistics arranged, when the meeting had to be postponed due to gaps in preparation by the main partner, the CARICOM Secretariat. Based on discussion with the partners and with the Office of the Price Minister, Government of Grenada, it was agreed to reschedule the meeting for 20-23 January 2016.

There was extensive contact with the Government and stakeholders and vendors on the ground to arrange the Expo and Conference. The 5Cs/SIDS DOCK also convened weekly conference calls related to the planning and implementation, and to provide regular updates to the Office of the Prime Minister in Grenada. In November 2016, the GIZ became a main sponsor of the event along with UNIDO and the Swedish Energy Agency, and with WIPO providing support in the form of organizing the Expo and identification of Expo exhibitors.

Over 100 senior professionals with expertise in energy, climate change, environment and waste management gathered at the Grenada Trade Centre to share lessons learned and perspectives on Waste-to-Energy solutions that are appropriate for small island developing states (SIDS). The First Caribbean Regional Waste-to-Energy (WtE) Technology Expo and Conference was deemed a “tremendous success” by the delegates, as over four days, they worked collectively to frame the main pillars of a regional programme to upscale WtE investments, markets and industries. Delegates also expressed the need to transform untapped waste potentials and fossil fuel import dependency into local value creation and jobs. The Expo showcased technology solutions and case studies via presentations by technology providers from the Caribbean, Austria, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.

Objectives of the Meeting

The meeting was scheduled over four days, with participants from regional governments, invited experts, development partners and private sector and civil society representatives. The meeting’s


content will be addressed through presentations, panel discussions, working groups, and field visits.

The objectives of the meeting include:1. Update participants on the advances in conversion technology and the new opportunities

to establish small- and medium-scale enterprises;2. Provide information on potential financing mechanisms mentioned earlier (CDM Project;

wastewater energy NAMA; GEF SCCF; Adaptation Fund; or Climate Change (CC) strategy to be elaborated by each country as part of its respective INDC; Sovereign Wealth Funds, Socially Responsible Investments Funds, Development and Commercial Bank financing;

3. Improve the information on waste streams in the region, current state of management, and impacts on the environment, women and children and other vulnerable populations;

4. Identify additional potential organic WTE projects across the region;5. Advance development of the WTE projects that have been submitted by regional

governments through SIDS DOCK, and to identify potential new project financing partners;

6. Enhance understating of projected climate change impacts on the region, and awareness and the importance of sustainable waste management;

7. Identify additional project opportunities and prepare a Regional GEF 6 Project Preparation Grant (PPG) and a follow-up Regional Full-Size Proposal to support further development and implementation of waste-to-energy projects through public-private partnerships.

8. Promote match-making between technology holders and potential users.


BACKGROUND

Waste Management

Poor waste management negatively impacts on critical ecosystems services - clean water, food availability, tourism product quality as well as public health, adversely affecting the socio-economic conditions of the population. Waste, by virtue of its continuous generation by an increasing population, represents a resource that is vastly underutilized across the region, manifested by its lack of management. There are very few facilities in the region that derive energy services from their own waste. Utilizing waste to provide energy services would have substantial national benefits including reduced petroleum imports, support for development of a low carbon economy, employment creation, and safeguarding public health and fresh water resources.

The Caribbean, as a result of increasing difficulties with freshwater availability resulting from under-investment in certain areas and greater variations in rainfall regime, is realizing that water is becoming a major future challenge to sustainable development and that the future cost of water will be greater than the present. This situation is not unique. According to the United Nations (UN) World Water Assessment Programme1, the world could suffer a 40 percent shortfall in water in just 15 years, unless countries dramatically change their use of the resource. Many underground water reserves are already running low, while rainfall patterns are predicted to become more erratic with climate change. As the world’s population grows to an expected nine (9) billion by 2050, more groundwater will be needed for farming, industry and personal consumption. The report predicts global water demand will increase 55 percent by 2050, while reserves dwindle. If current usage trends don’t change, the world will have only 60 percent of the water it needs in 2030.

It is therefore critical that Caribbean island states, particularly those that are already water-stressed, take action so existing freshwater sources can be protected and where possible enhanced. The quality of ground water - the major source of freshwater - is threatened by contamination from waste. Across the region, effluent waste from agro-industries, sewage facilities, breweries, abattoirs, distilleries, along with soakaway systems, represents the major threat to ground and surface water resources. Although waste management was one of the priority areas of the Barbados Programme of Action (BPoA) for the Sustainable Development of SIDS, back in 1994, and the Mauritius Strategy for its Further Implementation (MSI) in 2005, no elaborated strategy has yet been developed to help guide SIDS in the implementation of sustainable waste management systems. Waste management is now emerging as a major concern for SIDS, as the consequences are manifested. In addition to negatively impacting freshwater resources, organic effluent waste is also having significant negative impacts on the environmental quality of coastal zones.

The management approaches should be more socially equitable, less costly to operate, and has a minimal environmental footprint; additionally, given the reality of future changes in the region’s

1 WWAP (United Nations World Water Assessment Programme). 2015. The United Nations World Water Development Report 2015: Water for a Sustainable World. Paris, UNESCO. Available at: <http://www.unesco.org>


climate regime, management of organic waste needs to be done in a manner which helps the islands also address water availability which is projected as a major impact from climate change. Deciding an effective approach to address the waste management challenges facing the region necessitate that there be effective investigation into the current state of regional organic waste management to inform formulation of more effective management.

The majority of regional populations have traditionally depended on natural resources for employment and livelihoods, primarily through the production of commodities (sugarcane, bananas, spices, coffee, cocoa), fisheries, extraction of minerals (bauxite, gold, limestone, sand, shale), and tourism (which now accounts for one in every four or five jobs in the Caribbean region, for example). This has led to a complex pattern of interaction of people, communities, institutions and industries with the environment, as energy and resources flow from the environment into patterns of human use, resulting in waste materials flowing back into the environment.

Table X: Potential Project Countries: Caribbean Regional Population & GDP (2013)

No.Country

GDP 2013 (USD Billion)

Population 2013

1 Antigua & Barbuda 1.20 89,9902 Bahamas (Commonwealth of The) 8.42 377,4003 Barbados 4.22 284,6004 Belize 1.62 331,9005 Cuba 68.23 11,270,0006 Dominica (Commonwealth of) 0.5537 72,0007 Dominican Republic 61.16 10, 400,0008 Grenada 0.8365 105,9009 Guyana 2.99 799,60010 Jamaica 14.36 2,715,00011 Saint Kitts & Nevis 0.7659 54,19012 Saint Lucia 1.34 182,30013 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 0.7094 109,40014 Suriname (Republic of) 5.29 539,30015 Trinidad & Tobago (Republic of) 24.64 1,341,000

TOTAL 196.3355 17,402,580

Solid and liquid waste management in the region is a mix of managed systems usually deployed in urban centers and tourism facilities; the rest of the population’s waste is predominantly untreated and sometimes disposed in open dumps and waterways. Illegal dumping and littering are common, compared to recycling solid waste which is practiced at a minimal level. Untreated waste has direct and indirect negative consequences for freshwater resources, tourism, agriculture and industries, but more importantly, untreated waste affects public health and survival of the population, particularly the poor.

The region is heavily reliant on the public sector to manage the majority of generated solid waste, which is an increasing challenge, absent regulations and effective enforcement. In the case of organic effluent waste, the public sector has dual responsibility for management. First, it has responsibility for sewage management, and as pointed out earlier, the majority of the regional


population is not connected and as a consequence, wastewater goes directly into the ground threatening groundwater and coastal environmental quality. The second responsibility of government is to enforce rules for disposal of waste effluent. The declining quality of coastal water, particularly around population centers and harbors, indicate the ineffectiveness of enforcement and the need for a new approach. To date, waste management efforts by the private sector and the public sector has proved unsustainable and restrictive in promoting integrated sustainable waste management options or developing public-private partnerships. In addition, lack of resources or other restrictive means limit potential efforts toward sustainable waste management practices by both sectors. Promoting partnerships between the public sector and government through policies and incentives would open opportunities for greater private sector involvement, job creation, and change in attitudes towards sustainable waste management at the regional, sub-regional and national levels.

Building Regional Capacity in Waste-to-Energy Planning

The ongoing and increasing challenges from the impacts of climate change and in sourcing scarce foreign exchange to purchase fossil fuels has stimulated the interest of Caribbean governments toward introducing renewable energy technologies (RETs), such as biomass, into the current electricity generation matrix. In the short-term, RE projects that integrates suitably into the current electricity generation infrastructure, and providing base load power, would be highly desirable. The waste-to-energy workshop focuses primarily on wastewater, e.g., sewage, distillery, brewery and abattoir waste; and vegetative organic matter, e.g., agricultural residues, roadside and property cuttings, and market residues.

Participants will benefit from presentations and case study discussions on organic waste and waste heat for the production of energy and potable water, respectively, as well as presentations on the conversion of organic waste in the form of waste effluent and solids via anaerobic fermentation to generate substitute fuel for power generation or transportation, along with fertilizer. Participants will also gain increased capacity in preparing the template for “Request for Project Preparation Grant (PPG)” as well as other relevant project templates under the GEF 6 Facility, using the proposed regional project as the example. Participants will also benefit from presentations and case studies on availability of financing for research and development, feasibility studies, business plans and loan financing. This increased capacity will provide countries with an option and the ability to channel resources in a direction that yields two of the greatest benefits to its populations – lower energy cost and reliable potable water.

The increasing consumption habits of the population are a major contributing factor to the growing waste problem. Local landfill capacities will not be able to facilitate the waste at this rate, particularly taking into consideration that land is a limiting resource. Energy security has been a major issue for the region and even more so now that PetroCaribe2, the major reserve

2 The PetroCaribe Agreement with Venezuela, allows Caribbean countries to purchase oil on conditions of preferential payment - within the framework of the 2005 PetroCaribe Alliance, Venezuela supplies crude oil and petroleum products on concessional terms. PetroCaribe only deals with state entities, whereby Caribbean nations import petroleum products under preferential terms allowing them to pay 60 percent of the cost while financing the rest with long-term, low-interest loans. Participating nations can also pay a portion in goods and services. Also, under the agreement, the Caribbean countries are expected to replace privately run storage and distribution facilities with a state-run counter-part for the Venezuelan-owned PDVSA.


facility support to the region, has been reduced by 50 percent, further aggravating existing vulnerability associated with limited storage for bulk petroleum fuels, which are sourced over a long supply chain at relatively high prices. As waste management also impacts ecosystems and public health, a desired solution is to utilize waste for distributed electricity generation. As an energy resource, waste has a number of potential advantages beyond its renewable content such as its non-intermittent characteristic, local energy source and the various potential energy outputs. Energy generated from waste can convert the WTE within a plant. This can be electricity and heat, or to ‘transportable’ energy-rich supplies such as substitute (synthetic) natural gas for injection into the grid or used as transport fuels.

Given the diversity of land, climate, economic conditions and population endowments across the region, as well as often sub-optimal scale of energy demand, certain energy solutions may require regional cooperation, and this type of cooperation will contribute to the development of regional sustainable energy solutions, in this case, waste-to-energy technology systems requires a regional approach. A regional collective approach to capacity building and utilization of the capacity will have the potential to yield significant greater return. Management of an energy sector that is based on renewable energy is going to be significantly different from one that is based on liquid petroleum fuels. Integrating power from solar, wind, ocean and biomass will require the power utilities to develop control systems which will require additional skills among technical staff. The development of renewable energy resources has been limited by the availability of appropriate technology, technical capacity, poor institutional mechanisms, and the challenges of developing systems for small remote markets at reasonable cost.

The workshop has a primary focus of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in developing a waste-to-energy (WTE) industry, and this is driven by the dominant and wide range of WTE projects within the Caribbean Indicative Project Pipeline, ranging right across the region, from dairies to breweries and sewage treatment facilities. For private sector companies who are direct purchasers of electricity or users of process heat, successful implementation will improve competiveness and profitability of the enterprise. The workshop is intended to increase capacity building for public-private partnerships to build, operate and maintain WTE facilities and to demonstrate the viability of technologies at the local level. Discussions will also focus on the regional policy framework and technical criteria that apply to facilities proposing to recover energy from waste.

While all countries have developed energy policies and strategies and are committed to the regional policy and strategy, few have developed sub-set policies, including for WTE. Jamaica, one of the few countries that have developed a WTE policy (2010), will provide some good lessons for discussion from a policy perspective; e.g., in Jamaica, all energy‐from‐waste projects must comply with the laws, standards, regulations and industry codes of practices outlined below:

National Solid Waste Management Act Natural Resources Conservation Authority Act and regulations Electricity Lighting Act Factories Act Public Health Act The Companies Act.


The secondary focus on waste heat reflect the vast unrecognized potential of thermal energy from industry and power generation facilities and the increasing need for reliable potable water. Caribbean countries are with increasing frequency being affected by changing rainfall regimes and water limitation are more frequent. The use of waste heat from power plants represent a major source of energy for purification of contaminated groundwater or desalination of sea water. Coupled with technologies such as spray flash evaporation, many islands could develop a new, reliable source of potable water under all weather conditions.


DAY 1 – WEDNESDAY, 20 JANUARY

SESSION I: OFFICIAL OPENING

Opening Remarks: His Excellency Dr. Vince Henderson, LP.D, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Commonwealth of Dominica to the United Nations and SIDS DOCK President, Conference Chair

His Excellency Dr. Vince Henderson, LP.D, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Commonwealth of Dominica to the United Nations and SIDS DOCK President said that he was happy and excited to be here and that they were able to join them. He took the opportunity to welcome everyone to the First Waste to Energy Expo and Technology Conference as part of Energy Week in the Caribbean. He explained that for the past few months they had a good partnership with the Government of Sweden and with some of the Caribbean countries. Grenada was chosen to be the host for the first few months and it was also the first member of the pilot programme that was implemented with partnership with their friends from Sweden.

He then stated that he could not welcome a man in his country, but that it was his pleasure to recognize the presence of Minister the Honourable Oliver Joseph, Minister of Economic Development, Trade, Planning, Cooperatives and International Business for the Government of Grenada, Senator the Honourable Winston Garraway, Minister of State, Ministry of Youth, Sports and Religious Affairs and Minister with responsibility for the National Disaster Management Agency (NaDMA) of the Government of Grenada, Mr. Joe Bradley, Deputy Director, External Relations Division, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Mr. Martin Lugmyar, Sustainable Energy Expert, Energy Branch - Climate Policy and Networks Unit, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Ms. Marie Karlberg, Policy Advisor, Swedish Energy Agency, Ministry of Environment and Energy, Government of Sweden, Dr. Andreas Taeuber, Head of GIZ-REETA (Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Technical Assistance) Project, from the Government of Germany in the CARICOM Secretariat, Dr. Devon Gardner, Programme Manager, CARICOM Secretariat Energy Programme and Dr. Al Binger, Energy Science Advisor, Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC/SIDS DOCK), SIDS DOCK Coordinator and soon to be the Executive Director of the CCREEE.

He further recognized all of the friends from the Member States and thanked them for being able to join this morning and for participating throughout the next few days. Recognized also were the several partners who contributed to making the event a success and expressed his thanks to all of them as well as to the private sector participants for bringing the technology. He noted that it was important for the private and public sector to meet to ensure that in fact they could get things done. He shared that very often Governments spoke to themselves and among themselves and would not bring the private sector and yet expected things to get done. He surmised that it was an excellent opportunity this week to have different partners sitting around the table and


Governments coming with the best policies to actually get it done. His Excellency stated that it was a great marriage that they would be witnessing over the next few days.

The important partners who jointly organized the event were listed as follows: The Government of Sweden, UNIDO which he deemed the best partner one could get within the UN System, the GIZ which he highlighted as an excellent partner for over a decade in the Caribbean especially with the implementation of REETA and the CARICOM Secretariat. He explained that SIDS DOCK was also an important and integral partner in this as it had gotten some of the major partners together to advance sustainable energy programmes in the Caribbean and throughout SIDS around the world.

He advised the delegates that Dominica was the Chair of SIDS DOCK and that he served as the President. Additionally, in September, 2015 SIDS DOCK became an international organisation and was registered with the United Nations and the final act would be done in the next few weeks. His Excellency stated that SIDS DOCK was a labour of love which was started by Dr. Binger and some of his colleagues including Mr. Philip Weech from the Bahamas, who were able to come together with the CCCCC/5Cs and some organisations in the Pacific to form an organisation for SIDS by SIDS. He expressed that this was the first time that this had ever happened. He elaborated by stating that usually the SIDS would find themselves in groups and organisations designed by other persons, but this time they had designed their own organisation. Also, for the past four (4) years since he lived in New York he served as the Chairman of the Steering Committee which worked through the process and were now able to say that for the first time they created an international organisation for SIDS to do sustainable development, specifically sustainable energy. He remarked that this was a great achievement for them, especially for those of them in the Caribbean, as the region had led the process throughout the past four (4) years.

He commented that they had recently forged a partnership with UNIDO which was helping them to develop the Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE). Together with the Government of Austria they were able to secure about 1.3 million dollars towards the initiative. Recently, the CARICOM Secretariats’ Ministers for Energy and Trade met and finally approved the establishment of the Centre which will be located in Barbados. They were able to make some strides in the regions including the financing of projects in the region which had some mixed success. They were able to mobilise over 30 million dollars for their members of which the Caribbean had gotten its fair share. Therefore, they were present as a partner in the initiative.

He shared that everywhere he went he had to explain the meaning of the name SIDS DOCK and proceeded to state that SIDS meant Small Island Developing State and the DOCK evolved as a joke between Ms. Christine Duncan and Dr. Binger and it meant that one would come, dock and get served. Essentially, it was about islands coming together as an interface. He expounded by stating that they did not see themselves as an agency to do stuff, but to bring together the member states and to connect them with the service providers, the private sector and with industry to ensure that they had the best technology, the financing and that they could go ahead and implement projects. That he explained was the concept behind SIDS DOCK and he informed of the good support received from Grenada at the UN. Firstly, there was Ambassador Dr. Dessima Williams, who served as the Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) for a


number of years and she was succeeded by Ambassador Antoine who did a great job in always being a part of their programme. His Excellency stated that they were happy for the support received from Grenada and from the other member states.

He said that he had provided this introduction because it was good for persons to know who was doing what and who they were. The CCCCC/5Cs was hailed as the grandfather of the initiative and it was acknowledged that the CCCCC/5Cs gave them Dr. Binger, that Dr. Leslie and his team were very supportive and that it had provided a home for SIDS DOCK in its formative years and continued to be a major partner in development throughout the region. He concluded by extending gratitude to the CCCCC/5Cs and invited all present to rise for the singing of the National Anthem.

National Anthem: Ms. Lisa Mc Donald

Hail! Grenada, land of ours,We pledge ourselves to thee,

Heads, hearts and hands in unityTo reach our destiny.

Ever conscious of God,Being proud of our heritage,

May we with faith and courageAspire, build, advance

As one people, one family.God bless our nation.


Opening Prayer: Senator the Honourable Winston Garraway, Minister of State, Ministry of Youth, Sports and Religious Affairs and Minister with responsibility for the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA), Government of Grenada

Senator the Hon. Winston Garraway moved the following opening prayer:

“This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. Indeed, we are rejoicing this day for such an important exercise. Father we thank you for the Waste to Energy Expo and Conference – such a timely and welcoming Conference today. We understand and are cognizant of the negative impact of climate change on our Small Island Developing States. We have witnessed the erosion of our low lying coastline, the extra rainfall, droughts and all those that are impacting our countries and affecting our survival. We thank you for this Conference, because it creates the opportunity, the platform and the environment for us to work together to mitigate against and to adapt to the changes that are occurring around us.

As we commit ourselves to the task at hand, may we O Father unite our hearts in working together for the common good of our countries and our region. May we commit ourselves to the principles, the technologies and the teachings that will be presented throughout this Conference and that we work assiduously towards saving lives.

As we go, we pray that your spirit will go with us and go before us, guiding us and imparting your wisdom so that we will continue to be honourable men and women to our environment. We pray for those who came up with the idea to have this Conference. Continue to bless them with such wisdom that they will lead in this critical time in our global history. Continue to bless each and every one of us as we continue to make decisions for the common good of mankind, in Jesus’ holy name, Amen”.

Welcome: Honourable Oliver Joseph, Minister of Economic Development, Trade, Planning, Cooperatives and International Business, Grenada

Cabinet Colleagues, specially invited guests, members of the head table and to all the experts who came here to Grenada, I say to you welcome to Pure Grenada the Isle of Spice. You have chosen the right place to have this Conference, the 1st Caribbean Waste to Energy and Technology Expo. I recall in 1989 the CARICOM Heads of Government meeting in Grand Anse and this is where you are, came up with the decision to launch the CSME (Caribbean Single Market and Economy). That was very historic and it is still work in progress as you know. So Grand Anse in Grenada seems to be the place, where if you want to get things done you come and meet here. So I am very confident that your meeting over the next few days will bring results. When we meet at the CARICOM level sometimes we are accused in CARICOM of doing a lot of talking and delivering very little.

However, I think that when I looked through your programme and with the way that it is


structured, I am very confident that you will get good results and that the outcomes that you are looking for will be achieved.

For those visiting for the very first time, I would like to say to you find time to enjoy the beauty of Grenada. If you have any doubt, you can ask Dieter from the German agency. He has come and learnt quickly of the friendliness and the beauty of the island and he is never ashamed to talk in glowing terms of how he has felt welcomed in Grenada. I am sure that each of you will feel welcomed here, so as you deliberate, make time to enjoy the beauty. I say to you once again welcome to the Isle of Spice”.

Remarks: Mr. Joe Bradley, Deputy Director, External Relations Division, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

This Conference and Technology Expo helps ensure that the political momentum created by Paris is swiftly put into action in a practical and results focused manner. The World Intellectual and Property Organization (WIPO) mission is to lead the development of a balanced and effective international and intellectual property system that enables innovation and creativity for the benefit of all. This latter point on energy and creativity for the benefit of all is the basis for our engagement and commitment to the successful outcome of this first Waste to Energy Conference and Technology Expo.

“Honourable Ministers, your Excellences, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen good morning. First and foremost, I would like to thank

the Government of Grenada for their hard work and leadership in organizing this technology expo and for the warm welcome to this beautiful island, the Isle of Spice. I will also like to thank SIDS DOCK in particular Al Binger, the CARICOM Secretariat, UNIDO, GIZ, the Government of Sweden, the CCCCC/5CS and all of the organizers and fellow partners for making it happen. Coming not much more than a month since the Climate Change Agreement was reached in Paris in December attention more focuses more than ever on action and implementation.

Technology and innovation are central to finding solutions to the challenges of climate change and in the context of this Conference includes in particular the waste to energy technology sector. The private sector both as technology owners and innovators play a key role in this respect as both the owners and innovators of technology. Picking up on the point made by Ambassador Henderson of the scaling up of partnerships with private sector and other stakeholders will be of increasing importance to help deploy technological solutions and to innovate to make a positive impact.

WIPO through its initiative WIPO Green looks to make an important contribution in this regard. It aims to do so by bringing together technology owners to help match their technologies with the specific technology needs of countries, especially those most vulnerable to climate change such as Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Through the WIPO Green database, WIPO Green creates a marketplace for green technologies. It also acts as a network of expertise and support in terms of the transfer and diffusion of green technology. In this afternoon’s session and over the


next few days we will be happy to provide more information on how you can use WIPO Green and access these resources.

My colleague Anatole Krattiger and the WIPO Green project manager is also here and will speak more on this later today. Finally, I should also like to thank the companies and technology owners who have joined use for the Conference and Technology Expo. We really hope that over the coming days we are able to demonstrate ways in which WIPO Green can support the objectives of this meeting and identify ways in which over the months ahead, WIPO Green can be a part of and support your efforts in deploying waste to energy technologies. I thank you very much.”

His Excellency Dr. Vince Henderson“Thank you very much Mr. Bradley. We look forward to further collaboration with WIPO as we move our sustainable development agenda forward. Ladies and gentlemen over the past two (2) years UNIDO has become a genuine partner to SIDS DOCK and by extension to the SIDS and of course to those of us in the Caribbean. UNIDO has moved quicker than I have seen any other international agency move. We signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in 2013 and by 2014 we had already conducted workshop in Dominica and determined that we were going to establish a centre for renewable energy and energy efficiency in the Caribbean. One of the key persons behind this initiative is Martin Lugmayr. Martin we know that you are happy to escape the cold of Vienna, but we know that you are also delighted to be here with us in the Caribbean because you have been one of the major players in the establishment of the Caribbean Centre For Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE). I am sure that you will bring that same enthusiasm to bear on our waste to energy efforts. It is my pleasure to welcome you to share with us your remarks on the behalf of UNIDO”.

Mr. Martin Lugmayr, Sustainable Energy Expert, Energy Branch- Climate Policy and Networks Unit, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)

“Ambassador Henderson thank you very much. It is getting really hot. I expect it to be warm but after all of your flower it is getting really hot. Thank you very much. I will only do some few remarks. I am working for the Energy Branch of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). I will be looking particularly at the issue of how to mainstream renewable energy and energy efficiency and then combine it with productive uses and the development of the local industry. Because very often it does not mean that if you scale up an investment in sustainable energy that you develop your local industry because a lot of things are imported and a lot of expertise is imported. We are all here to look into the options of what we could do to scale up the knowledge base and the local industry in the issue of waste to energy. I think that this Conference

for us is a starting point for a regional programme in that so that after this workshop we have a regional programme defined that we could implement with all the partners for the next years and months together with all of the partners.


First of all, I would like to thank all of the organizing partners. I would not want to repeat what the others have said, but thank you very much for the leadership. In particular SIDS DOCK with which we are now working closely together for the establishment of the Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREE). Waste to energy for us is really an important issue because it demonstrates how you can develop the energy sector and the waste sector and how you can address social, economic and environmental issues simultaneously.

Today in the Caribbean we are rich in ideas in the field of waste to energy, but so far I think that not many projects were really done. I think that to work on a regional level is really an added value. The newly created Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREE) really creates this critical mass of capacity to implement your concrete activities. During the workshop we aim at developing regional waste to energy programme which could be financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and we hope that some of your countries have interest to join in such a programme. During the discussions in the working groups we will try to define the design of that project. Maybe at the end of the workshop we will have defined the concrete project proposal where we could submit to the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to implement some concrete activities in that area. Thank you very much.”

His Excellency Dr. Vince Henderson“Thank you Martin. Please express our gratitude to Dr. Pradeep Monga and the Director for the support that UNIDO has given to us in the Caribbean.

Ladies and gentlemen we have identified some very important speakers for this morning’s session. Recently, we have meaning SIDS DOCK and sometimes CARICOM, but I don’t speak on the behalf of CARICOM, I speak on the behalf of SIDS DOCK, so I think that the we here will be limited to just SIDS DOCK. Recently we forged partnership with the Government of Sweden and Marie Karlberg, Al was smart enough to invite her to Dominica and when she came to Dominica, she fell in love with the Caribbean. Today Marie is here as a partner on the behalf of the Government of Sweden for the Swedish Energy Agency. We have a lot to learn from our Nordic friends. They have been able to expand their gross domestic product (GDP) without increasing their carbon footprint mainly by using the best technologies especially energy efficiency and being able to get better ways to produce energy and to consume energy. We have a lot that we can learn from them. Today, it is our distinct pleasure to invite Marie Karlberg. Marie you can remain in your seat and share with us the message from the Swedish Energy Agency”.

Ms. Marie Karlberg, Policy Advisor, Swedish Energy Agency, Ministry of Environment and Energy, Government of Sweden


“Thank you so much Mr. Henderson. Firstly, let me start with expressing how pleased I am to be back in Grenada. It is my third time so far. I am specifically pleased given that it is like minus ten (10) in Sweden now. It is nice to come to a warm and friendly country. On behalf of the Government of Sweden I would like to extend our deepest gratitude and appreciation to the Government of Grenada, SIDS DOCK, the CCCCC/5Cs. CARICOM, UNIDO among other partners and government officials for the excellent cooperation and Grenada hosting this important Conference and Technology Expo.

We are indeed a proud sponsor of this event and we do see a clear link with the project that we are undertaking together with SIDS DOCK, CCCCC/5Cs and the partnership with the Government of Grenada amongst others on building resilience to climate change impact through the energy sector. We will speak more about that on Friday in session.

This project aims to provide for an integrated country driven approach and process that will inform decision makers on viable identified renewable energy and energy efficiency initiatives that could help contribute to building resilience to climate change impact and also contribute to identify multiple co-benefits. Waste to energy solutions play a significant role in this equation and have a potential to contribute to useful energy and climate change objectives and also have very important co-benefits.

This is indeed a very timely Conference and Expo. Last year we agreed to some very important milestones internationally with the adoption of the sustainable development goals (SDG) and in COP21 (21st Conference of the Parties) in Paris last month, agreement on what would become the first global climate change agreement. On the intended nationally determined contributions which each country had put forward before the Paris conference, it was evident that transformation of the energy sector was key. Many have actually stipulated waste to energy coverage in their design. I note that some Caribbean countries specified waste to energy solutions and technologies in their communications.

In the case of Sweden, we have a long history of working with waste to energy management and technology solutions for it. For us having an integrated approach to it has been vital. We know that no size fits all and that you have to adapt to the situation in the context that you are working and that the solution has to be country owned.

With me today and over the couple of days I have my colleague an expert on waste to energy solutions, Mr. Eric Roennols sitting in the audience. We will engage with you on discussions on technologies and show best practices and lessons learnt from our country. We came here specifically to learn more about your countries’ specific context and the needs and opportunities and we will take these back home and see how we can design a technology delegation to go back to Grenada and to the region.

This Conference and Expo can and should act as a trigger for action, for cooperation, for calls for discussions and solutions. Again, I would like to take the opportunity on behalf of the Governments of Sweden to express our deepest gratitude and fruitful cooperation with the Caribbean islands, the SIDS Dock, the CCCCC/5Cs, UNIDO and institutions in the region. As said before, this is indeed a very timely Conference and Expo and we look forward to engage with you all. This is a starting point and we also look forward to the newly established Centre for


Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency and how that can contribute and play an important role to enable regional cooperation and to enable further long term viable and sustainable energy solutions. I thank you”.

His Excellency Dr. Vince Henderson“Thank you very much Ms. Karlberg and not only for the contribution of your Government, but also for bringing a female perspective on our panel as we note we have been dominated by men. I hope the next time the second edition of the Waste to Energy Expo we will have more women in the opening ceremony. I am sure that my good friend Ms. Duncan would be happy as the representative of the Island Women Organisation Network (IWAN) and tomorrow Ambassador King would be joining us. I hope that we can have a greater reflection of women in the participation. Fortunately, I must say that I have met some excellent scientist women who are here with us from the region. I welcome you and we look forward to seeing you over the next few days as we move forward with this agenda.

Ladies and gentlemen the GIZ for the REETA Project has been with CARICOM for a number of years. They have become a very reliable partner in developing and advancing the renewable energy or sustainable energy agenda within the region. They have served well and Tomas has become well known to all of us in the region. We have seen several programmes throughout the islands and I have just been informed recently that they have expanded their mandate up to 2018. We are very happy that they would continue to be with us. We look forward to further collaboration especially with the CCREEE and further with the CARICOM Secretariat. Therefore, it is my pleasure to welcome to share his brief remarks with us Dr. Andreas Taeuber, Head of GIZ-REETA (Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Technical Assistance) at the CARICOM Secretariat. Welcome”.

Dr. Andreas Taeuber, Head of GIZ-REETA (Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Technical Assistance) Project, from the Government of Germany in the CARICOM Secretariat

“Honourable Ministers, Excellencies, Ambassador Henderson thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, I will limit myself to two (2) remarks. First of all, why is GIZ here? I see if I look from the podium five (5) people here from the GIZ: Dieter Rothenberger, who is head of a project here in Grenada, all of Grenada people know him and he was mentioned; Glynn Morris, a team member of REETA; Henrik Personn who is working in Belize, we just installed a biogas laboratory for the waste from agriculture and other processes will be tested there to see the potential of producing biogas and biogas electricity and Thomas Scheutzlich who has been there

twelve or thirteen years now and he will be leaving soon. He was one of the GIZ people who really supported CARICOM and the region to develop energy efficiency and renewable energy in the whole region.

So why is GIZ here? We want to build regional competence and capacity and that is the reason why we are here with our staff. We employ staff from the region and we let them go. For example, regarding CCREE which we see as a very important step to develop regional


competence, we will support staff and experts at CCREEE will get the full worldwide knowledge on how to implement certain issues and we have talked about waste to energy, but there are other issues like electric mobility. I see that it is really needed to have regional competence here in the Caribbean. If we talk about gender equations, when the electric mobility podium was at the CREFT in Miami, seven (7) persons were on as panellists and all seven (7) were women. It is possible therefore to involve more women into our issues related to energy transport. So regarding GIZ, building regional competence is our key goal. We do this with policy support and cooperating closely with the CARICOM Energy Unit, institutional support that we can talk about with CCREE and other regional institutions like the CDB (Caribbean Development Bank) and so on and we work on the regional and national level.

We also support model projects. We have a model project and Dieter Rothenberger will tell about a project in Grenada for example and we have another project for you here in the Caribbean. What can we do with the waste such as seaweed and to use it to produce energy out of it? So we have a project to find out if the seaweed problem is one that will repeat itself every year, how we can harvest the seaweed before it reaches the beaches and how can it be translated to real energy. Is it by gasification or through incineration? We are working on that as an example of another project where we see that as a problem and we try to bring in worldwide experience.My second remark starts now. I want to come back to what my colleague from the Swedish Energy Agency said about the core benefits. We see waste energy surely not as the cheapest resource for energy, but as my colleague here from Antigua said to me, “Of course oil is cheap and for energy production we have solar technology which is already competitive, but still we have the waste”. Waste is something that you have there and in these islands you cannot just dump it because you have no space and you cannot put it in the ocean and you cannot export it. It would be crazy at least if you tried to export it.

We should in the region find solutions on how to manage waste and how to use the energy option of waste to co-finance the waste management. If you manage waste properly it has lots of co-benefits like environment, water protection, ground water protection, climate adaptation, resilience building, protecting water resources, mitigation of course and organic waste. We are talking about organic waste in this Conference and it is of course a source of methane. It can go into the atmosphere and if you compare it to carbon, it can cause more destruction for the climate, so mitigation is an aspect of waste and helps with the argument of waste management and using the methane potential of waste to show why this is useful.

Then I come to the last aspect and I think that waste management is very positive and important for tourism. No tourist wants to see a landfill that is smoking because there is a fire, nobody wants to see effluence going into the harbour or to a beach even if you have 300 beaches, every beach should be nice and not destroyed by effluence or waste.

I think also that the residue from waste management, at the end you still have something left that you can process and used in agriculture as a fertilizer. So you have so many co-benefits and truly not all and there will be more discussions at this Conference. I just want to say that this is the reason why we are here as GIZ with a big team and we have decided to support CARICOM and all the other partners here and it is very good that we have a number of partners so we can join efforts, co-finance and develop real projects. At the end of the Conference, I hope that we have


probably ten (10) pilot projects in the region. Probably every country should have one (1) project. Thank you very much”.

His Excellency Dr. Vince Henderson“Thank you very much. Dr. Taeuber and please extend and convey our gratitude to the Government of the Federation of Germany. Ladies and gentlemen we all have sun and wind, some of us have geothermal energy potentials, some have rivers for hydro, but all of us have waste and therefore, we have something in common. This Expo and Conference is essential for all of us and it is therefore something that I hope we will put our best efforts in to ensure a good outcome.

After all, we need a break though not quite the break that you are expecting, we would get that later. Just to break the monotony we will be serenaded by the young men of Grenada. Now more power to the young men, especially the boys that we are losing in the Caribbean. If you go to the universities you will see that over seventy-five percent (75%) are women even in what used to be considered as the hard subjects or courses, women are dominating in those areas, which is great, but today it seems to be consistent with what has become the theme of this opening. We are going to have a presentation by the Brothers College School Choir which happens to be all boys. Some of our mothers will be happy, let’s welcome them”.

Cultural Item: Presentation Brothers’ College (PBC) School Choir

The School Choir serenaded the audience with a medley of patriotic and folk songs.

His Excellency Dr. Vince Henderson“Thank you very much for warming us with your presentation with all of your spices. So we want to extend our thanks to you. At first I thought it was a presentation by the Brothers College, but I was advised that the name of the choir is Presentation Brothers College School Choir. So that’s it, I got it right this time. Thank you very much and indeed you have made your country proud in keeping with your great tradition. Ladies and gentlemen we have been doing good so far and just a few minutes late. Hopefully, by the time that we have done our duties we will welcome the Prime Minister. We will continue. We have two (2) more speakers. It is my great pleasure to introduce a man who needs no introduction, so the floor is yours Dr. Binger”.


Dr. Al Binger, Energy Science Advisor, Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC/SIDS DOCK), SIDS DOCK Coordinator

“Thank you Mr. Chair and thanks to the wonderful sound of that boys’ choir. It brings me back to my old school days. I also went to one of those all boys school and it was a requirement that the day that you entered that school that you we basically auditioned for the choir. I went up in my nice khaki suit with all of my nice seams and being Binger I was the second to sing or audition. I remember that the sounds that came out and they didn’t sound anything like this. The music teacher looked at me and said, “Okay you can stop and you don’t need to come back”. But it is good that I am in Grenada and I am always welcomed in Grenada. I at least I can see that there are young men who could sing much better than I could.

Colleagues, distinguished Ministers first and foremost, my goodly Ambassador, how do I put this? I would say that converting waste to energy for the benefit of the environment which we in SIDS know is basically for our economy and livelihood is not rocket science, it is not, it is really common sense. Basically, it is a precondition for successful management of our coastal areas and for our oceans. Therefore, it is critical for sustainable development. My biologists friends tell me that synergy between species is a critical requirement for resilient ecosystems. We in SIDS depend on our ecosystems. As island states our most important ecosystem is our coastal zone. Some biologists may disagree, but the economists tell me that this is what it is because that is where the money is generated, the hard currency.

We are seeing signs that our main hard currency generator is in trouble. We need to understand why and we need to decide what needs to be done, because there is trouble in paradise. The seaweed that Andreas mentioned that were washing up on our beaches, is it something that is coincidental, is it an occasional thing or is it basically a reflection that for so long we have put so much nutrients into the ocean that now it is basically returning in the only way that that ecosystem can?

We have problems associated with the improper use of solid waste, liquid waste and gaseous waste. We heard many times from Marie and also from Andreas that in Paris last month we decided to do something about gaseous emissions, which is long overdue. We also have to deal with the issue of the nutrients flowing into our coastal waters from sewage, distillery, breweries and abattoirs. It is altering the chemical composition of the ocean. It is increasing the problems associated with the fisheries. We now see that fisher folk have to toil longer periods to make a living. We see people in the tourism industry complain about the cost of maintaining the beaches. These are all signs of something that is not being done properly.

It makes no sense for us to use waste which is a valuable product, if we can apply the right technologies, to basically destroy what is supporting our economy and our people. We cannot use waste to destroy the tourism industry as we are now doing, because the waste in itself is value, it has money. It can create new economic opportunities. If we are going to survive as


island states we have no choice, but to manage our waste. We cannot be like yeast that basically gets the nice, sweet sugar solution and converts it all into alcohol, which lots of us benefit from occasionally and then pretend that it doesn’t matter, it does matter. If we do not manage our waste properly, our societies will have serious challenges in dealing with the impacts of climate change. We have to build resilience for our coastal zones and that requires us managing our waste much better. We have to improve our technology capacity and we have to make the links. The links with energy, agriculture, tourism resources and health are all critical to promoting sustainable development and climate resilience.

So this Conference is to facilitate the sharing of experience and knowledge about the scope of the challenge of the waste, basically the threat to our tourism, food security and climate resilience. Secondly, we want to learn about the outcomes of these technology interventions in other places like Sweden, Germany, Austria and across the Caribbean. Then we want to decide how best to formulate a regional programme as my colleague Martin said, that will provide the needed financial resources to begin the process to make sure that we do not destroy our money machine with waste, when waste can also become its own money machine. I want to thank my colleagues from the Government of Grenada for all of the hard work and encouragement. I want to thank the colleagues from the partner organisations. I want to thank in particular Christine, Yolanda and Michelle for all the hard work that they have done and I look forward to our deliberations over the next four (4) days. Thank you very much”.

His Excellency Dr. Vince Henderson“Thank you Dr. Binger. Ladies and gentlemen we all rise for the arrival of the Prime Minister the Right Honourable Keith Mitchell. Welcome Prime Minister and we are very happy that you are able to join us. Please be seated. Thank you very much.

Ladies and gentlemen, you heard Dr. Al Binger and as we continue to develop as a region, with the lives of our people developing we will continue to generate more waste. We have also heard it being said that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, but today we recognize that every one’s trash is every one’s treasure, because in fact we can convert waste into useful products especially into energy. Prime Minister we are not promising to solve all of your waste problems, but we are hoping to make it easier for you by the end of this Conference and Expo. Thank you very much for joining us and I have spared you just one (1) speaker. If you would permit me to allow the Programme Manager of CARICOM Secretariat Energy Programme Dr. Devon Gardner to address us”.

Dr. Devon Gardner, Programme Manager of CARICOM Secretariat Energy Programme

“Thank you Mr. Moderator. Right Honourable Prime Minister, Honourable Ministers of Government in the audience, members of the head table, specially invited guests and delegates of the member states here with us today, delegates and guests from Grenada, friends, colleagues good morning. I stand here before you and between you and


the Prime Minister’s remarks to bring to you greetings on the behalf of the CARICOM Secretariat.

The fact is that we sometimes frequently refer to CARICOM and the Secretariat in one vein. I want to simply start my discussion this morning b speaking to a subtle difference. The fact is that CARICOM refers to the CARICOM community which is all of us, the member states, the institutions like the CCCCC/5Cs and the Secretariat of course being a part of that collective. The Secretariat of CARICOM is an organisation that is tasked with coordinating and managing the policies and strategies that are agreed to by the Heads of Government and Ministers of Government of CARICOM and the various organs of CARICOM when they meet. The Energy Programme is one of the activities within the CARICOM Secretariat that there has been much that the region has agreed to cooperate on with respect to energy. The Energy Programme in CARICOM is one that has been to a large extent one of the more successful programmes managed by the CARICOM Secretariat.The fact is that a critical role that is played is one of managing partnerships. Ambassador Henderson spent a lot of time speaking about partnerships this morning.

Our partners took the podium earlier and they all spoke about their commitments. The key piece in the puzzle of the functions of the CARICOM Secretariat relates to partnerships. We are here today in today’s session and indeed in this entire event because of the fact that we have been able to build a successful partnership, a coalition of willing partners who have pooled resources, both human and financial, as well as their respective strengths to put this event together so that we could be here today in Grenada at the start of the Technology Expo and the Waste Conference. I really want us to recognise that without partnerships and without the critical role of each partner being able to contribute tangible and to be able to play to their respective strengths and their mandates and to be able to utilise also those resources that they have at their disposal, we are always going to find it more difficult to get things done. I would like to use this opportunity to stress the importance of collaboration and partnership for us to get things done and it is no different in the waste to energy sector than it is going to be in other sectors.

It is important for us to understand critically that the CARICOM Energy Programme does not treat energy as an end result of itself, but really as a means to an end, to facilitate the community to be able to achieve the economic, social and environment including climate resilience that the Heads of Government in 2014 approved in the five (5) year strategic plan of the community. We see energy as an enabler for economic development, for social development and for environmental protection, all of which lead to human development. We therefore look to see how we can utilise technology to enable our access to different energy options, so that we can provide energy in the most cost effective, affordable and reliable way. Not necessarily in the cheapest way, because the cheapest way is not necessarily good. Sometimes the cheapest shoes will leave you while you are out in the road shopping. So we look for the energy solution that allows us to support the three (3) pillars of human development more stably.

Importantly, we are embarking on an energy structure within the region. We have been talking about it for a while within which we have strategy and policy orientation continuing to be a significant focus of the CARICOM Energy Programme. We are in the process of building an architecture for improving the level of integrated planning that goes into regional energy matters and this event is a manifestation of same. We are indeed improving the degree and level of


implementation towards energy and the launch of the CCREEE in October and the eventual approval of the agreements for this to really take effect. Just last week Wednesday to be exact in Georgetown, Guyana there was a meeting of the CARICOM energy Ministers, which was intended to fill that last implementation void. Dr. Binger who spoke before me is the designated Interim Director for the CCREEE. Of course we would say that having someone with his experience, qualifications and knowledge means that we are in good hands where the implementation is concerned. We would expect therefore, that waste to energy, given his passion of the subject, would be one of those matters that would be implemented.

All of this is being supported through the kind of partnerships that we talked about with SIDS DOCK, UNIDO and the GIZ of which they are members here and were introduced to you before and the partnerships most critically with the member states. There is no CARICOM without member states because it is the member states that make up CARICOM. The partnerships such as this with the Government of Grenada are very important to the future and success of CARICOM.

I want to end today my brief remarks by simply speaking to the fact that we are pursuing an engagement whereby the regional strategies and actions orientate and guide the national strategies and actions. There is a lot of wisdom and scope for regional participation. We believe that there are some things which collective wisdom will allow us to do better than if we do them alone. The approach to waste to energy is one such thing. We believe that the regional approach will help to guide the national strategies and the national approach. The end result, the sum game is really that this will result in tangible projects and change on the ground that will make a difference to our respective economies.

Lastly, we need to shift away from a thinking that waste is really a co-financing part to the energy sector. We tend to treat waste to energy projects as projects in which the waste aspect of the project is co-financing the energy and therefore, the charge to the project tends to be focused around the power sale. We need to move more towards a game where we recognise that the energy piece of the waste to energy is really co-financing the waste management aspect, because the waste management is something that we will have to do regardless. I therefore urge and expect that over the next four (4) days of Conference and Technology Expo we will learn greater how we as human beings of the region and citizens of CARICOM can interact with the technology opportunities that are there and generate the kind of human systems to support the technological approaches that are available to us and create the kind of solutions that will transform our economies and support our human and economic development. I thank you”.

His Excellency Dr. Vince Henderson“Thank you very much Dr. Gardner and for your support especially with the establishment of the CCREEE. Please extend our gratitude to the Secretary-General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque for the leadership in this process.

Prime Minister, the last time I sat in the room with you in Grenada, and I think it was in Grand Anse, it was in my capacity as Minister for Education. At the time, we were pursuing the Caribbean Knowledge Learning Network (CKLN) with Ken Sylvester and some other interesting people. Let’s hope that the outcome of today will see much more success than our initiative. We are very happy that you have consented to host us here in Grenada and on behalf of SIDS DOCK


and the partners we wish to extend our gratitude to you, your Government and the people of Grenada for being such gracious hosts. It is therefore my pleasure to welcome you to share with us your thoughts and also to declare this Conference open. Ladies and gentlemen, Dr. the Right Honourable Keith Mitchell, Prime Minister of Grenada”.


OPENING ADDRESS – KEYNOTE SPEAKER

DR. THE RIGHT HONOURABLE KEITH MITCHELLPRIME MINISTER OF GRENADA

“Ladies and gentlemen, this conference is extremely crucial at this time, and the outcome has the potential to significantly change the destructive course we are on; while at the same time, build our resilience to the negative impacts of climate change, and dramatically change how we look at, adapt and integrate the main drivers of our national economies.

Over the last 10 months, Grenada has been involved in a climate change resilience-building exercise, using the energy sector as our entry point.

Already, the results have indicated the benefits that resilience building can have on our food, energy and freshwater security, and

also significantly, on one of the main pillars of our economies – tourism.

Our focus must now be on how to increase our ability to become less vulnerable and more capable to respond and recover from the disruptions and destruction associated with increasing greenhouse gas concentrations.

We can accomplish this through the development and efficient use of our collective natural resource endowments.

I have used the word “collective” in describing our efforts as that is what it will take to combat climate change, promote sustainable development and address the vulnerabilities of our Island Nations. Strong, durable and genuine partnerships, capacity-building and leadership are of utmost importance. This, the first Caribbean Waste to Energy Technology Expo and Conference is a manifestation of the vision and foresight of our Caribbean peoples.

Grenada has been part of the organizing team for this first-of-its-kind conference from its inception. What you see today, is the result of the efforts of a group of regional organisations and partners that have come together to advance this noble initiative.

I refer particularly to the CARICOM Secretariat Energy Programme; Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre or 5Cs; SIDSDOCK; and our dependable partner, the German development agency, GIZ.

On behalf of the Government and People of Grenada, and indeed, on the region’s behalf, I extend thanks to all for helping to move this initiative from concept to reality.


Be assured that the Government of Grenada views leadership as a critical ingredient in the sustainable development thrust of Island Nations and is fully committed to working towards a zero waste economy. We recognize that waste is a valuable resource, an important source of energy, and that the current waste management practices are resulting in an economy and citizenry that are more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

A critical issue is that in the majority of Caribbean countries, imported petroleum is the chief source of primary commercial energy, while vast renewable energy resources remain to be developed.

Global oil prices are currently at their lowest levels in over a decade. High and generally unpredictable oil prices have consistently retarded the competitiveness of regional goods and services.

Scarce foreign exchange earnings that are being spent by our countries to pay for energy imports could be otherwise directed to alleviating poverty, adapting to climate change and sea level rise, or finance other critical interventions which are necessary for building our social, economic and climate resilience; thus increasing our ability to recover and respond—which is the cornerstone of sustainable development.

My dear sisters and brothers, we have the tools to do better than we have been doing. Solar and wind resources are available in all countries, and Grenada and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) have significant geothermal and other base load resources. Our ocean represents the largest single source of energy for Island States as a group, but is still to be explored.

To be addressed at this particular conference, is the liquid/effluent waste problem that is plaguing all our countries and is manifested in the erosion of our beaches, oceans and the destruction of our agricultural base. By turning pollution into energy, we can prevent contamination of our coral reefs and fisheries and allow them to recover. By recycling the waste nutrients on land, we can avoid the need to import fertilizers.

This First Caribbean Waste to Energy Technology Expo and Conference will provide the governments and peoples of the region with a unique opportunity to explore project options that are not only cost-effective systems for managing waste, but also generating base-load electricity and reducing dependence on costly, volatile and unsustainable liquid petroleum fuels. These technologies provide societies like ours with options to convert the organic waste produced from a wide range of sources during the process of production and consumption of food and beverages, into new products.

By doing so, we prevent pollution and produce what I refer to as “black currency” – or money in the bank.


As Prime Minister with responsibility for Science and Technology within CARICOM, and as a member of the SIDS DOCK Heads of State Council, I am heartened by the fact that this event, through the Technology Expo, is providing an opportunity for our countries to identify suitable and SIDS-Appropriate technology options for waste-to-energy conversion in view of the organic waste streams present in our systems.

We look forward to the outcomes of the Conference Sessions, which start tomorrow, and the recommendation of programmes and projects for implementation. Already, through SIDS DOCK, the Caribbean region has developed an indicative waste-to-energy project pipeline with over 300 million United States dollars’ worth of projects at various stages of development.

We know that financial resources play a major role in our ability to act sustainably, but we also know that funding is never guaranteed, as there will be many countries and communities that will be in need of help in addressing climate change impacts. This means that as Small Island developing states, we have to become more innovative in how we invest and maximize co-benefits. We need to, and must identify the synergies. As the President of the Caribbean Development Bank recently stated, “The real imperative of responding to Climate Change for us is one of survival - it’s as fundamental as that.”

Recognizing the circumstances in which Small Islands find themselves, energy has to become part of climate resilience building, and renewable energy policies within the region need to be implemented in accordance with this.

I strongly therefore, support the development of the regional project for waste-to-energy and its implementation by the CCREEE, our newly minted regional organization.

The Caribbean Community has stated its intent to increase the share of renewable energy source to 48 percent by 2027. The use of waste as an energy source will no doubt play an important role, but more importantly, it will provide the framework for sustainable management of waste in the region to protect the economy and the population.

Sustainable development and responsible management of oceans and coastal resources will also require master plans informed by data and other informational tools that take into account all aspects of the marine system, including technologies for energy, waste, and wildlife conservation.

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, thank you again for your hard work and commitment and we look forward to continuing our work together.

In closing, I would like to quote the great Nelson Mandela, who once asked, "When the history of our times is written, will we be remembered as the generation that turned our backs in a moment of global crisis or will it be recorded that we did the right thing?" Sisters and brothers I wish you all the best on behalf of our Caribbean family and therefore I take the greatest pleasure and honour in declaring this Conference open”.


His Excellency Dr. Vince Henderson“Thank you very much Mr. Prime Minister. Ladies and gentleman I thank you for your participation in this morning’s session and we will now move over to the Expo and to have the Prime Minister introduce us to some of the presentations there and then we will have a group photograph”.

Dr. the Right Honourable Keith Mitchell, Prime Minister of GrenadaAfter visiting the various booths at the Annex, Grenada Trade Centre the Prime Minister remarked, “Sisters and Brothers all in just making this short go around a while ago, I have seen a number of important initiatives which gives teeth to what I was indicating in my speech and I am sure that other members of the panel who spoke this morning may have indicated also. Clearly, just watching at the display even though we did not have many of the equipment as yet, but they are coming, it tells us that we would have an exciting two (2) or three (3) days. Therefore, I take the greatest pleasure in formally opening this Exposition and I wish you all the best on the behalf of the Government and people of this country. I would also say, on behalf of our Caribbean family. Thank you and all the best”.


GROUP PHOTOGRAPHS


SESSION II:

TECHNOLOGY EXPO OPENING AND PANEL DISCUSSIONS

Ministerial Panel: “Scaling up Technology Deployment for WtE (Waste to energy) within the Caribbean-Key Opportunities and Challenges”.

Moderator: His Excellency Dr. Vince Henderson

“Fortunately we have three (3) Ministers here with us who will be able to give us their own perspective from a policy standpoint on two (2) things:

1. How is the Government managing waste? 2. Do they see any connection between waste and energy and how can they move forward

with the connection between waste and energy?

On our panel we have Honourable Gregory Bowen, Minister of Communications, Works, Physical Development, Public Utilities and ICT, Grenada, Honourable Ivor Stephenson, Minister of Health and Environment, Dominica and Honourable Luke Browne, Minister of Health Wellness and the Environment, St. Vincent and the Grenadines who has moved from Parliamentary Secretary in Tourism.

Ministers thank you very much for joining us.

First question to Minister Bowen – We recognise as countries develop our consumption would increase of things that are organic and inorganic nature, one thing that may not be reduced is the landmass in our countries and we have physical challenge for a space and we have serious impact on our coastal reef, what is your Governments programme, policy or plan to deal with the increase in waste of both solid and liquid forms?”

Honourable Gregory Bowen, Minister of Communications, Works, Physical Development, Public Utilities and ICT

“Thank you Mr. Moderator and I wish everyone a pleasant morning. The preamble was very clear and it points towards the problems that small island states and even larger countries have with waste and waste disposal. The preamble also dealt with solid and liquid waste. With respect to solid waste, I believe many of us in the Caribbean would remember the World Bank project and in this regard a levy was placed on electricity bills to finance the collection and disposal of solid waste. Utility trucks designed for this by contracts and the country was divided into zones and contractors are responsible for different zones. It provides for the disposal of goods like refrigerators and washing machines and the project provided for the construction of the dumping site or the waste disposal location.

With respect to the liquid waste that is collected through NAWASA, the gray water from the homes and the sewer system, Grenada has the collective sewer disposal system in the city and in the hotel belt in Grand Anse. This we believe can be improved with the treatment of waste before


it gets into the ocean. Working with donor countries lead by GIZ we have had a lot of reef programmes going in marine protected areas (MPAs) to monitor disposal from the weather, the type of liquid that comes from the land into the sea. With respect to what opportunities there are from waste to energy, we have had many proposals. Those that have the good energy expanding option watery solid waste can provide the good PT for energy. We are in significant shortage to provide meaningful energy. One proposal suggested that the OECS come together and collect the waste and burn it in one particular country. The benefits can be divided between the countries. The volume of waste that we have in the small island developing states (SIDS) is not enough to do some of the ventures.

The latest opportunity is with the liquid waste collected by NAWASA that can be used to generate electricity. The maximum that we can get is four (4) megawatts. We can move into that form of generation. The issue is the cost when compared to renewable energy like wind and solar. This seemed to be three (3) times the cost; here we are talking about eighteen (18) cents. Economic analysis would show that we should not move along that line, but stick with wind, water or solar. The economics do not make sense, also, the lack in the supply of solid waste and the cost of using liquid waste to generate electricity.

We have been following the technology to the greatest standpoint. We are moving with IPPs with renewable energy in Grenada and St. Lucia. The technology can be used by independent producers who will use a common grid. We have to look at the technology to institute this in Grenada and the rest of the region. Thank you”.

His Excellency Dr. Vince Henderson “Mr. Browne like Grenada am sure that St. Vincent and the Grenadines has its own challenges managing waste, we have here a threat when you look at the cost it is not attractive. Are you convinced that the costing is done in a manner that truly reflects the benefits and would your Government consider exploring?”

Honourable Luke Browne, Minister of Health, Wellness and the Environment, St. Vincent and the Grenadines

“I am one month in office. I think that St. Vincent and the Grenadines has its own peculiar challenges and we have been able to manage not withstanding them we seek to do more efficient things. How do we manage our space for waste? In St. Vincent and the Grenadines, we have two (2) principal landfills on the mainland. Of course we have the Grenadines and when it comes to waste is almost a world of its own. St. Vincent and the Grenadines has come a long way by way of waste management. Andreas made the fact that we don’t want tourist coming to the landfill and see that the fires were lit. This was a reality in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. That has changed. We have 2 landfills and between them they take up 66 acres of prime land especially land that could be deployed for agricultural practices. We have to come to a compromise between using land for agriculture and for waste. Now that we have these sixty-six (66) acres of land devoted it means we do not have a challenge for the most part in managing waste on St. Vincent and the Grenadines itself. These landfills will be able to take care of the problem for another forty (40) or fifty (50) years.


There is a peculiar problem of managing space for waste in the Grenadines. Canouan is special and is the home to 9 billionaires in the world and they have special taste. Almost night you could have overnight a beautiful structure gutted and the waste dumped in the landfill. This has resulted in a mountain of waste in Canouan. The native population is about fifteen hundred (1500) people, and the island generates twenty-six percent (26%) of all the waste in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It is not a problem that can be solved without a clearly thought our strategy. The strategy is to restrict the amount of waste generated in the first place. In terms of costing and so on for waste there is a small fee that each household pays through their water bill for collection of waste which I think is eleven dollars ($11) per household. Having applied that cost the attempt is made all the time to see if we can perhaps recycle some of the materials generated as garbage.

One of the things we like to talk about is re- engineering growth. In St. Vincent it is rare that you will find a plastic bottle anywhere. Individuals from low, middle and upper backgrounds are actively involved in recycling plastic. At the landfills we have small composting. Beyond that our energy strategy in St. Vincent has not been really based on converting waste to energy, us making use of hydro and fossil fuels to the extent that we could to looking at options like geothermal energy. One of the members of staff who specialises in geothermal energy is representing here today.

We have developed some practice related to solar energy. Using incineration would reduce some of the other things. It would reduce our ability to work on that front. Biogas has been discussed here, but I don’t think that we have a scale that would allow us to use biogas in an economically sustainable fashion. If we were to use it would have to be farm based. We don’t have farms on the scale that would allow us to generate what we want. It is an expensive business to convert waste to energy. We are looking for a way to integrate this in our national policy. Thank you”.

His Excellency Dr. Vince Henderson “Thank you Minister Browne. You’ve done well one month notwithstanding. I am not happy that you have displaced my good friend Dr. Thompson. One of the things that you have highlighted is how do we develop the projects that can maximise the benefits from waste to energy. Clearly there is a missing link. You have expressed something that perhaps your Government may have felt that this could be a very expensive undertaking and the benefits are not quite clear and we have heard it as well from Minister Bowen. So therefore we have to do the work. It reminds me of the OTEC (Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion) discussion. I think that Devon intimated earlier in the discussion that we have to start looking at the co-benefits and we have to do it in such a way that it demonstrates the true benefits of managing waste and converting it to energy. The question that remains is if we don’t do that what happens to the waste. That is a question that has to be answered and for some things I am not advising any Government in formulating their policies, but sometimes you have to take the hit for the overall benefits. I still think that as a politician myself, we like to see the true benefits so that when we go to the public we can show the benefits. I think that among the organisers it is important to be able to come up with projects that make sense to governments so that they can see the true benefits so that when they go to their populations they can say this is what it is. We need to do a little more work and thank you very much for that Ministers Bowen and Browne.


Minister Stephenson you have had the experience of dealing with environmental management and I would say waste management in your country, you commissioned an abattoir which would generate waste and like in Grenada you convert sugar to rum, what is your Government doing and have been able to achieve in the last ten (10) years? I saw a document that referenced a World Bank study in 2003 and that is dated; just share with us what is happening on the island of Dominica”.

Honourable Ivor Stephenson, Minister of Health and Environment, Dominica

“Thank you for giving us this opportunity. Let me say that from the onset that Dominica is one of the countries in the OECS that continues to take measures with both solid and liquid waste. The Government developed two (2) major institutions for the management of waste: the Dominica Water and Sewage Company and the Dominica Solid Waste Corporation. There are other institutions that have the responsibility for the monitoring, evaluation, the legislation part and the management of waste such as the Department of the Environment, Environmental Health, the Environment Coordinating Unit and other institutions that have legislative frameworks for the management of solid waste.

In the Ministry of Health and Environment I have the mandate for managing affairs within the environment. I must state here that all of the institutions within the state that deals with waste are within my portfolio, especially units like the Environment Coordinating Unit, the DVRP (Disaster Vulnerability Reduction Project) Unit, the Environment and Health, Solid Waste Management Corporation and Health Promotion. They are all institutions within the portfolio of the ministry of Health and the Environment. On a policy level we have these institutions whereby we are able to coordinate the activities that are being undertaken with respect to the management of solid waste.

If I am to go to the Moderator’s question regarding what is the government doing about its liquid waste, in relation to the development of an abattoir, just recently we had a newly constructed abattoir where we expect a number of waste to be generated, in the greater part liquid waste and in terms of the waste streams at the farm level, we expect both solid and liquid waste to be generated. The measures have been put in place for the newly constructed management for the overall management of the liquid waste and that will be done on site. We also have measures in place for the monitoring of the waste generated from the farms, because the waste basically will be from two (2) sources, both from pig farmers and also from poultry farmers. We expect both a large number of liquid and solid waste to be generated from these institutions. The measures are already being put in place with the necessary stakeholders to ensure that the waste doesn’t get out into the environment to pollute it and to create issues with rodent population, pests infestation, flies, mosquitoes and all of these various pests that can proliferate as a result of the mismanagement of the waste.

We hail Dominica as a country that is clean and green. We have a lot of rainfall, rivers and valleys. We are already taking the steps to ensure that we develop mechanism that will prevent pollution of marine and land based resources. In Dominica we have various potential for the development of energy. We have potential for wind, solar, hydro and even recently making inroads in the development of the geothermal industry. These don’t have waste as the main source for generating energy, however, we expect that much waste will be generated on the


farms where we can develop some biogas mechanism to help improve waste management resources in these sectors of agriculture. In Dominica we are continuing to collaborate with the various institutions both financial and other technical institutions to ensure that where we are we can get support from those such as SIDS DOCK, CARICOM. We can get resources to develop waste to energy potential.

Finally, this initiative which is the first for the Caribbean is one I think will make a great difference for developing our waste to energy potential within the OECS. Within the OECS we have similar problems of litter, pollution of marine resources and land based resources. Governments have put in place legislative framework like the Solid Waste Act to ensure that we fully develop our solid waste and liquid waste industries. Thank you for the opportunity here”.

His Excellency Dr. Vince Henderson “Thank you Minister. Clearly coming out of the discussion so far there is need for more work to be done. There are a lot of questions and perhaps we have not thought of that and some of the issues before. Perhaps the issue of how do we manage waste and making the connection with converting it to electricity is something that we have not actually thought of.

Some of us have proposals from years ago. There have been several proposals for waste and the point that Minister Bowen made about moving from island to the next. As a matter of fact there was a proposal before the Government of Dominica more than a decade ago. When I sat in Cabinet I remember there was a proposal and I hate to say this because you take an oath and you are not supposed to disclose anything that you discussed in the Cabinet, but at the time it was so what is it now, Dominica will be the Caribbean’s dumping ground? Because the same concept of the critical mass that was required to make economic sense and you had to bring in waste from other islands. Nobody wanted people bringing waste into their country, especially in a country that calls itself the Nature Island. We cannot have barges of waste coming in from St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines coming to dump in Dominica.

I think there were some initial discussions, but the technologies have evolved. We have seen movements, improvements and development in new technologies. I think therefore that this is something that we need to now work with our member governments to advise them of what the situation is now and to determine if it makes sense for them at the end of the day”.

Questions, Comments and Discussion

Mr. Ananais Dunley Auguste, General Manager, St. Lucia Solid Waste Authority “In the OECS we implemented solid waste management project and some of the speakers alluded to that. Are we really satisfied with the progress that we have made in terms of that project and do we see the need to go to the next step? In St. Lucia our organisation is designed along the same lines. Certain things were implemented in some islands. The levy on households was implemented in some of the islands on the water bill. In St. Lucia this was not done. If you had tipping fees you would have encouraged illegal dumping. In St. Lucia people don’t want to pay for the services that they want to get. You don’t get to collect the revenue that you need to ensure the proper management of the waste system. Will there be a look at the system again? Do we see a need to look at the system again within the OECS or further afield, if it is seen to be necessary and have a common strategy for the CARICOM in general and probably looking at the


strengths and weaknesses and see how we can dovetail into a system that actually works? There is a need to manage the progress of the projects to see when it is appropriate to move to a next stage. In St. Lucia we have fledgling recyclers. They collect and do primary processing and export it to recyclers. Do we see a strategy evolving for the Caribbean, the OECS or any grouping that allows us to follow a road map that would include issues like the consideration of waste to energy? Along with Grenada, St. Lucia is looking for an integrated system for waste management and probably a new strategy for dealing with it that we hope will guide us in making some of those decisions. What we are going to do hear at this Conference will give us a good idea. We really don’t have the capacity in all of the islands to sift through all of the technologies that are being proposed, and believe you me, some and deal grand ideas are coming up from private sector organisations overseas that think that they can make some money”.

Honourable Luke Browne“While we are waiting on the questions, on a point of clarification on the tipping fees, I am not sure what you mean by the tipping fees and how it encourages illegal dumping”.

Mr. Ananais Dunley Auguste, General Manager, St. Lucia Solid Waste Authority “The tipping fee is a fee that the waste haulers pay to the landfill or the authority for depositing waste in the landfill. It helps with generating revenue for the operation of the landfill and in most countries you will find that there is a tipping fee”.

Mr. Emmanual Dubois, Landfill Manager, National Solid Waste Management Authority, Antigua and Barbuda “I just wanted to make a comment on what the good gentleman from the St. Lucia Solid Waste Authority stated because I can clearly recall that an OECS project was born in St. Lucia, however, most of the authorities looked at one (1) aspect of the project - the education, collection, transportation and disposal, but the other aspects were not enforced or implemented, such as the Litter Act. I can clearly recall that all of the OECS islands went with the Litter Act, but not one (1) litter ticket was issued throughout the region up to today.

Secondly, I believe that there was a strong component of the project which was waste separation and recycling and it never went forward. It was not a failure because we received the sanitary landfill, we received equipment and we were able to manage cruise ship waste which was a key aspect of that, but the follow up. I believe that what happened was that we were left on our own to move forward with the project. When the project came to an end each OECS island went about independently. We were not as one body to move forward with the project. That is where we did not get support and it was why the project never moved forward”.

Mr. Christopher Corbin, Programme Office, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Caribbean Regional Coordinating Unit, Jamaica “If I may Chair, I wanted to take your question that you asked at the end of the panel discussion and to thank the Ministers as they raised several of the issues that we would have had as well. Perhaps to ask that question to them as senior policy and the political directorate, from an agency standpoint what is the type of support through these various regional projects and initiatives that will help them in terms of developing capabilities to maximise benefits from waste to energy? I share the concern that there are lots of proposals now on the table and there is a little bit of doubt in terms of the cost of these projects and benefits from them and I think that there is an


opportunity for us as regional partners to perhaps say what kind of policy support could we provide either nationally or regionally to help in the evaluation of these new activities.If we as a region are promoting the CSME and CARICOM, If we say that we have a waste management problem and the region and if we say individually that we can exercise economies of scale and we have issues with that, but regionally we can, why can’t we have a serious discussion about managing our waste collectively? This stems from the comment you made at the end about not bringing waste to anyone particular country. I say all of that to say that if we are now recognising that waste can be a resource and that an industry can develop out of it, why can’t we have a serious discussion in the region about resolving that collectively?”

Mr. Philip Weech, Director and Chair and SIDS DOCK National Coordinator, Bahamas“I will like to follow through on what Chris just said and I think that it is relevant to the discussion that we have been having on some of the projects. The comment made by UNEP is, “What are the things that are needed?” I think that when looking at the issue it is an important discussion to have. I base that on some discussions that we have had in the Bahamas as it relates to how do we provide an overall justification to take action in that particular regard. One (1) of the things I will propose to UNEP is that the economic models for taking action is something that needs to be done in a way that applies to the issue of economy of scale in the region. The whole waste to energy issue is plagued by a lack of sufficient capital. The other thing that I will reflect on is the fact of the limited experience that we have had in the Bahamas in terms of looking at some of the appropriate technologies. One (1) of the things that we looked at was the whole issue of gasification technologies. At the end of the day, most that were proposed were new, untried and untested even though there were existing models that were used in some countries. It was not clear under any economic analysis that was done whether or not some of that technology would be applicable in our particular region.

What I think will also be useful and this is learning from the experience from what was said about the OECS and projects that would have happened, is that we can put together something that represents the characteristics of the things that we are looking for. I base this on the experience of the Bahamas for example. The criteria that was set or what we were looking for was that we did not want anything that would result in a toxic waste stream that we would have to deal with after burning garbage or trash. We did not want to have the residue from any sort of technology. We can go through the process and look for the types of technologies that are needed. That should serve as a basis of who we therefore look at in terms of being able to provide the technology. When I saw that from the Bahamian experience of course, we have the benefit of large utility scale and small scale across the entire Commonwealth. In some of the applications with the cost, in terms of gasification, there was only one (1) application in the Bahamas where it could work and that was on the island of New Providence. It did not deal with the realities of many other small communities across the entire Bahamas.

I also think that we need to start focusing our attention on some of the other issues that are emerging for example, a comment was made earlier about plastics and the amount of seaweed that was washing up on the beaches and a comment was made about how do we deal with electronic waste and with those issues in the context of the SIDS.

I think that in the context of the Caribbean region, if we look at this in terms of what can we really do on a regional basis that will benefit all of us. I think that some of the issues will have to


be addressed in some sort of a holistic fashion. It is nice to think that we can do it in one single location, but given the spread of the islands, we do need to have applications that are applicable at various scales and under circumstances of economies of scale. It must have an economic model that will work with the community.

I wonder sometimes also if we are not plagued by a sociocultural context and we look at it as garbage. The colleague from Sweden talked about their approach to the whole issue. We see garbage in a different cultural manner. People from our solid waste management keep talking about a solid waste management system, but in the local parlance its garbage. They talk about the solid waste handling facility, but everyone calls it the garbage dump. That transition in terms of how we look at it from a social-cultural perspective is important if mind set should change and I hope it is something we should do soon. Thank you”.

His Excellency Dr. Vince Henderson“Thank you and I think it is part of the whole process of modernisation. I remember the first time that I saw people actually putting cans in a container and they were not being paid for it was in Sweden. I think it was somewhere in Atelier. I saw people putting this thing I was wondering what this thing was. I think it is a whole process of consciousness and over time people recognise some of the things. I don’t want to answer the questions, but I think the Ministers will now take on the questions, although I was hoping that I would have someone from industry. I heard the players from the solid waste management side with useful information and knowledge of that whole management system, but I was hoping that we would have gotten someone with one of the technologies because clearly there is a missing link in our discussion. I am not blaming and there is no fault in that. Obviously it is new territory for most of us from the Government side. Is there anybody who has any final contribution to make from the technology side?”

Mr. Ron Bailey, PR Energy Systems, Inc., USA“PR Energy Systems is in the gasification industry and we are also in the waste to energy industry. A lot of points that I hear are valid around the world. I have done no work in the Caribbean so far, but I have been here many times, not in Grenada, but in the Caribbean, mainly on vacation, but also to visit areas thinking about the waste to energy. I have been in business twenty-eight (28) years now, I think about it back then and I think about it now. I heard the question that was asked about tipping fees earlier and it has seemed to evolved around the point where years ago it was how do we pay for waste disposal, then it changed to we can generate a little energy and I am not just talking about waste, but I am talking about agricultural waste and other things. We can generate a little industry in energy to help pay for the disposal of waste. Now it is evolved to the point where the generation of energy is supposed to pay for all of the waste management process. In most cases I do not see that happening.

We have built waste to energy plants in Scotland and France and in the USA and not all of them were for garbage waste to energy. In every instance there were two (2) separate cost elements. One was the waste management cost and the other was the power generation cost. Although they have to be combined for the total economic picture, to be looked at, if you are going to deal with waste disposal you have to look at that cost. Then you make a fuel out of that waste or a gasifier or some other type of technology and that is a separate cost. Then there is the power generation. If you count the cost of a gas turbine for instance and you are generating electricity,


you are paying for the gas, but not for anything else upstream or downstream. It is a difficult situation. I have not looked clearly into how much waste is produced in each one of these islands. I have heard some say that there is not enough waste generated to be economically feasible. That may or may not be true. It depends on the local situation as far as what is the cost of waste disposal, who will pay for the waste disposal and what is the price of electricity. Generally, we find that if you can sell electricity for 12 to 16 cents per kWh you can pay for the power generation point, but somebody has to pay to make the fuel which is the waste management point”.

His Excellency Dr. Vince Henderson, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Commonwealth of Dominica to the United Nations and SIDS DOCK President “Thank you very much for that contribution. I would now turn to our panellists to respond to some of the questions that have been posed and to some of the comments made. I will allow the Ministers to respond directly to the questions and to use the opportunity to make their closing remarks. We will go with Honourable Ivor Stephenson”.

Responses and Closing Remarks from the Ministerial Panel

Honourable Ivor Stephenson, Minister of Health and Environment, Dominica“Having listened to the comments from the various participants I have realised that from some of the presentations that we have had this morning, that we have a lot of structures existing already at the policy level for example, we have the various structures that exist at the OECS level, we have the ministerial support, we have the legislative framework in many of the islands, the various bills and Litter Acts and environment and health levies that are there to help us manage both our liquid and solid waste. At the regional level we have already in existence the regional organisations, the OECS states, CARICOM, all of the other international organisations, SIDS DOCK, UNIDO and all those that are necessary in helping to improve our solid and liquid waste management systems.

I see the need for the closing of the gaps within these organisations. I think that what we need to do right now is to put more action and probably do some less talking since all of the various representatives that can give advice both on the technological and administrative or policy levels are already in existence. I would like to see how we at the end of this Expo will put more effort into some action and let us move towards developing our waste to energy resources. Thank you”.

His Excellency Dr. Vince Henderson“Thank you very much Minister. Minister Browne there are about four (4) questions or comments and we will also like you to give your closing remarks. Also, if there are any questions that you would like to leave us with because at the end of the day we have to respond to the member states feel free”.

Honourable Luke Browne“I think that one of the things which are clear on the basis of the discussion this morning is that the possibilities to use our waste to generate energy are under explored so to speak. The fact of it being under explored is made clear by the fact that we are just having our 1st Waste to Energy Expo. You would not imagine that the member states of the OECS or CARICOM would really


be in a position to take upon the issue of using our waste to convert it to energy without more forums like these that not only bring proposals to the table, but evaluate those proposals. One of the things that was said was that we need to see how our various agencies and organizations could help with the evaluation of proposals and make determinations on whether or not as individual islands or countries we have the required scale or if we need to team up with other island nation neighbours so that we could achieve that scale. In the Caribbean there is little in the realm of the economy that each country have a sufficient scale to do. My intuitive position is that there needs to be some cross border collaboration on this issue. There is not adequate information and research to inform a Government’s position on this.

The comment was made during the questions recently that some of what is required in the Litter Acts are not being done right now. One component of what was highlighted was the separation of waste. It is not true to say that it is not being done. There is the separation of waste in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and I am sure perhaps in other countries. The plan is to do this on a great scale and interestingly enough because of challenges related to scale, if we looked to produce energy from our waste that might be something that is against the whole concept of separating the garbage. We would have to incinerate everything including what we might need for composting and including the plastics that we might need for recycling. There is that for us to pay attention to in thinking about this issue going forward. Some countries are well developed in tourism. Developing the tourism sector might give a greater prospect of using waste generated from that sector for the generation of energy and so on. I think that in my own country there is going to be considerable development of tourism in the coming period and that might help us in an economically viable way to pursue some of those options.

Reference was made to a tipping fee which I came to understand was a cost associated with taking the garbage and so on to the landfill. There is no tipping fee in St. Vincent. I don’t know how you would implement a tipping fee without an environmental service charge. I don’t know how it will be very difficult to put into place an environmental service charge on the bills that you send to every household. That is a clear option that you could pursue. Unless the political situation is so volatile that a nominal amount of any kind might frustrate the citizens. Of course, it has to be tied to excellent service. I think that one of our strengths in St. Vincent and the Grenadines is that we have an excellent garbage collection and disposal service. I don’t know if it is a model to be emulated or best practice given the Caribbean, but people are satisfied by it and they recognise that what they pay for it is minimal, eleven dollars ($11) monthly compared to the service that they get. That should be something that could be considered for the St. Lucia situation and for other situations.

Suffice it to say that by concluding remarks I am happy that we are off the mark so to speak with a forum such as this. I hope that it is something that allows us to score a lot of runs and not just to stay at the crease facing delivery after delivery without moving forward. Thank you very much”.

His Excellency Dr. Vince Henderson“Thank you very much Minister, thank you. Minister Bowen of course we will like your last word on this. There were questions proposed and comments made. We would like you to leave with us your recommendations on how we can move this process forward. Thanks”


Honourable Gregory Bowen, Minister of Communications, Works, Physical Development, Public Utilities and ICT “Thank you Mr. Facilitator. I want to start my closing comments by complementing the organisers for this very important function. I believe that we are on the right track. Once you are on the right track then the probability of success is extremely high. I have listened to the comments and there are some suggestions coming from them, but I want to make some general broad observations and recommendations:

Individually as countries we must do what we have to do to solve our waste management problem. We have to pay for the service so we cannot shy away from instituting measures to pay for solid waste collection and disposal, fundamental. There are different ways of doing it. In Grenada we have one charge to every consumer. In some fashion every consumer generates waste of one kind or the other. It has gone through and it has worked well. We are not advocating that this is the only way to do it. The system will function if we ensure that we get the financing to pay for it.

In general, we must do what I refer to as technological economics. Getting benefits from our waste and that is moving from waste to energy is one such critical way of getting benefits. There may be other ways that we will have to examine, but this function today is timely, it is a topical issue and it certainly brings benefit.

The electricity sector environment must be such that we attract the investment from the private sector, from donor institutions etcetera. So as a strategy for waste management we must allow persons to come in. Our environment must provide for independent, private power producers and they must be given some sort of incentive and some form of preference for renewables and solid and liquid waste to energy must benefit from those preferences.

The method of payment for the investment and the allocating of cost is critical and that is where the economics come in. For example, generating electricity from waste may be more expensive than generating from solar, wind, water, but when we look at what we are doing to the environment in respect of cleaning up the environment whether liquid or solid, that will have a cost. So for example, if this waste to energy production costs fifteen cents ($0.15) per kWh, we have to look and see what must be paid through solid waste generation strategy and what should be paid for electricity. This is the economics of allocation. So it may come back to the cost that may go for your electricity will be very similar to water and that cost should be charged through the electricity collection rate mechanisms and the portion of the cost for cleaning up the environment should be charged to the environment. It would be up to the individual country if it wants to subsidize. For us to see the benefits and for us to move from waste to energy when it is fifteen cents ($0.15) we will say that six cents ($0.06) of this will be charged to electrical consumers in the same people as the water and sewage and so forth and six cents ($0.06) may be charged per gallon and it may not be the same component, you may have less gallons or more gallons, should be charged in this area. Now we would see the comparative benefits that waste to energy is giving us, because it is not only giving us electricity power, but is giving us something else. If you merge both costs it would never get off the ground.

That is why it is so important as one of the areas that were mentioned before to get our regional institutions with the necessary knowledge to evaluate the project, evaluate the technologies and


advise the various authorities and governments that this is the technology of the day and we can move into it. If a proposal comes before us, they can analyse it and say yes it is viable, but you shall not charge all to electricity because you know that this would not go anywhere, but charge it as the benefits to the various sectors will accrue.

The ICT (information communication technology) for example in the waste and electricity generation, you may have to isolate some of this because you are looking at waste in general, so some charges must go to ICT, somewhere, not only to waste disposal. We do have a brilliant ICT department in the region and the cost must go there. The Government must decide that every citizen must make a contribution to cleaning up the electronic waste because every country in the world and in the region is moving towards ICT. Who should pay for it is not electricity, but ICT. Then we will see all of us moving forward together.

I will repeat that our institutions and I am not saying our institutions within our country, regional institutions like the OECS and CARICOM with the ability, knowledge and competence must get to work more on advising us of the technology and evaluating the proposals that we have before us and so we will at that point in time continue to move forward and reap the benefits, particularly in how do you cost and to which sector should you allocate the cost to. We will see the benefits particularly from the waste to energy division.

Thank you Mr. Moderator and I want to take this opportunity again to compliment all of the organizers and to thank the participants for being here with us in Grenada and for choosing Grenada. I know that we will do our utmost to ensure that your stay is not only enjoyable, but that the results from this should go down on the records to say that today we started the great process to clean up our environment and benefitting our various nations. Thank you”.

His Excellency Dr. Vince Henderson“Thank you panellists and I beg your indulgence with my closing remarks. Clearly this is a great achievement. The fact that we are having this discussion is in itself an achievement. It is one of the times that talk is good. I know most of us we criticise talk, but talk can be good. I don’t know if it has anything to do with my occupation, but in the UN they always say that talk is good. That is what we do all day. Essentially the fact that we are talking we are recognising that there is a problem. That is a very important step. Although we are having a discussion amongst ourselves as OECS I realise, but I am sure that we can expand that discussion to the wider Caribbean.

There are few points that our panellists have left us with or directed us to. Firstly, there is the need for more work to be done. We started the process with the Swedish Energy Agency looking at pilot projects. It seems to me that there is the need for fast tracking that process so we can get those pilot projects and start moving to scaling up the projects that are necessary to look at the viability of waste to energy projects.

Secondly, Government’s policy and policy options. In our pilot projects one of the things to me that we must do is respond to what the Ministers are saying and that is to provide them with policy options. What is the best way to do this? That is one of the weaknesses that I have found as both a practitioner and a researcher. I have found that a lot of the advice that we give governments, we just give governments to go and do, strictly from a technical point of view not taking into consideration that there are policy considerations and that there is a competing policy


that they have to deal with. No Government is going to deal with any policy that will make them unpopular. One of the things that I find lacking in policy advice is that we do not tell the governments here are some options and you may wish to consider one or the other. The fact that politics is real and we shy away from it. That is why we had a Prime Minister here this morning is that people elected him. Then we see how we are shy about politics but politics is the reality of life. Therefore, for governments to take decisions they must be advised properly so that they can be re-elected.

Fundamental is that the state is responsible for managing waste and it will determine what is the best way to manage that waste. What I didn’t hear come out from the discussion and our friend from St. Lucia’s Solid Waste Management made the point in terms of how do you recover the cost of managing that waste, whether it is it through tipping fees or putting it on the bill. Some countries like St. Vincent and the Grenadines have put it on the water bill. We explored that option in Dominica, but we never got to it. Do you know who pays for managing our waste in addition to the tipping fees? The tourists. So if you have a bad year then you don’t have money to clear the rubbish. That is what we have done in a very smart way, but it also has its risks. But here is another thing that I didn’t hear. Every time that you import a car is that you have to pay for disposing of it. Every time that you import a refrigerator you pay for the disposing of it. Minister I don’t know if it is that way in Grenada, but I am talking about Dominica by the way. When you import a computer you pay for disposing it. If you look at the taxes and levies that you pay to import, in Dominica we have a breakdown, for example if your car is more than five (5) years old you pay more.

You may want to go back home and take a closer look and those of us who will be helping in doing the pilot project we have to take a look at the charges that are imposed on imports. You may well be able to have the money to do the gasification plant, because it is already paid for upfront. Please bear in mind in the accounting for some of the countries that you actually have to go back to that point of entry to find out whether you are actually charging people twice for something that they have already paid for. Tires you pay for that. In the importation of tires there is a line item that is for disposal. I think in Dominica it was XCD $5 or $10. We have to do a full accounting of this and we have to ensure that we have to look at the full benefit. If we are going to look at the full benefit we have to go throughout the whole process. It is similar to the argument about fossil fuels and subsidies. We look at the subsidies as if it is just from the user point, but the subsidy starts at the start of the process and the benefits that the oil companies get for example.

I think it is a discussion that we need to expand and I am happy that we have started the process, but we need to allow it to continue and that the work that will be done in the pilot countries, I hope it will give us a snapshot of what exactly is happening and what is going on so we can come with the best recommendations. When we come with the recommendations we should not shy away from the politics. That is the reality of life that we live in. Ladies and gentlemen it seems like I have messed up some of the appetites so I shall stop now”.


REGIONAL EXPERTS’ PANEL:

EXAMINING OPPORTUNITIES FOR WASTE TO ENERGY DEPLOYMENT WITHIN THE CARIBBEAN – THE PRACTICAL AND REALISTIC OPTIONS

Moderator: Dr. Devon Gardner, Programme Manager, CARICOM Secretariat Energy Unit

“Welcome to the second part of the second session. The first activity is the regional experts’ panel. I start by speaking towards what the panel is intending to achieve. This meeting is one of the rare occasions in the Caribbean where we have cross sectional and cross disciplinary participation in a matter relating to energy. Many of the conversations that we have relating to energy are with energy experts and I am sure that many of the conversations held about waste are typically with waste management experts. Never before have we sat in a room with waste management experts who are the people at the tip of the spear and try to understand how the intersection between what they are doing and what it is that we have an interest in doing can come together to give us solutions that make sense. The experts’ panel is a mix of people who are energy and waste management specialists. Some are waste to energy experts having done waste to energy in their own right. The panel is intended to examining opportunities for waste management to energy in the Caribbean and the key piece that I would like to highlight is the practical and realistic options.

One of the issues is that where waste to energy and any other technology types are considered you have a wide spectrum of technologies that are readily available. Technology is a tool and the human technology interaction is important for the technology to work. The process of selection of technology and using the technology that is appropriate to the circumstance. Not just the one that can convert what it is that it is intending to convert to a useful product, but the one which can be afforded, maintained and utilised in an optimised way is important. Sometimes we can afford the technology by the way of cost, but we are unable to afford it in terms of our ability to use or maintain the technology well. That is something that is important in our discussions as we go forward.

What we are intending to talk about is to understand what has been the past and present initiatives on waste to energy that these experts may have been pursuing in the Caribbean context, understanding what the outcomes of the initiatives have been and in a sense setting the radar on how best we can utilize the lessons that have been learnt from the experiences that the experts on this panel have derived over the years of doing waste to energy projects and activities in the Caribbean.

I have here with me Mr. Ricardo Ward, Project Manager in the Ministry of the Environment and Drainage, Barbados. Some of you may be familiar that Barbados is actively pursuing a waste to energy project and Ricardo has been one of the drivers in that seat. We have also Mr. Henrik Personn from Germany who is one of the GIZ experts working in the region as a team expert. He


is an expert in renewable energy and is based in the 5Cs in Belize and has been doing a significant amount of work on waste to energy. Recently, Mr. Personn was responsible for implementing a biogas laboratory with the 5Cs and the University of Belize and supported by GIZ and the Caribbean Community. Mr. Dieter Rothenberger is the Head of the German-Grenadian Climate Programme, ICCAS and is based in Grenada. They have done scoping exercises to pilot programmes. We also have Ms. Julia Brown, Divisional Manager, Development, Scientific Research Council, Jamaica and last but not least Mr. Joseph Williams, Consultant, Renewable Energy Unit, Caribbean Development Bank, Barbados. It takes cash to care. The Bank will have to provide perspective today on what is possible and realistic. I am hoping that we will be able to go to 3:30 p.m. Each panellist will have a chance to speak on an opening”.

Mr. Rickardo Ward, Project Manager, Ministry of the Environment and Drainage, Barbados“Welcome to the second part of the second session. The first activity is the regional experts’ panel. I start by speaking towards what the panel is intending to achieve. This meeting is one of the rare occasions in the Caribbean where we have cross sectional and cross disciplinary participation in a matter relating to energy. Many of the conversations that we have relating to energy are with energy experts and I am sure that many of the conversations held about waste are typically with waste management experts. Never before have we sat in a room with waste management experts who are the people at the tip of the spear and try to understand how the intersection between what they are doing and what it is that we have an interest in doing can come together to give us solutions that make sense. The experts’ panel is a mix of people who are energy and waste management specialists. Some are waste to energy experts having done waste to energy in their own right. The panel is intended to examining opportunities for waste management to energy in the Caribbean and the key piece that I would like to highlight is the practical and realistic options.

One of the issues is that where waste to energy and any other technology types are considered you have a wide spectrum of technologies that are readily available. Technology is a tool and the human technology interaction is important for the technology to work. The process of selection of technology and using the technology that is appropriate to the circumstance. Not just the one that can convert what it is that it is intending to convert to a useful product, but the one which can be afforded, maintained and utilised in an optimised way is important. Sometimes we can afford the technology by the way of cost, but we are unable to afford it in terms of our ability to use or maintain the technology well. That is something that is important in our discussions as we go forward.

What we are intending to talk about is to understand what has been the past and present initiatives on waste to energy that these experts may have been pursuing in the Caribbean context, understanding what the outcomes of the initiatives have been and in a sense setting the radar on how best we can utilize the lessons that have been learnt from the experiences that the experts on this panel have derived over the years of doing waste to energy projects and activities in the Caribbean.

I have here with me Mr. Ricardo Ward, Project Manager in the Ministry of the Environment and Drainage, Barbados. Some of you may be familiar that Barbados is actively pursuing a waste to energy project and Ricardo has been one of the drivers in that seat. We have also Mr. Henrik


Personn from Germany who is one of the GIZ experts working in the region as a team expert. He is an expert in renewable energy and is based in the 5Cs in Belize and has been doing a significant amount of work on waste to energy. Recently, Mr. Personn was responsible for implementing a biogas laboratory with the 5Cs and the University of Belize and supported by GIZ and the Caribbean Community. Mr. Dieter Rothenberger is the Head of the German-Grenadian Climate Programme, ICCAS and is based in Grenada. They have done scoping exercises to pilot programmes. We also have Ms. Julia Brown, Divisional Manager, Development, Scientific Research Council (SRC), Jamaica. She is the lone female representative on the panel. SRC has been one of those institutions that have been engaged in this waste to energy thing from since the 1980s. They have been actively involved in the development of biodigestion systems and they do have a very significant biodigestion programme and you will learn and understand more from Julia later.

Last, but not least is the man whom I succeeded as Programme Manager at CARICOM Secretariat, Mr. Joseph Williams who is now the Consultant on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Unit at the Caribbean Development Bank. The Bank is always important as many times we forget where it is that we are going to get the money from when we have these discussions. It is always important that while we discuss the politics, the technical solutions and the social issues that we also remember that it takes cash to care. As a Prime Minister of ours would normally say and so the Bank is going to have to provide us with some perspective here today on what is possible. For us to know what is realistic and possible, the intervention of the Bank is critical because without the money we really would not have any realistic and possible options available to us.

I am hoping that we will be able to go till 3:30 p.m. We have roughly fifty-five (55) minutes. The intention is to give each panellist a chance to speak towards an issue in an opening. Then we will open the floor for a discussion and dialogue. Then we will revert to the panellists for closing remarks. I will start by turning to Mr. Ricardo Ward to ask him to share with us the Barbados experience and to tell us what is really the situation going on in Barbados and what can we learn from the past and present approaches that have been taken in Barbados”.

Mr. Rickardo Ward“Good afternoon. Thanks for the introduction which is very far from what the truth is, in that I have to blame Al for this because I don’t actually work in the area of waste management at all. When I made inquiry to Al I asked him what was it he expected of me. I gave him some examples and I am supposed to speak on financing, particularly accessing resources through international mechanisms. Be that as it may, I think I can say a bit not specifically about waste management and as we all know a very controversial issue going on in Barbados right now as it relates to waste management. As a good public servant I shall reserve comment in international forum about my opinions on that. Generally, I will speak on the issues of project management and those that will pertain based on experience in Barbados and probably across the region that would perhaps apply to developing and rolling out a waste to energy project.

In a large part, I think that some of us we want to pursue projects at a time when we are not really ready. We don’t have the feasibility studies and all of the other relevant documentation available to inform the project fully necessary, and we roll right ahead and we encounter a lot of these concerns.


Another issue is that at the national level we spoke earlier about partnerships. Partnerships have to extend and you also have to look inwardly also where there is internal collaboration as well, both within the Ministry that you are in and also across Government, such that the priority that is the project is not merely the priority of the Project Manager or the priority of the Ministry, but certainly the priority of the Government and people. I say that because I have found that a lot of the delays that one would encounter are external to the Project Manager and the Ministry and is largely reliant on several other things that are germane to the success of the project.

A clear example in Barbados is always the concern of the role of the Physical Planning Department in terms of reviewing, approving and considering EIAs (Environmental Impact Assessments) and it is not necessarily supportive of development. What does that mean? It can mean several things. It is probably not sufficiently proactive in terms of providing adequate information upfront. At the same time, that is a statement coming from a third party, a politician or whoever else. The call for an EIA is a very valid call and you have departments that are trying their best to try to safeguard the resources, environment and the social fabric of the country, water resources and biological resources etcetera. To say in a very candid way that the Department and the process is not supportive of development is a bit too far a statement that one can just easily accept. I do accept that on the side of the Physical Planning that there is a bit more work to do to expedite the process of agreeing and allowing projects to go ahead.

Another thing that we don’t do very well is to document our experiences and try to improve. You find that as you move from project to project the same things tend to occur. We know that with projects with the IDB (Inter-American Development Bank) or with the CDB or whoever the international financing partner would be or may be, issues of conditions precedent can become quite burdensome. Even if you are exposed to that, the system that is the Government or whoever is calling for the project needs to act expeditiously to put the requisite things in place to ensure that you stay true to the commitment and the obligation that it is a national project worthy of our time and effort and so on. In terms of waste to energy if we are going to roll out projects certainly in Barbados and in the Caribbean, there are all those concerns we have to take on board and plan effectively by choosing the right technology to support our desires. We have to ensure that we take account not only the cost of the venture, but all of the other sustainable development gains into factoring whether or not it is economic or not. I will pause here for now and hopefully come back if there are any questions”.

Dr. Devon Gardner, Programme Manager, CARICOM Secretariat Energy Programme“Thank you Ricardo. One of the key takeaways from what you mentioned speaks to the state of readiness which is critical. If the country or the stakeholders are not ready, it does not matter you are going to have problems and that is a critical point that was raised. The point of partnership and you critically raised the issue that partnerships are not only external, but also internal. As in many governments from time to time you have bounded rationality which does affect the ability of ministries and agencies to cooperate.

You spoke of many other things, but speaking of bounded rationality I turn to Julia Brown who works at the Scientific Research Council (SRC), but even more than her experience at the Scientific Research Council, Ms. Brown has also served on evaluation committees for waste to energy projects in Jamaica. One as I may recall was intended for the Riverton City Landfill


which is the largest landfill in the Caribbean of its kind. Some will say the Riverton City dump, but nonetheless Julia I would like you at this point to share with us your experiences in a sense. One, speaking to the matter of readiness as raised by Ricardo and how readiness have affected what was being done in Jamaica and also the issue of bounded rationality and how that may have affected the state of waste to energy development. In particular, what are the opportunities to move forward with technologies such as biodigestion which your institution is a leader in?”

Ms. Julia Brown, Divisional Manager, Development, Scientific Research Council (SRC), Jamaica“Okay thanks. Good afternoon everyone. It is always a pleasure to get the opportunity to share especially on this topic of waste to energy. I would basically start by saying that the SRC has been involved in the whole aspect of waste to energy since the 1970s at the first oil crisis. The whole focus at that time had to do with digestion of animal waste, mainly concentrating on household or families to provide the resources of energy for these households. However, when oil prices decreased we pretty much continued, but with a more relaxed approach. We came through the 1980s with some financial and technical support from OLADE, and at that time we linked with the Indians and the Chinese more or less to concretize a particular system to suit the demands of a Jamaican condition.

In 1993 the real breakthrough came about when we landed a project with the GTZ (German Agency for Technical Cooperation) and the project not only looked at the whole anaerobic technology for waste to energy, but utilising the technology as a treatment approach for waste and then inheriting the benefits of the technology. We spent ten (10) years in research and pilot scale implementation with technical and financial support from the Germans and so even coming out of that we were able to develop a system that we actually call ours. We have patented the system and it’s the system of choice for decentralised treatment of domestic sewage in Jamaica. Most of the households and the apartment and housing complexes do carry the system. We continue to build on it and really now the whole aspect of treatment of waste to generate the benefit of those treatment is a major part of our operation.

One of the things that I like with our focus is that was basically that we did not, and no one can come and say that this is the system that you must use. Being a research institution our aim was the whole adaptation and optimisation of a technology. A technology that works well under German, Dutch or Chinese conditions may not work well in Jamaica. Jamaicans with our peculiarities really cannot just take something and work. A case in point is that when the Germans came on board all of the digesters that we had were actually manually fed and you would get calls daily saying that the digesters were not working. When you visited the site the digesters were not working because the guys were not feeding the digesters. They thought it could work without them putting the waste. Here is what it was - Jamaicans do not want to come into contact with their waste. Even though the guys on the farms were instructed to load the inlet of the digesters, they never did and simply took the waste from the pen and threw it on the other side instead of going to the inlet. Then they would tell their boss that the digesters did not work.One of the first approaches that we took was to gravity feed all of the digesters. Now the digesters work as gems. Simple approaches like that we recognized that basically your technology must suit the occasion and suit the people. The people must be in charge of the technology.


The basic thing is that we adopted the anaerobic technology. There are two (2) technologies for waste treatment. There is anaerobic and there is aerobic. There are variations of those, but there are only two (2) technologies. We say natural systems, but natural systems work with aerobic and anaerobic. We chose anaerobic for the mere fact it is an investment technology. There is no two (2) ways about it. Anaerobic is a benefit based on the fact that we don’t have oil and therefore, we cannot afford to provide energy twenty-four seven (24/7) to a treatment plant.

I will tell you this that there are times when you live close to a treatment plant in Jamaica and it is an aerobic plant and it starts to let off some lovely fumes and you may be wondering what it is that happened. All that happened is that a company cannot afford to run their energy over the weekend. Therefore, they turn off the plants on the weekend and on Monday morning it is started up again. When it starts it means the development of bacteria and everything, so they whole thing starts stinking. So we acknowledge that anaerobic is the best technology for us and it’s a tropical technology.

As somebody who spent a lot of time in Europe, I am usually taken aback with how the Europeans utilise the anaerobic technology and why they do it. I thought that they have a lot of money and have no need to do that. Just recently, we did a tour in western Germany and Austria and I was amazed at the amount of anaerobic plants for everything. There was an anaerobic plant for grass, for different biomass, for animal waste and for sewage. The whole point is that these plants were providing energy for the communities where the plants were. They would say to you that the interest rate is so low here that there is no need to put our monies in the banks. Two (2) persons would join together, devise a strategy and put up a treatment plan and that is the investment as they would sell it to the grid and then the community would take back from the grid and they could also provide heating for the community.

On a global standpoint with anaerobic technology, all of the famers and industries that are producing methane, which is one of the world’s wickedest gases, who do not capture and combust it, are creating more problems than anything else. The anaerobic technology is excellent because it is a low carbon process and it reduces the impact of the greenhouse gas emission which is methane. Methane is twenty-one (21) times more powerful than carbon monoxide. This is why anaerobic technology is a beauty because it is the only technology that will take the waste and convert it in a controllable manner into methane which can be combusted. The source of energy and the stabilised sludge that is produced by the technology makes it very lucrative.

From our standpoint we have done work with every waste that you can think of. We have done work and developed protocols with sugar, coffee, distilleries, food processing facilities, slaughter houses, farms, sewage, kitchen and garden waste and biomass. We have the protocols for the treatment of those wastes.

Biogas is in boilers, in combined heat and power plants. The in thing now is to convert it to bio methane for vehicle fuel and for the grid. I have travelled for two (2) weeks in buses run on biogas.

From our local standpoint we have done electricity generation. We have taken a farm and a dairy factory off the grid. We have done it for cooking, lighting, brooders and heating. You name it we have done it. The strategies that we have utilised to implement the technologies have not been a


‘go go’ from day one. Trust me, the hardest thing to do is to get people to adapt to new strategies. There were several strategies that we had to implement and of course it needed funds.

We are in a mode now where pretty much most of the ground work has been done. Public education and public awareness programmes to create awareness were a critical part of our doing in the beginning and aggressive marketing. In addition to research, we are service oriented. The division that I am the Head of is basically the service centre for waste management, biotechnology and food processing. We have the service side for income generation. So we had aggressive marketing, forums, target group presentation, one and one presentation with waste producers, conducted site assessment and prepared feasibility studies and proposals for funding, based on assisting our clientele in getting to the funding agencies. With technical assistance we provide for regulatory approvals because the regulators are there.

A major part of the programme is the training and there is this school aspect. There is the whole aspect of operational maintenance. We take the after service very seriously and it is probably why today we are still in the business because the after service is so critical. We provide technical supervision and from the investment part we have the major contractors in Jamaica working with the SRC. Right now the SRC is embarking on a massive programme in changing out the systems in the hospitals. We are the technical persons, but the contractors work along with us in implement the system. This is where the business side of the programme comes in.

Going forward our main emphasis is that we are in discussion with the Brazilians through our parent Ministry which is the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining for the generation of biomethane. We are very advanced where that is concerned. We think that is where the real breakthrough for the biogas/anaerobic technology will happen in the region.

One of the difficulties that we have when we talk about putting a system in place in a complex is the cost for end use equipment. There are suppliers like GE (General Electric) and Geoff Barker in Australia that have all types of end use equipment for biogas, but then there is the cost for it. One of the things that we are strategizing on with the Ministry is to look at how we could fund end use equipment just to see a more wide-scale implementation and utilisation of the biogas. That is basically what we are about. We are doing a lot with biogas at the SRC”.

Dr. Devon Gardner, Programme Manager, CARICOM Secretariat Energy Programme“Thank you Julia. There is a lot of information contained in that presentation as advised by Julia. Much has been done and the SRC has been in the business for a while. They are not Johnny come lately and the SRC is still continuing the process. There is a lot that the region can learn and understand from the SRC model and we will continue over the next three (3) to four (4) days. How many persons here are energy experts by the show of hands? How many are from the energy sector? How many from the waste management sector? How many are from Government who are from policy and decision making and have no expertise in either waste or energy? How many are bankers and financers? Alright, Julia just ended on a note about financing and we seemed to have left the bankers out for some reason. They were invited, but nonetheless, we will get to Mr. Joe Williams who will give the Bank’s perspective from the Caribbean Development Bank, even though he is more of an energy man than a banking man, but he has become a very good banking convert in recent times. Before I get to Joseph, I want to get the German


experience here in the Caribbean with the experiences of Hendrix and Dieter. Dieter will speak of the experiences here in Grenada”.

Mr. Dieter Rothenberger, Head of German-Grenadian Pilot Programme, “Integrated Climate Change Adaptation Strategies” (ICCAS), GIZ

“Thank you very much Devon for the introduction and I am pleased to be with you in Grenada and I am also pleased to speak after Julia as she helped me out on a lot of things. Actually I am neither a pure energy nor a pure waste expert. I am like an environment economist so I am attacking the topic from another direction.

I want to give the perspective of Grenada, basically the process we have seen in Grenada for the last one and a half years. I have to give a lot of credit to my colleague Dr. Andreas Taeuber with the REETA Project. He started off here in Grenada with a scoping study on waste to energy, basic information collection and ideas generation. That scoping study covered effluent from solid waste, distilleries, agriculture waste, slaughter house waste, waste water and basically everything that can be considered as waste was in there. An analysis on the technical and financial aspects was included in that scoping study.

The idea basically came from the knowledge and what we had heard from our counterparts here in Grenada. The problem is not only an energy problem, but a waste problem in terms of the landfill in Perseverance reaching the capacity limit. We have to find a solution and one of the ideas out there was incineration. This was looked into as a technical solution to the issue. While on the one hand it looks and sounds interesting and promising, this study and other studies done before were putting a question mark on the economics. To what extent would incineration on a small island like Grenada with about 40,000 tonnes per year of waste produced is really financially feasible. Here I would like to applaud what you said this morning in terms of if we talk about waste to energy and especially when we talk about incineration, we have to think about issues like tipping fees and subsidies. In this way we solve not only our energy problem, but also our waste problem and as a by-product we produce energy.

Other studies even the Clinton Foundation and 5Cs were doing some work on that and it was very clear that economically, if you installed a system there and ran it, it would be economically difficult without any additional money flows coming in. We took the study and one of the recommendations of the study was at the beginning and I don’t want to say focus on low hanging fruit, because the fruit is still quite high on the tree, but to look at organic waste with regard to agricultural waste and effluents from distilleries to see to what extent biogas can be produced from that.

On the one hand of course is the issue that I am running a climate change adaptation project and an energy project here in Grenada. This is coming to the heart of my project here as well. As Prime Minister Mitchell mentioned this morning that waste and actually the non-treatment of waste in particular effluent is having a strong impact on the ecosystem and also has a strong effect on the impact of climate change which the country already feels with regard to mangrove areas if coastal zones have been polluted. The safety and protection for these ecosystems are not there anymore. By polluting these ecosystems, we are risking more impact from climate change.


There are two (2) things that a lot of people are talking about in Grenada as well. One is the effluent from the distillery and the other one is agriculture waste with particular focus on pig pens and pig farms and that waste going into the marine environment. With Grenada being a small island and I think that some analysis was being done that showed that everything you put in the centre of Grenada after forty-five (45) minutes it is in the marine environment. There is no cleaning effect and it just goes directly there. Also, on the East coast we have MPAs (marine protected areas) which suffer from these kinds of effluents.

We said that we would look into that on the one hand and we looked into waste and the treatment of waste and pollution. Also, we are looking into the financial side of it. I truly believe that for sustainable and long term rollout of the technologies, either at the very small scale as what we are looking at in the farming sector or larger scale, with the economics and the financing is the key. These projects which we are now trying to roll out are meant to pay back the investment in a short term, within a few years. This is obviously not the solution for the large scale problem in Grenada. Although I have to say that twenty-seven percent (27%) of all waste which goes to the landfill is organic. We can reduce that with the biogas and other treatment. We have already done a good share with reducing the problem. The small scale farming sector is on the one hand very attractive because you can work with small scale solutions. We are happy to hear of the SRC examples and we can base our idea on that as well with anaerobic technology.

Also, beside the technology the capacity building is key. The example was nicely put in that the people must clearly understand what the system is all about. What we are planning to do in Grenada now at the farming level is a project jointly with a German company Ashworth, the Energy Division, Agricultural Department and the Fisheries Division to establish ten (10) small to medium size anaerobic digesters, to have a comprehensive capacity building training and awareness part with it and to monitor the financial side to see to what extent the biogas that will be produced can be used locally to replace diesel and LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas). For the farms which we have done in our first draft assessment, they have all come up with a payback period of one (1) and two (2) years for the investment. Considering the use of the biogas it is often quite forgotten on then energy side, that you also have fertilizer which is produced which can replace the artificial fertilizer which is also a major cost element for the farmer. Basically, we are optimistic that with this first small step in that direction that we can have some traction and are able to also attract awareness in the process.

The third element in the project is technology capacity building. When it comes to the financing one of the key barriers for most projects in the Caribbean in particular, the waste to energy projects is the upfront investment. Even if the system only costs a few thousand XCD (Eastern Caribbean Dollars), where does a small farmer actually have the money to put this upfront? We are looking into a light and simple version of energy contracting where the system supplier would be paid not upfront, but in the instalments through the savings on the LPG and diesel costs. At the same time we will work with the local financing institutions, the local banks and credit unions, because they are also quite often a bottleneck. It is a pity that the banking sector is not represented here, but they are quite often a bottleneck, because this kind of finance for these projects is quite often a difficult thing for them to do. We are trying to build capacity not only on a technical level, but also on a financial level.


The second project we are looking at was also based on the study that was done by the REETA project and it is to work with the Clarkes Court Distillery in treating their effluence with an anaerobic digester. A study that we have undertaken showed that one-hundred percent (100%) of the diesel consumption which they use in the production can be replaced. There is the possibility to produce additional electricity and we would have to look into the electricity sector which is a different story and monopoly. In principle, it is a similar approach and the only small difference is that we are talking about a much larger investment. The Clarkes Court Distillery in principle has already signalled that they are ready to put in some money and the system supplier was ready to put in some money. The investment contractor would also be paid back from the savings generated. At the moment the direct payback period is roughly about four (4) years”.

Dr. Devon Gardner, Programme Manager, CARICOM Secretariat Energy Programme“Thank you Dieter. This is very good progress in Grenada and you have certainly raised some very strong points. The ideas generation is an important starting point for you to make progress. Importantly too is the issue of finance and the issue of legislation. How can the legislation support what it is intended especially when you are looking into areas that may be extremely touchy like electricity generation? However, there are opportunities that may not need electricity generation as an end product or output. The impact on climate change directly and indirectly by fertilizer replacement is something that is also very important to understand. We are just about on time so I am going to ask the others to please adhere to the time and I know that Henrik is coming on next and I know Joseph and we have two (2) other speakers. I will ask Henrik Personn of the CCCCC/5Cs to speak really to the work that has been done so far with the biogas lab and say what are the options and the opportunities available for those who are intending to pursue biogas opportunities through the laboratory”.

Mr. Henrik Personn, Renewable Energy Expert, Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC/5Cs), Belize“Thank you Devon and hello everyone, I think that everything that needed to be said was already said by Dieter, Julia and Ricardo and I can really keep it short. In Belize we implemented by involving interested parties and this is important if you are talking about practical and realistic options, you have to talk with interested parties. Previously to see if there was real interest there or not and if the project can be developed or not. I had a few talks with the University of Belize and they signalled their interest in a laboratory for local analysis of organic waste. The Ministry of Energy in Belize is very supportive of biomass and a waste to energy project as well. There was no problem with developing this project further so I had talked with GIZ and REETA for financing and they were convinced by this project. It took us a little bit longer as usual in the Caribbean, everyone knows these problems. Finally we managed to implement the Biogas Lab in Belize. At the moment it is up and running. It was opened with a ceremony in November of last year. The first test was done. We are analysing local crops and waste that is being produced at the University.

The second activity in this whole project is a big potential study for the whole of Belize to analyse all kinds of biomass that could be used for biogas generation, to showcase that this biogas is feasible and it is not rocket science and could also work in the Caribbean and that it can also generate monies for the parties which install such systems.


Today, I got word that the tender was signed so we have a contract with a company that will take the next five and a half (5.5) months into the study and they will come over to Belize to analyse, walk around and to see what is growing, where it is growing, who is owning the waste, what are they doing with the waste and how it can be utilised for energy production.

We will have a few projects in the future which of course will be developed with the parties and get their interest and then secure the funding. There will be a pre-feasibility study for San Pedro Island where there are lots of tourists, but the waste water goes into the sea. They have just opened a transfer station for municipal waste so there is actually a big possibility or a very nice option to plan a waste treatment plant right in between both the proposed collection place to treat waste and generate electricity for the island, produce some green electricity and prove that these cases can be developed”.

Dr. Devon Gardner, Programme Manager, CARICOM Secretariat Energy Programme“Thank you Henrik and you are just about on the cusp of time. At this stage colleagues we still have Joseph Williams. We have had some interesting developments. Henrik spoke of the fact that it is important to identify interested parties and also the importance of ensuring that you work through the issues in a methodological way, so that delays can be avoided as much as possible, with the understanding that you will experience delays. Sometimes we get frustrated by delays, but it is important to understand that it is something that we build into our contingencies as we work forward.

With the issue of finance, we say that no banker is in the room, but there is a pseudo banker somewhere inside of here. I have Mr. Joseph Williams who is a sustainable energy adviser in the Renewable Energy Unit, at the CDB, so he works in a Bank and he understands therefore, some of the nuances of the Development Bank supporting projects such as these which are development projects to a large extent. In fact, as we speak about waste to energy and we spoke about waste management contributions and the co-benefits to climate, there is a sense that there is a public service obligation piece that is linked to the waste to energy efforts in as much as there is a potential investment side. Given that you are a Development Bank and waste to energy is a development tool, what is the experience of the Bank in waste to energy and in a sense can you say to us what is being contemplated if anything, with the Bank’s operation in the waste to energy space, if possible?

Mr. Joseph Williams, Consultant, Renewable Energy Unit, Caribbean Development Bank, Barbados

“The CDB as you know has been around supporting energy projects for decades. The Bank has done two (2) significant interventions in waste to energy. In the 1980s there was a pilot project intervention with USAID and GTZ on biogas and I think that one of those plants is still operational in Barbados. There was a Belcogen plant which was really a co-finance arrangement with other financiers. I would say that these were really the two (2) significant interventions in this space.


As you are aware the Bank has signalled and has made significant moves towards increasing its focus to support sustainable energy. We are still at a starting stage in terms of activities on the ground, but we have developed a policy which is very clear about what the priorities are. Let me say right up front that any bankable project around mature technology in waste to energy the Bank is willing and ready to support and to look at it. The fact is that waste to energy was not identified as one of the top priorities given the Board’s view that being a small bank and the capacity that we had, we should focus on some areas. Waste to energy is one of the areas that the Bank would support and is prepared to put the necessary resources to support, but it was not identified as a top priority. When you look at the policy you would see that kind of distinction. Suffice it to say that one of the strategies is that of developing mechanism to support the development of renewable energy as we proceed. In other words, the current policy and strategy really falls in line with the Bank’s broader strategic plan which runs until 2019. As I mentioned before, one of the strategies in supporting energy is that of developing appropriate mechanisms that will help to advance different interventions and advance technologies that will help with the transformation of the energy sector. So to that extent, if it is recognised that waste to energy is one of those areas that require support and needs special mechanisms to support same like facilities and special types of concessional resources, then the Bank is prepared and willing to work with members to support that.

In the main the Bank has two (2) categories of resources. There is ordinal and capital resources based on the balance sheet and then there are special development resources for which some borrowing countries will be eligible. We are also in the market locally and globally looking at special resources to support different interventions. One of those sources is the Green Climate Fund that we are actively trying to get a credit for. We also have the Climate Action Line of Credit which is one from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and it is really an interest rate subsidy up to fifty percent (50%) of the project cost. All of these are readily available for sustainable energy projects which fall under the climate umbrella. These are resources that are readily available, but we do as part of the strategy, actively seek to access appropriate concessional type resources to support various areas. In that regard, the Bank is seeking to be an intermediary to ensure that the different interventions can be supported.

Before I joined CDB I always made the criticism that CDB was not supporting certain types of projects especially smaller types of projects. It is really an interesting revelation when you get to understand what goes in to supporting these projects. The transaction cost is a significant one. As a matter of fact, I say to people that if the project is under two (2) million dollars it does not make sense for the Bank to look at it based on the approach. I see the need for significant support for intermediaries in countries and we are looking at that very seriously. There are some intermediary institutions like the development banks and so on through which the Bank can channel resources to support smaller types of projects. There is a move to really expand that approach to ensure that we are able to be more relevant to some of those needs.

There are issues that surround the need to be compatible with multilaterals in terms of their approaches. For example, an appraisal team has to focus on the gender and the environment is a big part of it. It is a significant output when it comes to appraisals. Another revelation that I had was that in the policy space we talk about what needs to be supported through the development banking effort, but the reality especially when it comes to investment project leads to the question of who will take the loan. That leads to the question of whether the entity is able to


repay a loan. These really change the way that things are looked at. There is a need for significant support along the way before we can get to the investment to help some of the entities to be able to get to the investment stage. I just want to mention that there are a few things that we think need to be addressed in the context of the waste to energy space for us to be able to really scale up. One if the whole question of the legislative regulatory framework. The question of the consistent availability of the quantity of the feed stock in many of the areas remains a big issue. It is nice to do a small scale pilot intervention, but if we are talking about significant interventions then that is going to come up. The life of these investments sometimes runs fifteen (15) to thirty (30) years. Is there the feedstock to support that over the time that you can take to the Bank? It comes down to agreements around supply and so on. These two (2) areas need to be addressed if we are really serious about having some scaled interventions in terms of investment projects. Thank you”.

Dr. Devon Gardner, Programme Manager, CARICOM Secretariat Energy Programme“Excellent presentation. Please give a round of applause to the panellists for their comments so far now that we are finished with the presentations. Coming out of those presentations so far some key things emerged. The last set of things that emerged a while ago from Joseph were very important to. The issue of legislation came back up on the table and the issue of transaction cost and that is a critical one. It is not just the cost of mobilizing in respect of the Bank, but the transaction cost that are related to the additionality of the technology transfer, of moving a technology or application that may be German or Austrian and adapting it and adopting it as necessary was something that was spoken about earlier by my colleague from the SRC.

In this comes the fact that institutions such as the CCREEE and SIDS Dock with help from the development partners like the GIZ with the approach that we want to take to develop a project under the GEF we can really generate the kind of capacity building both in terms of in-house capacity that could be stable capacity as well as transient capacity that could be prepared to help to reduce some of those transaction cost. A significant piece of transaction cost has to do with capacity. The time, effort and information that are required to prepare the information as Joseph had said that the Bank needs are things that would cost money or require human personnel. Also the issue of concept proof, the art of learning by doing and doing by learning is something that is very important. At this stage I invite the floor, those who have interventions that they would like to make to please show your hands”.


Mr. Hayden Romono, Trinidad and Tobago“Julia really interesting work at SRC. I just wondered in terms of the quantity of materials going to your landfills, have you been able to quantify the reduction based on the work that you are doing and is there any plans to go into other solid wastes again with reducing the quantities of materials going into the landfills in terms of waste to energy?”

Ms. Julia Brown, Divisional Manager, Development, Scientific Research Council (SRC), Jamaica


“The setup of waste structure in Jamaica - municipal waste is treated separately from private waste, so the sewage and waste generated from the agro and industrial operations, so the waste is owned. The municipal solid waste is owned by the National Solid Waste Management Authority and that waste is special and you cannot get into that waste unless there are special agreements. Right now that waste goes to the landfill to our converted dump and that waste is about sixty percent (60%) organic and the rest being inorganic. One of the reasons why we have these constant fires is that the organic waste produces the methane and everything is happening there.

Solid waste is politics. We concentrate on the industries like agro, farming community, industrial and domestic sewage. Even that too can become political because sewage is owned by the National Water Commission. Even if it is a private household, if a private household is within 100m of a main, your sewage must go to the end of the sea, so waste is a little tricky. We concentrate on where we have control and that is the private waste which is agro waste, industrial and farming waste and sewage, when it is away from the main. However, discussions are there because we have been involved in several proposals on book for the municipal solid waste, however, we are not able to reach there yet and discussions are in place for the treatment of that waste.

Dr. Devon Gardner, Programme Manager, CARICOM Secretariat Energy Programme “Just for your benefit tomorrow there will be a session which will be Panel Discussion 1 in the morning which will speak to the fact that a number of countries have attempting to develop waste to energy projects without success and to get the experiences of Jamaica and the Bahamas. A lot more of that will come out in tomorrow’s 11:30 a.m. session. Also, the presentations prior to that which will speak to the experience of the Caribbean in using waste to energy opportunities will discuss that more”.

Ms. Denise Forrest, Managing Director and Principal Consultant, Forrest and Associates, Jamaica“My question is to our CDB representative who made a statement and I am curious about the issue relating to feedstock availability. When I think of some of the sectors, I see us never running out of them. In what particular sectors are we challenged on the issue of feedstock availability? When we look at the solid waste sector and the waste generated, I question the comment on availability and when we look perhaps at human waste and the potential for waste to energy. So I am wondering in what sectors do you find that there is a challenge related to feedstock availability”.

Mr. Joseph Williams, Consultant, Renewable Energy Unit, Central Development Bank, Barbados“As indicated before, at the point of writing the strategy and policy for the Bank we were constrained to look at what are the things that we would focus on over the strategic planning horizon. So when you look at the options for sustainable energy, in this case renewable energy and baseload type, this may not be applicable for Jamaica, but generally in many of the countries a number of the issues that came up from speaking to players on the field because there were some proposals that were made and most of them were unsolicited proposals from Government and the question was why did these projects not advance to implementation. That was a common point coming up, not just in terms of availability, but there was the issue of quantity and characterization, understanding what you really have and if it suits the technology being


presented. The issue is really in the context of municipal waste and mainly in the area of solid waste. The whole question of what exactly do you have and the data that could support that was lacking. So there was the general sense that availability was one of the issues stymying these projects being advanced to implementation. There were issues that came up from initial analysis that said to us that we need to see how we could support the development of this area a little bit more before we treat it as one of the areas of priority for investment. When I say priority in terms of supporting investment project, we understand its supporting capacity development and the framework as part of the strategy and policy to help the country. Certainly, in terms of priority for investments we think that it is a little way off. The needs are there and the mechanisms can be developed”.

Dr. Devon Gardner, Programme Manager, CARICOM Secretariat Energy Programme“Thank you Joseph. You spoke of the Bank’s strategy with respect to energy is there a Bank strategy with respect to environmental management and if so, what does the Bank’s strategy on environmental management says in regards to waste management? We really should be looking beyond the energy strategy of the Bank”.

Mr. Joseph Williams, Consultant, Renewable Energy Unit, Caribbean Development Bank, Barbados“The broader framework for the intervention in this area really is our overarching climate resilience strategy as well as the environmental policy. Waste management is integrated into this and it is one of the clear areas of focus for the Bank from the environmental standpoint. There is no question about it. The priority that I am talking about is in terms of energy and the question is just getting in this area we have constraints in terms of capacity and how best we can be impactful. It is in that context that we thought it was necessary in the strategic planning period to look at some priority areas. So as I mentioned before, if a bankable project around a mature technology is presented the bank is opened for business to support the investment, but in terms of how we manage our resources. The short answer to the question is yes, it is a priority and is a part of the environmental policy, but also under the climate resilience aspect”.

Mr. Eric Roennols, Environmental Consultant and Senior Advisor, Swedish Waste Management Association, Sweden“My name is Eric Roennols and I come from Sweden from the Sweden Waste Management Association. I am very glad to be here to hear all of the interesting remarks. We are talking about waste to energy and in Sweden one of the first investments we made was landfill gas extraction in the 1980s before it was a climate issue. A lot of Swedish landfills started extracting landfill gas because it was a valuable thing to get out of the landfills and we still do. It is one of the easiest ways to get something from the non-segregated waste. Of course you can get more clean energy, but still, landfill gas is a good option to get something from your waste. I am interested in hearing if you have any good or bad examples of landfill gas extractions in the Caribbean. Thank you”.

Dr. Devon Gardner, Programme Manager, CARICOM Secretariat Energy Programme“In the interest of time I will wrap. We are here for three (3) more days so we will have time to discuss some of the burning matters. There are also discussions later on to follow regarding technology. We said that we are going to look at practical and realistic options, so I am going to ask each of the panellists to leave us with one practical and realistic option”.


Mr. Dieter Rothenberger, GIZ “As you can see what we are trying to do in Grenada is to start small and learn from the practical application possibilities to look into what we can actually achieve now where we can learn from and we are actually planning for upscaling and a roll out. This is what we are doing in regard to the small scale agriculture project and we are looking to build capacity in the country so that they system can be rolled out in the future on a much larger scale which as you mentioned, will also reduce transaction cost and bring down the cost for implementation. We are working with REETA and they have someone working with us to take the lessons learnt from implementation on the ground in Grenada back to the regional scale. The best can be the enemy of the good. Sometimes it is better to start small and develop into bigger things”.

Dr. Devon Gardner, Programme Manager, CARICOM Secretariat Energy Programme “Thank you Dieter indeed and the lesson from that one is to learn from the lessons and focus on what is practical before you try to scale up”.

Mr. Henrik Personn, Renewable Energy Expert, Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC/5Cs), Belize “First is capacity building. In the morning I heard some numbers being said about the production cost of the kilowatt hours for waste to energy technologies. I heard it being said that the residues out of the digestion can be put in the incineration. I say let us come together and talk about all this. I think we can solve some open questions and we will see that the process is easier than we are probably thinking about it. Secondly, for project development I can offer you my assistance as the CCCCC/5Cs and CCREEE. Let us talk about projects and see how we can develop them, take them forward, see what is needed, see what we have already and take a stand and do something”.

Dr. Devon Gardner, Programme Manager, CARICOM Secretariat Energy Programme“The lesson from that is let’s build some capacity and continue the dialogue to ensure that we understand exactly what we are doing”.

Mr. Joseph Williams, Consultant, Renewable Energy Unit, Caribbean Development Bank, Barbados“This is an area that is well cut out for CCREEE to make a big intervention. I think that we have had some experiences where a few countries have really gone down the road and would have gotten in bed with some arrangements that were not necessarily in the best interest of the country. Certainly, when you look at what they would have signed on to in terms of the price of the power to be delivered. There is a real need for expert advisor services to the country and that is a cut out work for CCREE. If CCREE is able to fill that void immediately then there is significant value there. There is room for knowledge management. A scoping study similar to what is being done for Grenada would be a big start. I don’t know how you would fund that, but that would provide some evidence for us to begin a rational and tangible discussion on what is possible in moving forward”.

Dr. Devon Gardner, Programme Manager, CARICOM Secretariat Energy Programme“Thank you Joseph so that is expert advice and services which could be driven by CCREE of course focusing on the kind of information that we need to make decisions”.


Mr. Ricardo Ward, Project Manager, Ministry of the Environment and Drainage, Barbados“It is important to remember that our waste management legacy is patterned after that which was obtained from the developed world. Before, we buried our waste as this was the practice in the past and we disposed of the waste water in the sea and that was also the established practice in the past with the cost options. Now waste is regarded as a resource. The developed world has moved on and we are still not yet there.

In terms of projects that we can immediately consider I think that there are two (2) areas in particular that we can focus one. One is landfill gas to energy and we probably have all of our existing landfills and probably some old ones that may still be emitting some methane and so on. I am also drawn to the concept that is being promoted as the GEF project in terms of managing waste water. I think that this is an area that we have not paid sufficient attention to. It is pressing and urgent and the gains that we are expecting to achieve are phenomenal and very necessary right now”.

Dr. Devon Gardner, Programme Manager, CARICOM Secretariat Energy Programme“Thank you Rickardo and last, but not least, I have saved the last word for the lady on the panel”.

Ms. Julia Brown, Divisional Manager, Development, Scientific Research Council (SRC), JamaicaEarlier this morning I heard the Minister from St. Vincent and the Grenadines talking a lot about scale and what is possible. As I always say to my Minister and other persons in Jamaica, is that one of the mistakes that we make in SIDS is that we are thinking macro. I think if we think micro and go to the levels of small scale industries and households and deal with things on a small level we will be much more effective as it relates to waste to energy and renewable energy in general. One of the difficulties we face is that we are trying to emulate large scale projects and you find that capacity, whether financial, human resources or otherwise does not exist to run these macro projects. We invest a lot and we go nowhere.

If we really take it at the micro level and we are small island states for Christ’s sake, we are going to have a little amount of material and as some persons who are very integral in the thing will tell you at a household level we do have 2 kWh generators. Thus even at the household level, you can generate electricity from your sewage, kitchen and garden waste. Let us take it on the micro level and the experts and money people will come and want to go macro, but there are times when we need be far more effective and ignore some of these things by going micro. We will be far more effective in the region in the implementation of the waste to energy project and renewable energy project on a whole”.

Dr. Devon Gardner, Programme Manager, CARICOM Secretariat Energy Programme“Thank you Julia. So ladies and gentlemen it took a lady to explain to the gentlemen about size and that size matters. So on that note, I would like to end this panel with the caution that a lady has told us indeed”.


TECHNOLOGY PANEL: “APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS FOR WTE WITHIN THE CARIBBEAN-

APPLICATIONS AND EXPERIENCES”

Moderator: Mr. Joe Bradley, Deputy Director, External Relations Division, World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)

This morning I mentioned in my opening remarks about an initiative of WIPO Green is to bring together technology owners and technology providers into discussion and possible match making for technology needs. What we have heard this morning and earlier this afternoon is discussions about exactly that, technology needs. What WIPO Green has done here in terms of the conference is to bring together some of those technology providers and some of those technology companies and essentially I want to hand it all over to them and to give each of them ten (10) minutes to address the technologies and I would also like the panellists not just to focus on their own specific technologies, but to address some of the questions that came up in our earlier discussions, so the issues of scale, adaptation of technologies and some of the difficulties and time requirement and costs of adapting technologies for diffusion. Finally, what you would see as requirements for success when we talk about the transfer of technologies and the introduction of new technologies.

Ms. Montserrat Lluch Cuevas, Ökobit-Biogas, Germany

“I work as a project manager at Ökobit and I will give you a brief overview of our company and of our technology as well. Ökobit is a manufacturer and planner of biogas plants. We have experience over fifteen (15) years and experience with over one hundred and seventy-five (175) projects, international and national as well. We are on the international market. Two (2) years ago we established a company in France called Agrogas. In the German market we are working as well with our partners Green Tech and Oko-Consult. Green Tech is doing operation and maintenance, on site visit, monitoring and Oko-Consult takes care of approvals and documentation which particularly in Germany take long. They take care of plant safety etcetera. Ökobit in Germany is doing plant construction in January. Worldwide Ökobit does planning, training courses, consulting, everything. In the international market we are in Europe and we have experience also in Latin America. We are conducting a project in Columbia with the small scale applications. We are also developing projects in Grenada.

Our vision – we all know that we have a lot of problems like waste water, manure, garbage and a lot of organic waste and what Okobit does is to offer sustainable organic waste management solutions. In addition to this sustainable organic waste management solution we have benefits from two (2) products which are the biogas and the biofertilizer that can increase our agriculture yields. In Germany we have different services from construction, maintenance, we do reports on the efficiency of existing biogas plants, components etcetera.


In the international market we do engineering, planning, construction, start-ups and training courses. We also have waste treatment technology. For example, this is an example of biogas in Switzerland where we are treating coffee waste. We have biogas plants which are running with manure and others treating sludge, we have research biogas plants and biomethane plants. We have developed our own process control system. All of the engineering was developed by Okobit and it takes care of all of the controlling of biogas plants also of pumping the substrate from one digester into the other tanks.

This is an overview of the Okobit interface of the whole biogas plant. We also have from the digester and we also have controls from the CHP (Combined Heat and Power), the gas production, and the quality. Internationally our scope of supply and services is about four (4) main components. We have our know how and engineering experience of over fifteen (15) years. We have experience with over eighty-five (85) substrates, the local framework and the local market here in the Caribbean. We have our consulting package and we offer a design study and a technical feasibility study out of the substrates and waste that we have. We can demonstrate and see the potential that you can have out of your waste. We do flow chart, mass balance, heat balance etcetera. We offer full feasibility studies and it includes an economic feasibility study and it goes deep into the engineering. These are some examples of flow diagrams and layouts. We also do the breakdown cost, substrate analyses, batch anaerobic digestion test for example engineering and batch engineering.

This is a waste treatment biogas plant. The next one is treating manure and maize. This is a biogas plant in Brazil where they had a big problem with manure and they didn’t know that biogas was a valuable product. We went there and developed a heating system with a compressed system as well. They are using biogas from the pig farming for the showers and kitchen. This is our project in Columbia which is a small biogas plant and we are installing it in very small farms. The biogas that is generated from it can be filled in this biogas bag, most of you may have seen this bag at the expo and you can carry it and use it wherever you want. Thank you”.

Mr. Joe Bradley, Deputy Director, External Relations Division, World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)“Thank you very much for that and perhaps moving into the next presentation by video link is Ralf Sigrist the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bekon Energy Technologies. Hi Ralf can you hear us and see us?”

Mr. Ralf Sigrist, CEO, Bekon Energy Technologies, Germany3

“Thank you very much for giving me this unusual opportunity to participate in the conference remotely from Munich in Germany. I was able to listen in and to follow the other presentations. Bekon offers another type of biogas technology with anaerobic digestion. The difference to what you just heard about Okobit solution is that our solution mainly focused on solid organic waste and that can either be the organic fraction contained in municipal solid waste that you collect from households without segregating it during the collection process or it can be separated

3 Via Videoconference


biowaste which can be food waste from food manufacturing that you can put on a pile. From the agriculture sector we are not using any food crops, nothing like that. What we can add to our materials and input is manure or biosolids from waste water treatment plants. The benefits that our procedure offers as you can see on the presentation slide is that we are using a batch space procedure, so there is nothing in terms of moving parts or shredding the input material. The input material can be put into the fermentor box which is like a huge garage and you need to fill it in and pile it up to a height of approximately three and a half to four metres (3.5m-4.0m). It stays in the box for two (2) to four (4) weeks. You have several of these boxes and it is a continuous process where you use a caterpillar to move the material in and out during the process. It stays in for the time period to form biogas.

Our company was originally started as an engineering company and then we started to build our first plant in Germany. The first plant is based in Munich just next to the soccer arena. It has been operating for over ten (10) years and handles about one third (1/3) of the organic and biowaste that the city and population of Munich produces every year. Out of the process the soil is being recycled for the households and it is used for planting flowers and for the gardens. It is a nice product and a nice revenue stream coming out of the composting and it can be used in addition to the revenue stream from selling and using the energy.

We have built more than twenty (20) plants in Germany, Switzerland and Italy. We are about to finish our first project that we are building in Mexico for a large production company using the manure from the cattle. The customer in that case is one of the largest meat producers in Latin America. There is also an application coming out of that which can be used. We expect this year to build our first two (2) plants in the United States (US), one on the East Coast and one on the West Coast. On the West Coast is food waste which will be collected from the supermarket side and on the East Coast to process waste from the University of Philadelphia. We will have a project this year in China with an agricultural farming customer. We have treated more than two point five million (2,500,000) tonnes of biowaste or organic waste.

What is nice about our robust process is that there is no mechanical turning equipment. We do not need to shred something and we can take the input as it comes which also includes the organic fractions contained in municipal solid waste which can be separated using a low key technology screen process. Anything with a size of less than eighty millimetres (80mm) or between two point five to three inches (2.5” to 3”) can be separated out of the regular municipal waste and that is at large the organic fraction. Any disturbing substances including batteries do not harm our process. They can even go to the fermentation and after they can be taken out by using a standardised seeding process where what comes out from the seeding is the compost. That’s how you get out the plastic and other metal parts and so on.

What is produced by the plant per one (1) tonne of waste depends a little bit on the composition of the waste, the biomethane, the methane content and the input material. For one (1) tonne of input we can generate about two hundred and twenty-four (224) hours of electricity and in addition to two hundred and thirty (230) kWh of thermal energy of heat that can be used for heating and cooling and even district heating or something that is adjacent to that. Even more so for some manufacturing and some industrial plant that are in the neighbourhood can use some process heat for manufacturing or something like that.


The compressed natural gas (CNG) would be another possibility rather than producing electricity by using a combined heat cycle as a core unit. As an alternative we can generate compressed natural gas or compressed biogas that can power taxis, cars, trucks, machinery, equipment for farming and agriculture. For a regular car one (1) tonne of waste input will give one thousand kilometre (1000km) or sixteen hundred (1600) miles fuel equivalent. In addition, out of that one (1) tonne you would get four hundred (400) kilograms of compost, around eight hundred and fifty pounds (850lbs). The process that I showed on the picture at the beginning was that you put this biomass in and use percolation process using some water to loosen the material and to ensure that the anaerobic digestion is running well and it percolates in close circuit more or less and the water is running back and forth between the percolation tank and the digester.

If you want to produce electricity you have the CHP here at the end. It is patented technology and that is actually the unique selling point that we have. We have patents that make sure that never ever can any oxygen get into the fermentation box and can get together with any gas so there is no explosion risk. There are not many competitors just about two (2) globally. The other two (2) competitors can only use a different process. There is some time when you are actually filling up the fermentor and later on when you have to empty it that you have some oxygen.

To give you some sense of what that means in practice on the top picture you can see how the separately collected organic waste will come in. The bags will be opened by a very simple bag opener and this material is brought to the digestion boxes which are heated on the walls and on the ground. This is after the digestion and this is just before the seeding. This is the compost that is a nice fertilizer that can be used to improve soil quality and keep the surface water and rain water. It is not just a normal chemical fertilizer or mineral fertilizer, but it also improves the soil quality so that you have a much better ground for farming.

The novelty in that process is that we have no moving parts, mechanical steering or pumping involved. The automation reliability is about ninety-nine percent (99%). The automatic control can be done remotely by our engineers in Germany. We also support our customers in developing such a project by doing the estimation on what our project would cost versus other processes.

For liquid input material we have a batch operation. Another benefit is that we have both the thermophile and mesophile processes. The thermophile process operates at a temperature of around fifty-five degrees centigrade (55ºC). During the digestion period of three (3) to four (4) weeks we have sanitation of the material and no bacteria which may be harmful can survive the process when you take material out the compost and put it on agricultural land. Therefore, you have a fully sanitized output material and it can be immediately used from that thermophile process.

This is the largest plant that we have produced and it processes around forty-five thousand (45,000) tonnes metric per year of input material. It is located in the northern part of Germany. Here on the right side has everything that has to do with digestion, the fermentation of the biogas including the tanks, gas engine and biofilter to make sure that nothing smells in the neighbourhood. You can save money by leaving the biofilter away. If you are not generating energy then you do not need the gas engine. You can use gas upgrading to keep the gas in a piping system and if that is not available you can do a compressed biogas and fill it into digesters


on to the consumer. The gas can be used directly for cooking or heating locally. This side is for the composting if you want to have the nice soil. Obviously, in that case it is a covered area because it rains a lot in Germany. In a warmer environment with less rain and nice weather typically you do not need to spend the money to cover the area.

In terms of cost this part here is round about sixty percent (60%) of the total cost and here for the composting is about forty percent (40%) of the total cost. In that case the local municipalities had to pay one hundred dollars ($100) per tonne of waste before investing in this and with that investment that then came down to fifty-five dollars ($55) per tonne, including the composting part.

The output in this case is forty-four thousand (44,000) tonnes per year and 3.9 million cubic metres of biogas is used per year through combined heat and power unit and CHPs each with a twenty-six (26) kW electrical output. This means that this facility runs at a main capacity of about one (1) megawatt. It covers the energy demand of about four thousand (4000) households not including the thermal energy. The thermal energy is also used for district heating in the neighbourhoods in the local municipalities.

To give you an idea of what the total investment the smallest facility that can be built is around eight thousand (8,000) tonnes per year or ten thousand (10,000) tonnes per year. A twenty thousand tonnes per year facility will attract an initial investment cost of about seven million dollars ($7,000,000). It can go upwards to about a hundred thousand (100,000) tonnes per year will cost you about twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000). It can be cheaper always depending on local cost. To be economic minimum input material per day is about twenty-five (25) tonnes of material. Looking around to the different markets maybe in Europe and the US the typical return on the investment, on the equity is about twenty-five percent (25%) and payback on equity is about six (6) to eight (8) years. The return on the equity depending on the different revenue streams is about in the fifteen to forty percent (15%-40%) range.

I come from the wind turbine industry and I have been working for a wind turbine manufacturer and have done some development work in the US, Chile, Honduras and Europe. The power price is an important thing in order to particularly come to a reasonable cost. Taking in the waste instead of dumping it in the landfill without taking care of ground water pollution, methane and other emissions and it is the cheapest thing that you can do with waste. It comes typically at five dollars ($5) to fifteen dollars ($15) per tonne which is mainly transportation cost. If you want to maintain and build a state of the art landfill for forty (40) to fifty-five (55) tonnes of waste, incineration is certainly not an option and investment would be in the order of seventy-five dollars ($75) to one hundred and twenty-five dollars ($125) per tonne of waste. We are about thirty to fifty dollars ($30-$50) per tonne of waste. We are cheaper to handle the waste than a state of the art landfill, but more expensive than what you have to spend to dump the waste in the landfills.

The economics depend on the price of natural gas and the price of electrical power. We know that prices have gone down quite a bit in recent times because of shale gas and fracking in the US. The oil price coming down has had an impact on the power price. I know from the analysis that we did in the US, Latin America, Costa Rica that power price in the Caribbean where you are running diesel generators can be relatively high in the twenty cents to thirty cents ($0.20-


$0.30) per kWh range. The market price in the global industrial areas is more in the five cents to fifteen cents ($0.05-$0.15) range. This has a big impact on what the economics of such a project are. Always bear in mind that the gas price cannot be hatched and diesel price can only be hatched for a few years and not for twenty-five (25) years. The volatility of the gas price over a given year can be very high. That is why we think that the kind of technology that we can offer has a real value for handling waste, either unsegregated or biowaste and on the other side provide independent power that you can store the gas and that is a vital power source that can help in an area that is remote or islands like in the Caribbean”.

Mr. Joe Bradley, Deputy Director, External Relations Division, World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)“Thank you very much Ralf and if I can ask you to stay on line to follow the last presentation and if we have the chance to ask any questions as I would like to open up the floor and that would be really great. The final speaker in this session is Ron Bailey from PRN Energy Systems. Ron if I can ask you to stick between ten (10) and fifteen (15) minutes, but not over fifteen (15)”.

Mr. Ron Bailey, PRM Energy Systems, Inc, USA

“I am Ron Bailey with PRM Energy Systems. Our technology is a gasification type technology that was developed out of necessity thirty-five (35) to thirty-six (36) years ago. It was developed for a rice mill parboiling operation. They had built a new ten million dollar ($10,000,000) parboil plant which needed steam and heat for their processes. When they built the plant the natural gas cost twenty-six cents ($0.26) cents per million British thermal units (BTUs). When the plant was less than a year old the natural gas cost had gone up to four and a half dollars ($4.50) per million BTUs. Needless to say they were shocked and they were in the red and had to come up with a way to utilise their waste material which was the rice husk to generate energy. They had to figure out a way to generate steam and heat from rice husks to generate energy for that parboil plant and to put them back in the black.

Two (2) gentlemen who worked in the parboil plant were asked to figure out a way to make steam and heat our of rice husks. It had been attempted around the world for a long time in cooking stoves in South East Asia and maybe in China, but it was not successful at any scale. They worked on it for about a year and finally came up with a process where they could leave the rice husk ash in the gasification system somewhere in the bottom, remove it from the grill and send the semi clean gas over to the boiler for combustion to generate heat and steam for the process. This worked extremely well and they spent another year properly analysing the situation. Neither one of them was an engineer nor had they attended college. They did not know what they were doing. They were just good mechanics and rice mill workers. They called in a consulting engineer to go over the system and he said that they had a gasifier. They did not even know what that was. It was just a way to turn rice husk into steam. That plant is still operating today. It was completed and put on line in 1982.

The next slide is a series of pictures that will show you the evolution of the PRM energy gasification system from 1982 to present. We have built plants on five (5) continents, starting in the US with the first unit that has been operating for thirty-four (34) years. We sold the first commercial unit in Australia in 1985. We did not have a whole lot to do with that other than


delivering the system to a rice mill in Australia that operated it for sifter straining purposes also using rice husks. Our next project was in Malaysia for the Government’s Rice Authority or paddy board. We built seven (7) plants over a four (4) year period. They were simple one (1) tonne per hour plants that provided heat for drying and steam. One (1) small plant was generating two hundred and twenty-five kilowatts (225kWh) of electricity.

We moved on and started our next plant in Greenville, Mississippi for the Cargill Corporation to generate six and a half megawatts (6.5MW) of electricity from rice husk. We then built two (2) separate plants in Jonesboro, Arkansas. The start-up plant generates today about fifteen megawatts (15MW) of electricity and it is also a cogeneration plant delivering steam to their processes.

We have evolved into providing gas for heaters and kilns to being able to clean up the steam gas, to remove the tar, to crack the tar, carbon monoxide (CO) and Hydrogen to provide a clean steam gas for internal combustion engines. We did this first in 2000 in Italy and again in 2005 for Caterpillar in France. Plants with engine systems we built two (2) years ago for Europlasma in southern France, south of Bordeaux. On the left hand side you would actually see the feedstocks that we were actually using in commercial operations. On the right, we have successfully feedstocks and our test and demonstration facilities and also some commercial operations on some short term basis.

I highlighted three (3) or four (4) different feedstocks that I think are available in the Caribbean like refuse derived fuel (RDF) which is a processed municipal solid waste (MSW). We do not take raw MSW and put into the gasification system. We have to have a fuel made out of the MSW so that we will have a good enough steam gas to provide adequate heat for a broiler engine system. We like to keep the moisture content down to thirty percent (30%) or below for boiler systems or steam turbine generators and twenty percent (20%) or below for engine systems. With the makeup of the system, we would prefer to not have organics, but we can make up organics. Obviously there is a lot of food waste in most countries and if it has to be incorporated into the gasification stream it can be. If it can be segregated or put into a digestion system or other type of system, that is fine with us too. Incorporating more than one technology into a single plant is a lot of times doable.

With biosolids we have operated two (2) plants on sludges. One (1) was a municipal solid waste water treatment plan and the other a tannery waste sludge plant in Scotland. The tannery sludge is much worse than I ever thought the municipal sewage sludge could be as far as the odours. We put that plant in since 2010 for a leather manufacturing processor that was in dire straits. They were no longer allowed in the UK (United Kingdom) to send that waste process product to a landfill and there was nothing else that they could do for it until we proved that we could gasify that material. It comes into the facility at about eight-five percent (85%) water and about fifteen percent (15%) solid. It is then dewatered then dried using the exhaust gas from a thermal oxidizer.

The primary purpose of that is waste disposal. They had to pay for the waste disposal, but in order to get some benefit out of the project we are firing a thermal oxidizer to a waste heat boiler and a dryer to deliver some energy. It is not net positive in terms of income and savings from energy, but when you are talking about shutting down your plant because you cannot dispose of


your waste you have two (2) choices, go out of business or reduce your costs as much as you can.

From the beginning of our business until about ten (10) years ago it was all about saving energy for industrial purposes not selling energy for revenue purposes. Most plants built before 2006 were waste disposal plants used to save energy because the energy was costing them six or seven cents ($0.06 or $0.07) per kWh. We were able to use their waste material and generate the power that they needed in their plants for about five of six cents ($0.05 or $0.06) per kWh which was a great savings and they got to dispose of their waste.

We do thermal treatment systems and provide thermal energy to oxidizers, kilns, dryers, heat recovery steam generators and boilers. In electrical power plants we can use steam turbines and combustion engines or any combination thereof. We have a large utility boiler that you can introduce a steam gas into and in some cases we can put a gasification system in and co-fire the utility boilers.

The best economics and efficiency normal comes from a combination where we are generating electricity through an engine system or steam turbine system and producing a heat at some point for heating a local district or for drying the waste, if nothing else.

This is just a slide to show you that the plant on the left is a one megawatt (1MW) electrical generation plant in France, the plant in the middle is nine megawatts (9MW) in France and the one on the right is a fifteen megawatts (15MW) power generation plant in Arkansas. The two (2) on the left are engine generation systems and the one (1) on the right is a steam turbine generation system. We can go simple and small or large and complex, whatever the situation requires.

This is what the waste looks like when it comes into the facility and it goes to a process into a grinder and a separation process then into separate bins. From there it goes into the gasification system to a gas cleaning system then to a gas cooling system and a series of internal combustion engines. The waste heat that is recovered from the gas cooling is also used to generate electricity to a steam turbine”.

Mr. Joe Bradley, Deputy Director, External Relations Division, World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)“Ron I feel guilty for interrupting you in a very good presentation. The good news folks is that both the presenters are here for the next few days and their exhibitions are in the Expo, so if you have any questions you can follow up directly with them. There are going to be plenty of opportunity for that, but in the meantime while I still I hope I have Ralf on the line I thought I would just open the floor for a few minutes before the afternoon break to see if anyone had any questions they would like to ask Ralf, Ron or Montserrat. Following this session there will be a presentation by a number of other technology providers who will talk to you about their technological solutions and also my colleague Anatole Krattiger who will talk a little bit more about what makes for a successful technology and how WIPO Green operates”.



Mr. Ralf Sigrist, CEO, Bekon Energy Technologies, Germany – via videoconference “We have brochures and a prospectus that we can provide to you by emails and a stand up poster in the exhibition area. Help yourselves and go to Al Watkins one of our organizers locally and they also have our contact details”.

Mr. Philip Weech, Director and Chair and SIDS DOCK National Coordinator, Bahamas“I have a general question. When we talk waste to energy, it is a whole gamut of different waste to energy activities like biogas and biodigesters and it goes on and on. In an earlier presentation which Devon chaired we were talking again in a manner on waste to energy technology across the whole gamut and the CDB, Joseph made a point basically saying that they will fund bankable projects based on mature and proven technologies. I was curious from the perspective of the agencies that have just made their presentations as to what falls under those overall issues of technologies and what applications would meet those criteria and on which scales. That is my general question and I didn’t actually hear that these are the things that are being done across the region and these are the scales and the applications. I am just curious as to whether or not any analysis or any evaluation of that type was being taken. I do know for example, that you can do biogas from sugar cane residue and from other different things. I am just curious as to what was the scope and scale of the things that are being done”.

Mr. Joe Bradley, Deputy Director, External Relations Division, World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)“Thank you very much for the question and it’s a good one on how do you judge what is an appropriate technology, mature and ready to be deployed in the situation that you require. Certainly, that is something that the companies should be able to address when they convince you of the value of their technologies or its appropriateness. Perhaps from the perspective of WIPO as a UN agency WIPO GREEN is a platform as we ourselves do evaluations of the technologies. Anatole may be able to talk a little bit about that later on. I don’t know if any of the companies may have the answer to the question that you posed. Perhaps, what we can do is to have the break now and more companies are coming to present later on and that will be an opportunity to raise the question then for them to respond”.


PRESENTATION I:

“WIPO GREEN: THE MARKETPLACE FOR SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGIES –

KEY REQUIREMENTS FOR SUCCESSFUL DEVELOPMENT, TRANSFER AND DIFFUSION OF TECHNOLOGIES”

Moderator: Mr. Alfred Watkins Chairman, Global Solutions Summit, Consultant, World Intellectual Property Organization

Presenter: Ms. Carol Lue, CaribShare Biogas, Jamaica“My name is Carol Lue and I am the Founding Director of CaribShare Biogas. We are a social enterprise focused on utilising biogas technology to help solve the challenges of renewable energy, climate change and rural poverty in Jamaica and the Caribbean. What we do is collect the tremendous quantities of food waste from hotels and animal manure from small livestock farms and when processed by our biodigesters produce biogas and fertilizer. Essentially we develop and operate centralized biodigesters. With that and to ensure success we offer the perfect marriage with the right business model and the technology design to deliver a clean energy from organic waste in a truly social and impactful way.

For our business model we sell and deliver the biogas to facilities that are high energy users such as residential development and agro processing factories. At our competitive rate, our customers are then able to use the biogas to sell and generate energy and achieve significant cost savings of least thirty-five percent (35%) over savings from the grid. We also sell the fertilizer to farmers at a discounted rate to help reduce production cost and to promote organic farming. As a social enterprise we share up to fifty percent (50%) of our surplus revenue with farmers, as meaningful income and generous cash rewards with participating farmers to help support their livelihoods and the vitality of our communities which is essentially our social mission. Our remaining surplus revenues are then reinvested in the companies to help with additional costs and with expanding the programme.

We all know that biogas technology can help to solve our biogas and energy problems. We want to take it to the next level and we see it as a great opportunity to also combat poverty which is the root of so many of our development challenges. Fortunately, we have the right management team in place to execute and grow our business model. I have a background in business,


sustainability and international development. Michael Archer and Richard May who are the other two (2) directors in the company have considerable experience in their respective fields of engineering renewable energy.

Right now we are developing our pilot plant in Montego Bay, Jamaica and it is no easy feat for a start-up given the tremendous technical and non-technical challenges that go into launching an initiative that is truly pioneering and innovative. Thankfully, we are getting it done by developing the right strategic partnerships. Rosehall Development Ltd is our energy partner and our biogas customer. They operate a high energy intensive sewage treatment plant. We have signed a long term agreement to supply them with enough biogas so they can generate about 100 kWh which is about sixty percent (60%) of their electricity energy needs. Right now we are about eighty percent (80%) into construction. We are hoping to be completed in February or March and then to start operations. The end result will be a truly innovative model for the delivery of clean energy to organic waste in a social impactful way.

Our model is also scalable and can be replicated across the region. For that reason, we were one of the 2012 winners of the Ideas Energy Innovation Contest that was sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank and we received a US $200,000 grant. Our other partners to date are the Development Bank of Jamaica and the Digicel Foundation. Our hotel partners are Sandals, RIU, Hyatt, Iberostar and Half Moon Resort in Montego Bay. They have committed their organic waste to us and we have been able to significantly lower the environmental print of the hotel sector there. Through their commitment we have diverted about one thousand four hundred (1,400) tonnes of food waste annually from landfills and mitigate at least two hundred (200) tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually.

Our farming partners and beneficiaries come from several neighbouring communities in northern Trelawney. We have about fifteen (15) small pig farmers with plans to increase to over fifty (50) within six (6) months. Each farmer should initially be able to earn at least US$1000 per year which would go a good way towards helping to support his or her family.

At the beginning of our presentation I mentioned that our success is ensured from having the right business model and the right technology design. We are fortunate to have the support of CHfour Biogas from Ottawa, Canada. They have customized a highly efficient plant design to suit our needs and our growth plan to harness organic waste sources for energy and to develop additional plants both in Jamaica and in other Caribbean countries. As CaribShare is a project owner and developer, when selecting a technology partner it was very important that the company understood the need for fluid technology transfer and knowledge sharing to build our capacity, so that over time we would also become masters on the science behind the technology. We are fortunate to have found that partner in CHfour Biogas. Having the right business model, the right technology design and the successful implementation of our pilot, we are looking to scale up and we are poised for regional expansion.

To end my presentation, I would like to share four (4) short video testimonials from our energy, environment and technology partners.

I hope you enjoyed the presentation. I invite you to stop by my booth to learn more about plan design”.


Mr. Alfred Watkins, Chairman, Global Solutions Summit, Consultant, World Intellectual Property Organization“Thank you Carol. There has been a lot of discussion earlier in the day about the question of scale. We have heard from companies that have larger scale solutions and this is a company that has a solution that really works at the level of the individual farm and farmer and resort and is putting them together in an interesting synergistic waste to energy sort of system so thank you very much for that. Last, but not least from the companies that have been kind enough to join us in today’s Expo is Thomas Jaud. If CaribShare is a small start-up, Thomas represents General Electric (GE) that is at the other end of the spectrum. It is not a small start-up”.

Presenter: Mr. Thomas Jaud, Gas Engines Sale Director, Latin America, GE Power and Water, USA

“It is and it isn’t to be honest, because we also have scalable solutions as well. As I mentioned it is a large company and it consists of multiple products and technologies. We are part of the overall GE Power and Water portfolio. We have some of the large power generating products and we have scale in all of this. Distributed power and GE gas engines are also going into the small power generation range of about one hundred and twenty kilowatts to one hundred and fifty kilowatts (120KW-150KW) up to about nine and a half megawatts (9.5 MW) per unit with normal fossil fuels, natural gas and CHP and applications for all of these. We also have a long term and longstanding expertise on renewable fuels, landfill gas, steam gases, biogas and non-conventional fuels that can be utilised in different applications and scenarios, either as standalone power generation or as full CHP with thermal heat recovery or dry generation. We do thermal as well as cooling for industrial applications and resorts. We also have a portfolio with mechanical drive products for gas compression and pump drives for other uses. It can be driven by natural or alternative gases as well depending on the requirements of the project.

This is an overview of really different applications and from what we heard earlier today in the different discussions there are a multitude of challenges out there and multiple uses that can or cannot apply from agricultural waste to regular waste water treatment plant to food waste, resorts and hotels in all of this and scalability is an issue. One thing to think about is how we can utilise the different streams in one larger application to scale it to get financing. Financing was one of the key criteria as well. How do you pool and overall project together to make it really viable and executable for the long term? We are looking at a lot of pilot plans. It is a great start and a great initiative, but then how do you execute in the long term to address environmental challenges as well as how can you substitute local power generation that may be done with liquid fuel and replace it with renewable energy, through biogas and other means?

Drivers and Barriers to Waste as it is Managed Today:Drivers

Some well managed waste assets. First reference plants. The technologies and projects have been done locally for a long

time like the digesters and power generators and they are proven technologies. High share of biodegradables.


Incentives. They need to be able to stand alone and make money on their own in order to attract investors and get financing from banks and other institutions.

Another option is carbon trading through the World Bank and this is another revenue stream.

Technology partners and financing.

Barriers Design and management of the waste asset is not suitable and to complicated. The regulatory environment is too complicated to do projects for fuel in vehicles or

otherwise or for power generation. In one example we had to get over one hundred and thirty-five (135) permits to get a project approved. If it’s a small scale for one megawatt (1MW) project and I need one hundred and thirty-five (135) permits, it would be an absolute challenge to execute the project.

Change in political stability. We heard in Jamaica on who owns the assets, the waste and the gas that would be produced from this. How can we combine some of the waste streams? It is not always easy.

No regulatory environment or protection imposed. Lengthy project preparation. Project being too risky. Marginal power purchase agreements where it does not make sense to do power

generation at all.

Those are all some barriers that we can run into and we need to think about how we can make it simpler and easier for companies, developers and integrators to come in on projects. We heard today that we have a lot of different pieces of technology like gasifiers, digesters and power generation equipment. We are individual technology providers, but at some point we need to be able to bring all of these together. We need to have a local coordinator at a Government agency that manages and controls projects to make them successful and sustainable in the long run.

Drivers for Profitability From a technological point of view you can make it work all the way down to small scale

five to ten kilowatt (5KW-10KW) projects. On larger scales with power generation you need to create some infrastructure and some processes and incentives and all of that usually in the five hundred kilowatt to one megawatt (500KW-1MW) range. In the switch part is one and a half to eight megawatts (1.5MW-8MW) on biogas to energy projects where you have enough biomass sustainably available to feed your digester and to feed your system and to do power generation in the long run it.

Energy planning and long term power purchase agreements. Those are all critical for a project to really make sense and to be successful.

Here are some examples:In China we have a project with two megawatts (2MW) and three million (3,000,000) chickens. It is a larger scale operation and they have a lot more waste available. They are utilising full power generation, but this also goes into smaller scale.


We have a project in the Dominican Republic with a chicken farmer who is producing eggs with about three hundred thousand (300,000) chickens. He has about a three hundred kilowatts (300KW) generator and is very entrepreneurial like the two (2) gentlemen who were mentioned who came together and said that they were going to take the waste and create a biodigester. He has a lot of waste available and is utilising full power generation. He had an environmental issue with his manure and was going to lose and he said he was going to do something and he created a digester and a power generator in a very remote area. Today, he is not producing using diesel anymore and is using his biodigester and his gas engine to fulfil the power needs of his facility and he is also selling power to his neighbours who did not have access to power before. Today, he makes more money with power generation from the feedstock than he does with selling eggs. So again, large ones work and smaller ones work as well. It takes the entrepreneurial spirit to bring it all together.

This is a project in Mexico and it is the Simeprode Landfill. Today they are producing sixteen megawatts (16MW) of electricity from regular municipal solid waste. Before 2003 it was an open landfill that was not well managed. They brought the right people to the table and now they are selling carbon credits and power to the people of Monterrey at very good rates and it is a self-sustaining project that has grown over time from 2003 to 2010 to over sixteen megawatts (16MW). If you have a large amount of biomass available, you do not have to go all out. You can do this gradually over time, build revenues and build on those revenues to expand the plant. There are a lot of different options available. The technologies are there and we are here to help with input, ideas, brainstorming, call us in. We love to do those projects. Call us in. Thank you”.

Mr. Alfred Watkins, Chairman, Global Solutions Summit, Consultant, World Intellectual Property Organization“Thank you very much Thomas for bringing this element of practical questions that we need to answer. How do we make these projects go from technologically possible to actually put them in place to make them real projects financially and logistically feasible? I thank you very much. I will turn the floor over to Dr. Anatole Krattiger from WIPO Green”.

Presenter: Dr. Anatole Krattiger, Director, Global Challenges Division at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

“Delegates, ladies, gentlemen and friends I was looking at your capital city yesterday and I took a picture and doctored it just to render the mood that I felt. It is incredible to be here in Grenada and I have a confession, I have an addiction. I am addicted not to Caribbean rum, not yet, maybe tonight we will see how that changes, but to nutmeg since I have been a child, I am not kidding. To have discovered a country that has nutmeg on its flag, well I am in paradise. Not just for the nutmeg, but the fragrance has a deliriant in it, a hallucinogen, maybe that is why I have been addicted to it. Our national dish is cheese fondue. With white wine, you have cheese fondue, you mash it and put breadsticks in it and you eat it. When I go to restaurants I bring my nutmeg and grinder with me. I am not kidding. Joe Bradley he probably knows that’s why he does not go out with me anymore. So yesterday when I went to the spice market I bought not only her nutmeg supply, but she had to go to the shops next to hers to get all of the nutmeg. I am going to bring back nutmeg to my friends. Just one last point, it’s the only country with a nutmeg festival. The


last one was in 2014 and there will be one this year. I will be back and I will probably retire here because of your friendliness.

It’s a beautiful tree, it is incredible. The tree came here to Grenada a couple of hundred years ago. The ship that anchored here from Asia had five (5) trees that were left here. That is how nutmeg got started in Grenada. The origin is in Indonesia in a couple of islands. I start on this because in fact it encapsulate in a certain way and provides and image of what technology transfer is, to transfer the productive capacity from one location to another one. You need to know how to care for the tree, how to cherish it and how to love, it, how to grow it, how to process it, how to create culinary dishes, how to find your customers and how to get addicted like me.

You are the second biggest supplier to the world in nutmeg. In fact you are working with WIPO to get a geographic indication on Grenadian nutmeg. That is a form of intellectual property like a trademark. A trademark allows people to distinguish one product from another. I don’t mean Pepsi from Coke, but a good nutmeg from Grenada compared to a second, third or fourth tier nutmeg. A geographic indication is in a certain way a trademark. It is a form of intellectual property that allows a country or the producer to add value and to give a better feeling that I have the real Grenada nutmeg. With that I am probably willing to pay a little bit more. With trademarks and geographic indications you can capture some added value that benefits the farmers in Grenada. So we have seen technology transfer and one element is productive business capability.

You have the seed and the plant and you can grow more and more trees. Another way is to buy the nutmeg and buying the nutmeg, I already have in my stomach all of the benefits. When I buy an I Phone, I can have all of the technology in my pocket. I may not have the right to reproduce it, but I can benefit from the technology. Yes I may have had to pay someone to ship it and to make it, but I do not really care about patents. By the way, who thinks patents are good? Who thinks they are bad? Who doesn’t think? Have you noticed that so far nobody has spoken about patents and intellectual property (IP)? Is that surprising? We are talking about technology transfer, it is about patents and getting to transfer and to put into practice locally a whole transfer system. Every one of these companies has lots of IP. Patent is just one and know how is probably the most important. Knowing how to make the system work in an efficient way is a form of intellectual property. Patents are just one (1) element and like the geographic indication, they each fulfil a different purpose

They may be used or not used. It depends on the context, the company, the type of technology, on the market, the customers, the competitors, on how the field is evolving and how technologically intensive it is. There is nothing magical about the patents. They may serve something or they may not. One (1) of the reasons why none of the countries have mentioned IP is because they have all dealt with it and deal with it every day in a very irrational way. It does not need specific exposure. What counts ultimately, is not whether the technology has patents or not. It does not even matter what is the cost of the technology. What matters is, the value of the technology.

Some say that we should scoop for technologies that are off patent so that we do not have to pay a lot of money for the patents. Who cares? If you look at two (2) solutions and one (1) has a lot


of patents in it, know-how and trade secrets that are kept confidential and the other one does not and one costs you ‘X’ million and the other one costs you ‘Y’ million and one gives you ‘Z’ in returns and the other one gives you ‘Z plus 1’ in return, which one would you choose? You would choose the one that is most efficient for your situation. That is what I mean by value, what value do you get out of implementing a technology has nothing to do with whether or not there are patents in it or not. The question is what gives you the best value?

In many circumstances there are some benefits if there are some IP involved in the form of patents. Patents are a social contract or policy that tries to balance the interest of the inventors who invested money, talent and took risks to come up with something new or better and make it more efficient and with the social need of having technologies benefit human kind and society. So what the patent system does is that it provides a company with an option. It can keep its invention secret or write it down, publish it and disclose it to the world. In exchange for having shared that secret with everyone, the inventor or patent holder gets to be the only one to use it or to keep others from using it for a limited period of time for twenty (20) years for using it from the date of filing. He or she discloses it to the world and in exchange will get protection in those countries where the patents have been issued and filed typically. It’s a quid pro quo, you disclose and you get protection.

The alternative is that you keep it as a secret and you don’t disclose. In practice of course, companies deal with both. Ninety percent (90%) is know-how and ten percent (10%) is patents. The rule of thumb is know-how and ten percent (10%) is protected through patents.

It is interesting to have a company with either know-how or patents or both. It is important because if you make a collaboration, license or technology transfer agreement with them or turnkey operation where you let them build the plant, you get the key and you can operate it. Whoever sold or licensed it to you or whoever is doing a joint venture has an interest that you will be successful. They are willing to disclose their know-how providing that they trust you and that you are a good partner, business like, professional and that there is a good law in the country so that in the event of a dispute they can go to the court, adjudicate and find a way of resolving differences. If I make you more successful I will win more in licensing revenues and that is what the ‘win win’ is. It is not like buying a used car. Too many people go to negotiations on licensing and drive a hard bargain for four percent (4%) of royalties versus five percent (5%). It is not like buying a used car which is a zero sum game. Whatever I don’t pay you, I keep in my pocket and you don’t have it.

With a technology transfer the license is different. It is about making the cake bigger, making you more successful, efficient and productive and we share those added benefits together. You would negotiate, of course, it has to be reasonable. Others are going to offer that it does not need to be a hard bargain anymore and it does not need to be such a hard bargain driven negotiation, but working on a way to make that deal really ‘win win’ for both. That provides incentive for persons to come back to you and to say that I have made improvements, I have an improved technology to license, we can do some tweaks in it and you can be five percent (5%) more efficient. Yes, I am going to get a percent of that five percent (5%) that you are making, but we you are going to be better off and I am going to be better off. That is the beauty in using IP as a way to structure our relationship.


Too much has been said today that I would be talking about WIPO Green and I talked about IP here and I have completely forgotten to talk about WIPO Green. It is not that I forgot. I am not hallucinogenic yet, because I have not had my nutmeg shot for the day. I felt like since we are going to have another two and a half days or so and we have a booth, I thought that we will have plenty of times to talk about WIPO Green. I will just show you a few slides and come back with a few concluding comments.

WIPO Green has a website and just put WIPO Green into Google and you will find it. It has two (2) components: a website with a database. You can go to the database and put up any technology that you want to sell. You can put a patent and list if there, but don’t put anything confidential, but interesting enough for someone to find it and to say that this is something that he or she could use. If you have a need you put it up there. It’s a simple template and it takes you no more than twenty (20) minutes and thirty (30) minutes for complex things. It is free of charge and it will be forever for you to list your technology. Maybe I should not have said forever, but it is free for the time being. It can only be successful as an honest broker if the information that leads to a marriage is free of charge. Here are the areas of technology that is anything that is green and is faster produced. Waste to energy of course is one of the technologies included

All of us know that deals are not made by going to a catalogue or a website. It is like choosing a bride. You want to meet her, date her, get to know her or him, make sure you meet her, make sure that you are compatible and to ensure that what you are going to build in the future will meet your objectives in life. Transfers happen through people. It’s a people business. That’s why this meeting is over seven (7) days, that is why we have exhibition, cocktails, long breaks, and people get to know each other and little by little they get to trust each other. Yes technology has to be appropriate and proven whatever that means. Maybe it is more interesting to try something new out and make that grow into a new business.

It’s a network we try to cultivate where people can get to know each other. We have sixty-six (66) partners including big companies like GE and Siemens, small companies, start-ups and business incubators, licensing societies, universities, unions, licensing technology transfer officers, foundations, the Asian Development Bank, Climate Innovation Centre Network, UNEP and UNIDO. By the way, they constitute and advisory board that help us drive the services that WIPO Green offers and they are all bound by a charter.

Just a couple of services that I would like to highlight, PIPA, an association of lawyers have pledged three hundred (300) pro bono hours to deals on the WIPO Green, specifically to deal with IP and contract issues and I invite you to make use of that service. We are developing a roster of service providers- where do I go for help on impact assessment, on engineering, on legal and on IP? We are inviting you to list your services there. We have case studies. Four (4) of them are at our booth. One (1) of them that I didn’t bring is on the Jenbacher engine.

So this is WIPO Green and what do we do in practice is that we try to make WIPO Green a first stop where anyone will go who is looking for green technologies or who wants to publicise green needs. We have about two thousand (2000) uploads at the moment and we are soon going to have another five thousand (5000) mainly patents from one (1) place and we have needs from another place. We try to incorporate from other databases and at the moment we have five (5) different ones that are integrated into WIPO Green, all in order to make it easier for you to find


the relevant technologies. Each service that is out there specializes in one (1) particular area. We try to be more encompassing and holistic and to make it easier for you to compare, look and find the right solutions.

Joe Bradley made some advertisement that I would give the secrets of what would make good technology transfer and diffusion deals. I wish I had thirty-two (32) hours, but it has already been said in different ways this afternoon and earlier this morning. It’s a people’s business. It is about relationships and also very much about good business plans. Money is not scarce. There are investors for early stage technologies, trying out something for the first time, developing it or transferring something mature and making it work. Money is there from different agencies and institutions.

What are needed are good bankable projects. Yes they need to have intellectual property addressed in it and in other cases, it is done almost automatically. Good projects need a good management team. The investor needs to have confidence that the people who are really leading the project believe in it, manages it and care for it. I think of course that there are other things that one would say such as it needs markets and good regulations. I want you to focus on those three (3) elements: people, good business plans and good management. That is what ultimately would make a good project successful.

Many start off with very small markets and then suddenly the markets are much bigger. These are rarely the stumbling blocks. It is the good people, the good business plan and having thought thorough the risks, the environment and how it is evolving and put into place a good structure with contingencies on how to address the changing environment. It will always change by the time something has started to be built. It is good to anticipate some of these changes and how to deal with them if and when they arise. These are the key issues that investors are looking for and of course, to ensure that you do not want to be sued for infringing on someone else’s IP. IP is important, but never let a project start or end around IP. It is not about the patent, it is not about the know-how that you don’t have access to. That is merely a mechanism to make the deal work. It is never the starting point and perhaps should never be the end point. Thank you very much”.

Mr. Alfred Watkins, Chairman, Global Solutions Summit, Consultant, World Intellectual Property Organization“Thank you very much Anatole and I think that is the perfect capstone for the long day of discussion. It is a good jumping off point for the discussion tomorrow, Friday and going on into Saturday. Thank you very much for that. I should say Thomas that Carol and the speakers in the previous session, the three (3) companies that were represented will be around this evening for the cocktail party, tomorrow and the next day. Please use this opportunity to buttonhole them and engage them in conversations. They will be participating as well in the breakout sessions and in the other discussions. They are here as a participant along with you in the discussions taking place and in contributing to the process of developing the waste to energy sector in the Caribbean”.


Summary and Close: Dr. Andreas Taeuber, Head, GIZ REETA (Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Technical Assistance), Project, CARICOM Secretariat

“So we are very good in the time plan. We have two (2) people and five (5) minutes left. I just want to thank you for participating today so actively in such a big number. This is a very good start for this conference. We would probably have more work in the next days. We started with the political background with the politicians then we moved to regional expertise, practical projects in the region experience and now the intellectual property discussion or topic. I think this is really necessary work and anybody who has never dealt with it can see that the Caribbean is not at the starting point, we are already in the middle. Some projects are already in development or already existing so I think we can use this day as the base for the next days where we can go into round tables and workshops. I see more active discussions between us.

I like it very much that we have long breaks and cocktail reception and so on to help the discussion with us all. So that is what we intended. We didn’t want to have a conference just with us making presentations, that have to be of course and we now move slowly to the work. I hope we will discuss with the other organizers how we go on tomorrow. In principle the programme is fixed and you have it in your hands. Minor changes would be that there would be an exchange in panellists tomorrow morning. That is not very relevant and in principle the programme is there. If you have recommendations on what is missing, for example I was looking at the programme and I am hearing the politicians that waste to energy is a question of survival.

There should be a discussion on how public private partnerships could be relevant for island states where you have a limited number of resource providers who have waste like a distillery, a brewery and farmers and you have the other side you have the Government and as a public service they want to solve the waste management problem. So I think this is also something that could be discussed as a public private partnership. I think theoretically it could also lead to a good bankable project with the guarantee from the Government, the commitment from the Government, but you have a number of private partners that could include utilities, hotels and the waste producers. I recommend that this can be taken up in one of the next discussion rounds”.


DAY 2 – THURSDAY, 21 JANUARY

SESSION III: REGIONAL CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Opening Remarks: His Excellency Dr. Vince Henderson, LP.D, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Commonwealth of Dominica to the United Nations and SIDS DOCK President, Conference Chair

“Good morning. I will like to call to order Day 2 of the 1st Caribbean Waste to Energy Technology Exposition and Conference. For the next few days we will have working sessions throughout. Today we start with Session 3 which focuses on regional challenges and opportunities. Yesterday we had a very productive day and interesting discussions, the kind that were essential in bringing out some major issues that we must address to move forward with sustainable energy and sustainable development programmes in our islands.

This morning, I wish to share some of my own thoughts with you from yesterday and would like to propose some ideas moving forward. I feel like yesterday reminded me of something that I said to someone last night. It was that sometimes we as people, human beings, have the tendency to speak to things we have not thought of before on the spot. The first time we have heard of something, but all of a sudden we become an authority on it. Now, good education is supposed to teach us how to deal with situations. Sometimes we sound like we know too much about things that we don’t know anything about.

We have the ability in the region of punishing ourselves. All of a sudden, we get hard on ourselves as if we should be doing stuff that there was no reason to do before. In other words, the discussion on climate change, renewable energy and sustainable development, all of a sudden people who have tread a path for over two (2) centuries and have recognised through their own mistakes that there is a better way, we expect to know that better way without ever having tried anything. In other words, the chimneys that polluted the world throughout the industrial revolution have had two hundred (200) years of doing stuff. We were basically in our sugar plantations and in our banana fields, trying to make a life for ourselves. All of a sudden we are punishing ourselves because we should know that this would destroy the environment.

Albeit we have had the benefit of western education and therefore, there are things that we learn, but it is not because our Governments and our people have tried and tested those things. While we pursue sustainable development we have to always remember that we are basically coming from behind. As we embrace technologies and ideas coming especially from Europe and North America we have to be always mindful that we are basically doing this from a different perspective. Therefore, seeking to beat on ourselves for the lack of a sustainable production really does not make sense in my view. We have to make life better indeed. This leads me to the point that our Governments have not been thinking of waste to energy, they have not been thinking about how to manage waste in the first place except for collecting it and disposing of it and why should they anyway?


I had a discussion with someone a few years ago who accused me of treating politics like the basic principles of economics. I said to the person, if there is not a problem, why should I go to Parliament to pass a law? Supply and demand are basic classic economics. No Government takes a bill to the Parliament to solve a problem that doesn’t exist. It doesn’t exist because you don’t know about it or it doesn’t exist because it does not exist. That is the philosophical question.

The connection with energy is that I spent the last few years under the tutelage of Dr. Binger and some distinguished professors, pursuing what I was told was a doctoral degree in law and policy with focus on renewable energy and renewable energy policy. During that journey I came across some very interesting things. I studied St. Lucia and Cape Verde in a comparative analysis, looking at policies of renewable energy and why it was that it was working in Cape Verde where they had twenty-five percent (25%) and it was very reliable and great stuff. In St. Lucia, a similar island, although Cape Verde has eleven islands, but in terms of population there were a number of similarities, why has St. Lucia not moved the mark in renewable energy? They still were less than one percent (1%). I found out interestingly that in Cape Verde there was a problem and they had to solve the problem of blackouts that we had not seen perhaps since the 1960s and 1970s in the Caribbean. They had a penetration in 1990 of about thirty to forty percent (30%-40%) of access to electricity. As they continued expanding, they began having more blackouts because the demand was so high and the supply was so low and they had difficulties. They had to solve a problem and were motivated to solve the problem. They had to get people connected.

We would normally beat on ourselves for not doing something, but for us there was no problem. Our policy makers couldn’t see the problem because it was not something that they were aware of. As I said, there are two (2) aspects to not seeing the problem. So first of all, there was not a problem, but now in terms of waste there is a problem. Now our landfills are overfilled and we need to do stuff and we now know that methane is coming from things that we have never thought of before and is creating problems for the environment. It is not that we did not know that the methane was not coming from there, but we now all agree that it is a problem for the environment with global warming and all these things. So there is a problem that we must deal with.

I also found out that in the case of Cape Verde compared to St. Lucia then had different experiences with renewable energy. Since 1951 St. Lucia considered the development of geothermal energy. They got assistance from the British as it was still a British colony at that time, then the Government of New Zealand came in and then the Americans came in up to the 1990s. They started with tests of drilling, but they had problems with the high sulphuric acid content of the steam which made it difficult to commercialise the resource and they abandoned it. Cape Verde on the other hand by 1994 had started with a nice small scale about one megawatt (1MW) windfarm with assistance from the Government of Norway. They started it, tried it and it worked. So as they say, success breeds success and their confidence in renewable energy has been there since 1994. By 2012 they had expanded to about twenty-five megawatts (25MW) on one (1) of the main islands. As a result, they now have an ambitious renewable energy programme and are hoping to expand significantly. St. Lucia is still trying to find its way with renewable energy. Perhaps the choice has something to do with that because geothermal is more difficult and labour intensive, especially upfront and so it takes more technical skills than setting up a wind turbine. It is easier to set up a wind turbine than to drill one (1) mile down to get steam. So they had slight different issues.


Then there were issues of barriers. Again, policies and frameworks to encourage renewable energy are important. We know that financing, especially concessionary financing is important, technological capacity, public awareness and fears of volcanic eruptions, government action and leadership is important as well. The Government must truly understand and appreciate the need for the technologies and therefore, we need Government action that is motivated by good policies. Interestingly, after having done that I came up with my own recommendations. That was as a practitioner/researcher, because at that same time I was heading Dominica’s geothermal energy development and having sat in the Cabinet for ten (10) years as a policymaker as well, I had that experience. So I found out that importantly, that what are required and key are partnerships. We need the right partnerships that could bring to us technologies and which can help us build the ability to execute good projects and to manage them. We need partnerships that will bring in the initial grant financing. It must help us with resource assessment. In the case of waste to energy, it seems to me that we have to be guided by the technology. The partnerships that we need from our partners sitting here is to help us assess the resource and to help us to know exactly what we have in these islands. I think that this is essential because it will help us with our national energy policies.

I also found out as Chair of SIDS DOCK for the past four (4) years is that we come up with some excellent policies, however, we came up with them without doing much of the assessment. So we go to all of these conferences where people say to us that renewable energy is the thing to do, efficiency is the key and sustainable development and climate change are the way to go and we say that it sounds good. We get some technical assistance and someone writes a nice paper and say that here are the things that we need to do and we should set our target high so then we say that we will achieve eight percent (80%) renewable energy and sometimes we say one hundred percent (100%). Good luck with that. The fact is that we need to do the assessment to know what we can do. We need to look at our grid to know what it can take. How much intermittent supply can we add on the grid without making it so unstable that it creates more problems for us? What about the issues of dispatching? What about the issues of managing the network? We need to do assessment not only of our resource, but also of our capacity to absorb renewable energy from intermittent sources since that is what most of us are pursuing rather than the baseload. We need to do that work. After we have done that and this is where the partnerships come in, we need to be able to determine the appropriate technologies.

To determine the appropriate technologies, it is not just because a guy comes and we like him and he says we can do this thing that way, we need to give ourselves the opportunity to get the best expert advice from disinterested parties who do not have an interest in selling a technology to us. We should not become captive to a particular technology for one reason or the other. We should be able to choose the most appropriate technology. I met Ron yesterday and I like him. He is a soft spoken gentleman from Arkansas, but that cannot be the basis for the technology that I pick. It has to be driven by the science. Here is the thing that I also found out; it is not just the science. It is good to get our friends from GIZ to help us find our way in this renewable energy initiative in the region, but they must help us to do the kind of research in and on our islands that will allow us to really see what works.

I spent a few days on a tour of Germany and I saw some of the great things that were being done. When I started reading on all of these, feeding tariffs sounded like an excellent thing. Then I came across another article that said that the tax payers could foot part of the bill. Can our


taxpayers in Dominica foot part of that bill? Maybe in Trinidad and Tobago. Can we pay for the difference; can we do that? Is this the appropriate policy for us in the Caribbean? Is solar photovoltaic (PV) the best solution? It may be appropriate some places. How much should we do? We need to do more research and development within our region before we come to the conclusion that this is the best and appropriate technology for us. I saw some very interesting discussions that will be led by persons who are obviously more competent than I am in this area with the right expertise to guide discussions later. These are the questions that we need to be asking because our Governments will want those answers. At least as a policy maker I will want those answers before I take any decision.

The adoption of technologies is essential and they must be driven by science, assessment and research and development before we go bragging to the world that we have targets of eighty percent (80%) and one hundred percent (100%) of renewable energy on the grid.

In my discussion with an old engineer in Cape Verde he said to me, “I am happy that my Government wants to do this, but here is the problem, as someone who was responsible for managing the grid and the network, it is just not possible what they are asking to do without making major investments in grid upgrade and making the grid smarter”. He then asked me about the economics because when the math was done it got to a point where it made no sense to add more renewables on the grid, because it would become too expensive to manage it.

The creation of renewable energy master plans is also important. When St. Lucia decided to pursue wind a few years ago, they ran into a few interesting problems. The best location for wind farms in St. Lucia had land that was too expensive and it was just not possible and would not make economic sense. The landowners who wanted LUCELEC to pay for the land was not making any sense. People started to speculate and they were waiting for the Sandals and the next resort and hotel because they would get a better deal. The Government could have compulsorily acquired the land, but because of the market forces they would still have had to pay a high price for it. It was not a matter of whether they could get it or not, but they would still have to come up with to compensate the landowners.

What Cape Verde was able to do very smartly in the early 1990s was an assessment to determine where they could get the best wind. Through their own planning they restricted these areas for development and they were earmarked for wind farms. Therefore, you could not go ahead and do what you wanted there. They passed the laws through their Zoning and Planning Laws. It became easy ten (10) years later when the wind company decided that it was ready to expand its project and to scale up, they had no difficulties. In St. Lucia they still struggle with that challenge. Most of our islands will have that challenge as with small land masses we do not have much places to go. Similarly, with those of us who wish to pursue solar PV. Having the right renewable energy master plans that could ensure that through legislation we can zone areas so that it becomes easier to develop later. We have our own challenges in Dominica with geothermal development. There are communities close to where the resources are located and we have to consider the ideas of relocation, compensation of communities and the social impact of the project as well and what it means for the neighbourhood.

The final recommendation from the lessons of Cape Verde is to start small and make it work. Waste to energy presents an excellent opportunity for that approach. Get it right and in a


manageable way for a number of reasons. As I said earlier, success breeds success. We have still not gotten to the stage where our people have fully accepted renewable energy except for those that they can see, touch and feel for example, in Barbados solar water heaters are well accepted. What will happen when a guy comes with a new solar water heater and it does not work? They will say that these people go and sit in their rooms and have big meetings about renewable energy and those things are not working. People would lose confidence.

In St. Lucia an interesting study was done on energy saving light bulbs and most people didn’t believe that it saves for two (2) main reasons. They had received a terrible product which said that it could so something that it couldn’t do and the cost of oil also went up. People found that they had changed their light bulbs, but their bills had gone up. The savings were not so great so that the increase in the cost of fuel could have had a reducing effect. So we have challenges and this is why we need to choose the right projects, get them right and let people feel confident in the technology. Let them see that it can work. In Dominica for example, we are pursuing a seven megawatt (7MW) geothermal plant as the first stop. Then we will scale up possible to one hundred megawatts (100MW). You have to get people to accept the technology, feel confident in it and know that it can work. If our people do not believe that it works then the whole thing would fall apart. They will think that you are just giving money to your friends because it would never work and because you have an interest or something of the other.

I hope at least that we are able to think through some of the issues. I am not saying that I have the answers, but I hope that I could provoke some thought and some discussions among you so that as we continue today’s session, we will be guided by some of the big issues that our Government and our people face. Please Caribbean people stop beating on yourselves, we had no industrial revolution, we are still trying to find our way in the world, men used to be rastas, burning their weed and living off the land and living free so we should not find ourselves in a position where we are beating on ourselves. We cannot be doing renewable energy to save the planet. All of us put together cannot save the planet and stop global warming.

We have to play our role as responsible citizens of the world, but it cannot be at the cost of the development of our people. I know that there are still communities where people are still struggling to pay their light bill. We cannot force our people into more poverty because we have some brilliant ideas about saving the planet. The street I lived on in New York consumed more energy in a day than the whole island that I am from consumes in a year. I read an interesting article in a New York Times the other day that Christmas lights in the US for one (1) day was the consumption for Ethiopia in one year. I just came from Ethiopia and the lights go off occasionally.

As small island states we have to play our role, but we cannot be disillusioned that we can force the developed countries to do anything because we show some leadership by switching to renewable energy. It does not work that way. Dr. Binger has been following the negotiations for longer than I can count. There is no way that you can sit at the table and convince the developed world to change their ways. We cannot do it by leadership and by example that is an illusion. We need to do this for our people because they depend on us to do this. We need to make our contribution to humanity because that is what we have done as a Caribbean people. We must be realistic and set goals that make sense. There are things which sound nice in books, but when they are brought down to the islands, they do not make any sense. You have to be prepared for


that and it is the reality of life. Don’t try to solve a problem that does not exist and do not in your mind create a problem for other people when there is no problem. In a way, let us target our intervention in a way that it solves something that is of concern to all of us. In this case, it is the high cost of electricity and the high cost of importation of fossil fuel on our islands”.

Dr. Devon Gardner, Programme Manager, CARICOM Secretariat Energy Programme“Good morning to all. Today’s sessions are intending to take stock of some of the realities that Dr. Henderson spoke about which are some of the realistic options that may exist in the islands and those countries that are mainland territories and are still considered as part of the Caribbean. We have to understand what the types of waste are. I know that there are limitations in terms of the quantitative numbers that are available to us, but at least semi-quantitatively if we can get a sense of what exists, identify attempts made in the past and understand what were some of the issues that prevented us from moving forward. It could be that some of the issues that prevented us from moving forward could include the lack of firm numbers as Dr. Henderson spoke about. Indeed, I do believe that this is one (1) of the critical problems that we currently face in terms of a lack of data in the key sectors that we are making plans about. Also, the issue of integrated planning is one which continues to plague a lot of the sectors. In fact, energy being a cross cutting sector does not operate on its own. It is a sector that integrates into other sectors of the economy. When we start to talk about waste to energy, the linkage with the waste sector is obvious. If the integration and the planning that require the participation of the stakeholders in the planning are aside from those who are planning the energy requirements, then it will not happen. We will find that when we get to a certain stage, having planned the engineering side of it that the socio-political and other issues that are not related to engineering will eventually block the project. We are trying to speak to those who have tried to do something, those who have experiences within countries and those who have experiences within the region in general to understand what the lay of the land is.

Yesterday the Ministers and regional experts gave a bird’s eye view of what the landscape looked as from afar. Today, we will be given the real look on the ground and we will be given the detailed topography. Some of the sessions, especially the panel discussion this afternoon will examine what were the real things that prevented the projects from getting to completion. This will give us insight into some of those non-technological issues because most projects are not wanting for technological solutions. The issue in many instances is more related to the non-technical piece.

There is a paradigm which states that projects are like a stool and they need three (3) legs to stand. One piece is the technology and it includes the capacity to manage and to handle that technology. The other is the financing piece without which the technology cannot be accessed and neither can the capacity to manage be paid for. As Dr. Henderson mentioned the land issues which also have a cost implication. All of those are related to financing. The third is the legislative piece. Sometimes we fall of the stool because all of the pieces are not there. If we run after the financing piece, knowing that the technology is there and which one it wants, sometimes the legislative aspect causes the stool not to be stable. The legislation might be there, but it might be a weak leg and when it breaks down the project falls.

I am really looking forward to the discussions this afternoon and more importantly, to the working groups that will receive inputs from all of you that in a sense will identify the barriers of


which we are aware that we can mitigate and what might prevent projects from being successful. We can use that as part of a mitigation toolbox to assist member states in preparing their projects. I wish you a great Conference and I look forward to the deliberations towards the course of the day”.

Dr. Al Binger, Energy Science Advisor, Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC/SIDS DOCK), SIDS DOCK CoordinatorGood morning colleagues. I trust that you had a good welcome for the morning. I will be very brief and will start with a welcome to our Ambassador King from St. Vincent, Chair of the SIDS/DOCK Island Women Open Network (IWON) and our colleagues from St. Kitts and from Guyana. We look forward to your participation. When we return from lunch we will have a modification to the agenda and a supplemental agenda item will come on the Island Women Open Network. They will have a half an hour session and all males are required to be present. This is atonement for yesterday’s gender imbalance.

I like to listen to my young colleagues, Ambassador Henderson and Devon to hear how the younger generation is seeing the challenges that we meet, face and how we plan to deal with them. If you look at us as a group of countries, we are not in good shape. One (1) is that we don’t have models to guide our development. When the industrialized countries developed, they developed under a completely different set of circumstances. They had cheap labour, energy, no environmental considerations, and no World Trade Organization (WTO) and places where they could get send surplus labour quite easily. Those factors have all changes and the only thing that we have now that remains from that is cheap labour. We know about cheap labour and we used to call it slavery. Today, it is not physical, but it is close to being economic. People can work all week and won’t make enough meet their household demands. Some of the people can go to work on Monday morning and work for thirty (30) seconds and they would have made enough money for an entire year. Somewhere, there is a lot of global imbalance.

I share with Ambassador Henderson that our problem is not to fix the world, but to help our people to survive. I took homage yesterday when the Prime Minister took this statement from the head of the CDB that the real issue for us is how do we survive the impacts of climate change. It is ironic as one (1) of the things that we found out during this whole negotiation was that we in SIDS were not net greenhouse contributors. We were actually net removers of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. We are carbon negative people. This comes from all the forestry and coastal zones that we have.

We refer to ourselves as SIDS, but in truth, we are large ocean states. If you pooled the combined exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of our island nations and the extended continental shelf, collectively we are sixteen (16) times the territorial area of the European Union. We are not really small and we need to discontinue the thought that we are leaving in really limited space and that we can only achieve limited things. We can achieve what we want to achieve. This is the challenge that we face.

The first thing we have to do is basically figure out how to protect our population from the impact of climate change and build a resilient economy. The economy that we have cannot deal with climate change. We are located right here on Grand Anse beach and it is one (1) of the most important environmental assets to a country in the Caribbean region. My little back of the


envelope calculation tells me that this resource by itself is about twenty-five percent (25%) of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country. This is a resource that is under change from climate change as sea levels rise and there is erosion. What would Grenada do if it did not have this beach? How would it be replaced? What would be the basis of its economy? Where would it generate the foreign exchange to import the petroleum to have a viable supply? Those are the kinds of questions that climate change is going to force us to answer. It all begins with changing the energy sector. We cannot continue with petroleum energy and we have heard this many times by the Ambassador and Devon. The real reason why I worry, is how would you pay for it if your two (2) most productive sectors are being negatively impacted and you cannot generate the foreign exchange? The need to change to renewable energy is even more clear when you look at the threat posed to the economy of the country and questions on the foreign exchange to pay for it.

Yesterday we heard from our senior decision makers who are important as they will be the ones making the decision. Our job is to make sure that they have the best information to make the best decision. Many of you would have heard me say before that one (1) thing that I am amused at is that we treat policy as an event. It is like a photo opportunity and we see it on the newspaper, but in truth, we are humans and never get anything right the first time in the majority of cases. We make policies and we implement them, but we don’t research to follow, monitor and to make the fine tune. It goes on of course and it runs until somebody comes along and says that this is bad and we have a new policy and we repeat the same phase of process and implementation without monitoring. We have a responsibility to inform and to keep decision makers informed.

The deliberations left us with a couple of questions. The decision makers asked us to say what exactly was the resource availability. There were no questions as to scale, do we have enough and if we would be penalised for smaller volumes that would give us too pricy a cost for the energy that would negatively impact the economy. Just about everything that was made in the Caribbean used to say made in Trinidad and Tobago. It is because the used to have energy at eight cents ($0.08) per kWh, when we had it from twenty-five cents to forty cents ($0.25-$0.40) per kWh. In a global economy, let alone in a regional economy and you have prices that were six (6) times what your competitor had. We have to fix this as it is a requirement for sustainable development. They told us that we must pay attention to the issues of economic viability which I take and we have to address.

We also heard from the technology companies and in short they said that waste is not a nuisance and it’s a resource and they have the wherewithal to transform it into money. I was particularly impressed with some of the quantitative information that I heard as to what a ton of waste represented in energy value, the miles to be transported, the internal rate of returns and what were the payback periods. None of those had a payback period of beyond five (5) years. How much type of opportunities do we have in small island states that have this kind of impact, with the internal rate of return and payback period?

I want to thank our technology colleagues for basically shedding significant light on this subject and removing a lot of the doubts in the minds as to whether this was a viable enterprise. We have to do this; it is not an option that we can leave for future generations. It is an option that we have to do now otherwise the consequences would be very negative on factors like our tourism.


Today we start with the assessment of the regional situation. We want to make sure that we get the context correct and accurate and this will be the basis for developing the proposed regional waste to energy programme, so your inputs are going to be critical”.

Experts Roundtable 1: “The Regional WtE Situation”Moderator: Dr. Andreas Taeuber, Head GIZ-REETA, CARICOM Secretariat

“We have the first round of experts in Session III: Regional Challenges and Opportunities. I remember the words of Mr. Henderson that if you have no problem there is no need for policy makers or law makers to really act. I see that it is not only the problem that begs policy, but also the opportunity. We can make money out of a resource that is there, but we can also achieve co-benefits. Yesterday the co-benefits topic was part of the discussion. We should see waste not only as a problem, but as a valuable resource. It is about how to make use of it.

This brings me to our round table about the regional waste to energy situation on what are the resources? What do we really have as a resource? Do we need or do we already have a resource assessment? What are the proposals to be clear about the waste resource? I propose to the panellists that these are some of the key questions that we wish to discuss today. One (1) of them is actually resource assessment, the barriers and the possibilities to use this resource. Another important question is who is the owner of the waste? In some cases it is clear and it is a company or a distillery and they can use it and it is easy. With solid waste it is more complicated. Sometimes municipal solid waste is sometimes done by a private company on behalf of the Government. Sometimes Governments do it themselves. This is really important and today we talk about who is the owner of the waste and what are the opportunities for use of the waste. Us from GIZ come and stay in the region and tried to stay here. Regional competence and capacity is our key.

Dr. Wendt has not arrived as yet. We have Mr. Elliot Lincoln from Antigua and he has been participating in a resource assessment study on biomass which GIZ has executed in the last year. It was covering six (6) biomass resource countries: Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Barbados. Some countries are not covered and we noticed that to assess the resource including waste is not very easy because there is not much data around. It is very important and GIZ would like to support that in the future so that there is a clear picture of what resources are available, where are these resources and who are the owners of the resources. It is very important for us from GIZ not to come from Germany and say that in Germany it is being done like this, so do it like this. This is not possible because we have a completely different situation. In GIZ we come into the region, stay for years and try to really support you. As I said yesterday, regional competence and capacity is our key. We do not want to come and go. We want to stay here, support and develop the regional ownership and competence. GIZ has been working thirteen (13) now in the region based in St. Lucia on renewable energy. We have worked on very practical things like wind resource, solar PV installations and so on.

I turn now to the presenters. Mr. Manuel Fuentes has been tasked by UNIDO to develop a waste baseline in the Caribbean. This is not an easy task. He is also tasked with gathering from this Conference more information about waste in the countries in the Caribbean. He will speak on barriers, opportunities and possibilities with the waste resource, Mr. Thomas Scheutzlich from


GIZ is here today, Mr. Werner Wendt who is not here, Mr. Elliot Lincoln from Antigua and Mr. Eric Roennols, Environmental Consultant and Senior Advisor at the Swedish Waste Management Association. He will talk on the ownership of waste as that is an area where Sweden has special experience”.

Mr. Manuel Fuentes, Consultant, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Austria“Many thanks for letting me be here today and in this Conference. One of my tasks is to develop a baseline report for the waste to energy sector in the Caribbean. I would like to share today on the three (3) aspects of what I have found for the time that I have been working. The three (3) aspects are:

1. Technology- biomass resource.2. Economic structure available.3. Financial issues.

Please put everything that I am going to say in the context of what Dr. Henderson said to us. It is important to put it into that context and to reflect on what he said. We have scattered information about what is available regarding waste in the different islands in the Caribbean. What is needed is a detailed analysis of feedstock availability and characterization. That analysis would include things that were said yesterday which is the kind of waste that is generated in each island, how much is generated, where is it generated and which stakeholder is the owner and also the value of the waste today so that we can extrapolate the value of the waste in a couple of years when we have used the waste. That knowledge will be very important because this is a very insipid market yet. So having a database with this information would attract investment and will attract potential developers. It would bring about a lot of possibilities because we are going to know where the resource is and how much it costs. We are going to have a session, I think on Saturday where we are going to talk about the gaps in the information. I hope that you will help me to give me information about what is available now in the different islands and how we can close the different gaps in this information and how we can proceed to build the database with stock availability. So that is the first thing.

Second, if we are going to develop the waste to energy sector we need to create the proper economic structure in the island. What I mean with that is that we need to develop a potential business model for waste to energy. There are no models at the moment. We need not only the business model, but to know what will be the economic drivers to the expansion of waste to energy, what will be the project showcases that we will pay to build, replicate and scale up. There are some. I learnt yesterday about something happening in Jamaica. I have very few information, but I need to get more. In Jamaica it’s for a specific size I will say. When we go to the business sector there is a different kind of waste and size available. We need more, we have one that could work, but we need more models.

What is important for the business model is that we need to internalize the cost of the value of the waste. We need to internalize the cost of avoiding dumping effluents that are captured in the sewage systems and causes the pollution etcetera. We need to know who has to pay for this externality and how much they will have to pay for this externality. When we set a cost for the electricity that is coming from waste to energy we will know who has to pay for which part of


the electricity. Externalisation of added benefits is very important for the full and clear economic value of waste to energy projects.

We do not have many projects available at the moment. I think that one of the reasons is that there are no financial products available for these projects. It is not just financial products that are needed, but we need to be able to take the small developers by hand and help them to go from ideas about using waste to bankable projects so that the financial institutions are going to be able to create financial products. We need to be able to put the financial product together with bankable projects. We need a financial facility that creates two (2) things where on the one side it helps developers to create bankable projects and on the other side put financial products at their availability. That is something that we should be working on and I hope that this workshop will help put some brains to create those types of facilities”.

Dr. Andreas Taeuber, Head of GIZ-REETA (Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Technical Assistance) Project, from the Government of Germany in the CARICOM Secretariat“So resource is not only the technical resource and the biomass. It is more the assessment, available business models, banking and financial products. There is still some more work to be done in the UNIDO context. However, we will still have some gaps that can be filled. I see this as a task of the CCREEE to be the hub where in the future expertise on waste is available and developers can come there and they can support and attract investors. This is a task for this Conference that the future energy agency of the Caribbean will understand that this was an issue that is seen as a valuable opportunity and also as a solution to our problem. Part of the purpose of this Conference is for the future to ensure that at the CCREEE we have this regional competence and basic information about all of the resources.

I would now hand over to Mr. Thomas Scheutzlich who had been working here for a long time in the Caribbean on renewable energy especially at a time where it was really not a problem, but now the success came slowly, but it came and now more and more renewables are visible. Ten (10) years ago no one would have seen waste to energy as an important issue. I would ask for Mr. Scheutzlich to give his view on his experience from the last thirteen (13) years on the opportunities, risks and possible barriers”.

Presenter: Mr. Thomas Scheutzlich, Head of Energy Department/Principal Advisor at Project-Consult GmbH, St. Lucia

“My first activity in the Caribbean was in 1984 which was a biogas project with the GTZ, CDB and the Global ‘The Dissemination of Biogas Technology in the Eastern Caribbean’. Interestingly, all the little projects at the time in Barbados, St. Vincent, Dominica, St. Lucia were offered solutions. Biogas digesters were done to support farmers to use their waste to make energy from it. Three (3) years ago the last biogas digester went out of use in St. Lucia. In the Caribbean there is some former experience with biogas to energy or waste to energy solutions. It was not unsuccessful


in terms of establishing the technology. Thus in the Caribbean there is some former experience with operating biomass to energy and waste to energy solutions.

I am happy to be in a conference that takes up the actual nexus between energy and waste. This is an example of energy being put into context of other areas. Last year, I participated in a conference that was opened up to a different audience to look into the nexus of water and energy. We also see agriculture and energy. That means that energy is not just a topic for the energy sector, but is also spreading out into other sectors like waste. Waste is primarily an environmental problem not an energy problem, but waste to energy conversions in all of its significant forms offers an attractive way of putting a price tag on an environmental problem to generate an income from an environmental problem. I think that Minister Bowen was right yesterday when he said that is best if we distinguish the final price of the electricity per kWh generated by waste to energy. It needs to be divided between the environmental part and the electricity part. It cannot be that this environmental problem is shifted to the energy side expecting that the marketing or the sale of electricity will solve the environmental problems by themselves.

There is a major barrier in the region to all renewable energies and it’s the lack of legislation for investment. In most islands the utilities have a universal monopoly. Financiers are very clear that no private investment will happen in waste to energy or other renewable energies if the legal framework is not set right. I was involved for the last thirteen (13) years and they have said from the beginning that the utilities with their monopoly, as much as they want to go with renewable energy are not our partners. This is also true in the area of waste to energy. Private investors need a reliable regulatory framework that will protect their investment over the next twenty (20) years. We are always saying that financing is a problem, but I am saying that financing is not a problem. For a private investor who could invest in a protected environment with a power purchase agreement (PPA) of twenty (20) years a bank would be happy to finance that project. A project is bankable when you have a reliable investment framework and protection and power purchase agreement over a long period. That is what banks want in order to have a project like this financed.

The Governments have to do two (2) things. First of all, I see the Caribbean is on a good way to do this; they have to come up with specific regulatory framework. St. Lucia and Grenada are moving things. In St. Lucia last year the first bill to come up with an independent regulatory passed Parliament and was already approved or just in the process of. That is a step in the right direction. With the agreement of LUCELEC the monopoly will be unbundled in the area of generation. LUCELEC will be obliged to allow main power producers (MPPS) or to go on their own for renewable energy. They are free to do that. They will remain with the license for the existing fossil fuel based generation, but the sector for renewable energy generation will be open up for more competition. This is where we need to go. For instance, in St. Lucia if all of these things happen and I think this year we will see the legislation passed in Parliament and being enforced, St. Lucia would be leading theoretically with the right conducive investment framework for renewable energy and also waste to energy.

The resources are there and from my understanding the problems are national, but the solutions are regional. Many of the islands have similar problems and similar feedstock and options. Distilleries and breweries are in all Caribbean islands. Also, the collection of domestic waste is a


problem that we all have, but it is treated differently. In St. Lucia we don’t have a tipping fee, but in Grenada there is. There are lots of questions about the composition of the domestic waste, the energetic value, how to treat it and the problems of separating the different factions of waste. I think that all of these problems are national, but if we come up with regional blueprint solutions they can easily be adapted to a national context.

The second thing that we have to do is not only to put the regulatory framework right, but we need a strategy to implement not only the waste to energy issue, but develop our energy in general. All the time we are asked how to deal with situations where the Ministries are being flooded by unsolicited proposals from foreign investors who want to come to the region and the Ministries do not know how to deal with it. Is it a good proposal? Is it a serious one? Is it not a serious one? How do we deal with it? Without a strategy for how you want to deal with unsolicited proposals, there is a loss. I think it is a requirement to have a strategy for how we want to develop our renewable energy sector. If a strategy was in place, they would no longer have to react and could act and invite these kinds of proposals from investors. Not just always running behind and trying to deal with unsolicited proposals. Basically, these are clearly things for the governments to do and to come up with a composite legal regulatory framework for investment and secondly, this should be based on a strategy so that they know exactly where they want to go. GIZ and other projects in the region are willing to help, but the Governments are requested to start doing this”.

Dr. Andreas Taeuber, Head of GIZ-REETA (Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Technical Assistance) Project, from the Government of Germany in the CARICOM Secretariat“The regional aspect is very interesting and also while we talk about the regional waste to energy situation, every island has its own waste and do not export or import it. It may not be realistic. There is a regional aspect and that is why I mentioned the regional institutions of CARICOM like the CARICOM Energy Unit, the future of CCREEE that can play a role and support the national countries and the national Governments to develop a framework on how to attract investors. It can be foreign investors, but I also see the aspect of integration of energy into sectors like agriculture, tourism and transport.

If you have a good national framework based on a regional overarching framework, you can allow business in the country to make use of the opportunities of renewable energy resources including waste. A good example that we have seen was with CaribShare in Jamaica where manure as a waste resource is used to produce a value which is then run to hotels. The hotels can also give away their waste and get back the energy or electricity that they need. This is a good example where you see that in a functioning framework and don’t need one hundred and thirty (130) permits, then these kinds of businesses develop and you will also attract international and foreign investors. Now we come to a part of our work to get our resource really examined to know where things are and the German Biomass Research Centre has been working on that including of course local and regional experts because we cannot do such things only from Europe. I would like to ask Mr. Elliot Lincoln to explain a little bit about the results of the work, what has been done, what is still missing and what the way forward is”.


Presenter: Mr. Elliot Lincoln, Themba Biofuels, Antigua

“My name is Elliot Lincoln and I am based in Antigua. I am going to give you an overview on a piece of work that we completed towards the middle of last year that looked at the biomass resources that are available in the region. The work was commissioned by the CARICOM Energy Unit and the REETA Project and the DBFZ was commission to carry out the work. The DBFZ is an institution that was established by the German Government to do research in biomass and how it could be developed as renewable energy sources for the future. They were commissioned and in total four (4) consultants worked on this piece of work. I was one (1) of the consultants. The two (2) names of the slide, my colleague and team

leader Kay Schaubach was originally slated to do the presentation, so I am a standby for today. I hope I do it justice.

Key Objectives for the Scope of Work:1. We were asked to do an assessment of what bioenergy resources and biomass were

available. Essentially, what potential exist. It was a desk exercise based on available information.

2. To assess the legal and regulatory environment in each of the territories of the CARICOM region and the Dominican Republic.

3. Provide an initial assessment of potential technology options that could be available and could be deployed to convert the resources that are actually out there. That piece was quite important. We heard yesterday and this morning about the need to ensure that the solutions brought forward were relevant and applicable to our environment. The technology option piece was conducted in that context.

4. We were asked to prepare a baseline based on findings and to bring forward a gap analysis. That section was quite interesting because there were a lot of gaps.

5. We were asked to develop up to six (6) bioenergy project concepts that would be brought to at least prefeasibility study stage as models and that could be potentially taken forward to full feasibility and hopefully bankable projects.

There is a detailed report that is available on the CARICOM Energy Programme’s website: http://caricomenergy.org/caricom-giz-reeta-project/

Biomass Resource PotentialIn terms of biomass resource potential we tried to categorise them:

Agricultural residues. Waste and refuse derived residues. Animal based or livestock residues. For each of those categories and territories, where the information and data were

available we produced outline figures on what’s there and what energy potential might be contained therein.


http://caricomenergy.org/caricom-giz-reeta-project/

Legal and Regulatory Environments: There is a patchwork of legal and regulatory environments in each of the territories. There is a misconception that it is a homogenous region and on so many levels, it is not. There was quite a lot of difference in terms of the legal and regulatory framework across

the region. Rather than highlighting the laws and regulations that are applicable to the development of a bioenergy product, we wanted to try to capture it in such a way that it might assist a project developer to understand what the environment is like in each territory. We did this by coming up with three (3) constructs.

Three (1) Constructs:1. Ability of the project developer to offload the energy that they produced. We looked at

grid access, feeding tariffs and the ability to get power purchase agreements.2. Availability of raw material, what the laws and regulations said about the disposal of

waste and what the law said about disposal of the residues. That was assessed for each territory.

3. The enabling environment, laws and regulations that were either encouraging or discouraging of the development of bioenergy projects.

The diagram that you are seeing on the screen was simply to overlay these constructs. The intersection reflects counties that were positioned based on favourable or unfavourable assessment. For example, the countries that are listed where there is the overlap of all three (3) circles have legal and regulatory framework that are supportive of energy upload, that have recently well-established bioenergy supply chain and provides the kinds of incentives and measures that are encouraging of bioenergy project development. Similarly, in the other sectors where there were unfavourable conditions for each country that would dictate where they were positioned. This diagram provides a sense of where each country was in terms of attractiveness.

Technology Options: We wanted to highlight the technologies that were either very well developed for which

there were examples of applications or technologies coming down the pipeline that were at least partially developed.

Biomass Options: For the different types of biomass we looked at those that could lend themselves to the

development of biofuels. Similarly, we were looking at sugar containing biomass that could lend themselves to the development of biofuels. We looked at starch containing biomasses, cellulose, woody or fibrous biomasses. Also, waste residual biomasses and then we looked at the type of technologies that were available to convert them.

Development of Value Chains: We did a little bit of work about how these value chains could be developed. We looked

at options for processing, transporting, shipment and storage.

Conversion Processes Available: We identified the biochemical conversion processes, the mechanical and chemical

conversion processes and the thermo-chemical option. Including distillation, biodigestion, gasification and torrefication which is a newer and more modern process.


Based on those conversion technologies we looked at the sort of fuels that were possible. This covered the gamut including biodiesel and also included the gaseous option including biogas and the more refined biomethane.

Solid Pilot Opportunities Available: Stove pilots etcetera.

Development of Biochains or Storage Chains: We looked at how you could develop these supply chains and value chains in terms of

storage, distribution, delivery and final use. Whether it was conversion in a combustion engine, used in combined heat and power cycles, or used to derive heat and by extension in cooling applications.

Monitoring and Assessment: There is the need to develop solid reliable systems of monitoring and assessing both the

way we capture, store and utilise information and also capturing the successes and model projects in development and that will be developed as we move forward.

Monitoring of what is happening is crucial in respect to the issue of bankability. Yesterday, Joseph Williams, CDB made the point that if we wanted to attract funding we had to make them bankable. It was mentioned again by Ambassador Henderson and Dr. Gardner.

One of the key components to ensure that we build confidence with the bankers is to ensure that we have the right information available and in place for financiers.

In the report we made recommendation on how we can develop these systems and make them more robust and accessible. We felt that the systems should be regional and must assess what is possible from a technical standpoint, but also, they have to have the economic/commercial piece to them as well. If we were able to build the systems and build the confidence, it would assist in attracting the kinds of interest from the funders that we need.

Bioenergy Project Concepts We were able to elaborate six (6) bioenergy project concepts. When we started the projects were at various stages of development. Some were at the

ideas or concept stage, some were close to prefeasibility and we wanted to take them all to at least prefeasibility stage.

Projects Concept Established: Concepts in Barbados essentially around agricultural residue and making biogas from

waste. There was a project in Guyana around converting a perennial water based plant (water

lilies) which grows in the trenches around Georgetown. A project in Antigua was already worked up to prefeasibility working with the Antigua

Distillery. A cellulose woody mass project in Guyana converting the saw mill residual waste to

power to feed the saw mills. That was an interesting project from the sustainability standpoint.


There is a section in the report that gives an overview of all of the projects, the findings, types of conversion technologies and the energy potential that could be derived from them. There were some recommendations on how we might move forward.

The link to the CARICOM Energy Programme site is http://www.caricomenergy.org.cagizreeta

Thank you”.

Dr. Andreas Taeuber, Head of GIZ-REETA (Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Technical Assistance) Project, from the Government of Germany in the CARICOM Secretariat“Thank you. As you saw the focus was on bioenergy, probably more than waste to energy. The projects are being developed slowly and some of them are already on their way to prefeasibility. The biomass is a waste. These lotus flowers growing in the canals in Georgetown have to be taken out of the canals to keep them clean. That is a kind of waste that we don’t want to have in that place sometimes and it can be harvested. We are working on that at the Biogas Laboratory that Henrik was talking about yesterday. We will test the biogas potential of these plants. As Elliot mentioned all of these projects we are working on and we always need private sector partner. If we take the last one which was a saw mill project in Guyana, there is a company with a concession that is cutting lumber and exporting it to the Netherlands. They are looking at the technology and the size and it will be available to produce electricity from biomass from the saw mills”.

Mr. Eric Roennols, Environmental Consultant and Senior Advisor, Swedish Waste Management Association, Sweden

“I have been engaged by the Swedish Energy Agency to participate in this Conference to share some experiences from the Swedish waste side. Later on I will discuss the Swedish waste to energy experiences. It was interesting to hear Dr. Henderson and Dr. Binger discussing this morning if there is a problem or if there is not a problem. Of course, you should not solve a problem if you don’t have a problem. The Caribbean waste is not a global climate problem, but it is a local problem. The waste water management problem is probably much more important to you than the solid waste problem. It is a problem and it should be solved.

Talking about waste to energy, I think that it is part of the waste problem and not part of the whole solution at least not in the first stage. I will like to widen the concept of waste to energy a bit. Energy is in everything. If you just talk about biogas then that’s a small part of the waste. If you talk about the rest of the waste that can be recyclables, this is also energy saving because when you recycle materials you avoid use of raw materials. It is normally cheaper to recycle waste material than to go to the mines to take raw material. Waste to energy has to be done, but there are the questions of who should pay and who should benefit from you doing it.


http://www.caricomenergy.org.cagizreeta/

From my standpoint, the waste collection is a sanitation problem. When you talk about the energy that you can get out of the waste, from the starting point it is a by-product of the sanitation. To get to good sanitation and a good system of waste management the question of who should pay comes up easily. If no one pays then they don’t get anything. The question is should you pay or should you not pay? If you don’t pay today someone else would have to pay later on. You can always put the cost on the future generations for we have done it for quite a while.

The industrial revolution created a lot of problems that we are trying to solve today. My generation and the generation before us inherited these problems and we have to solve it. We did not create these problems. I have a pragmatic approach to what should be done and we have to find solutions. We need to start with small scale and low tech solutions and make them bigger if they are a success. Don’t start with a monster project. We have seen too many monster projects all over the world. We have seen incinerator plants that do not work and in India we call them white elephants. They did not work because they did not make a proper feasibility study. The waste was not burnable and it couldn’t work and no one could control it. We heard about the Cape Verdean experiences to start small and build up if you can later on.

You cannot solve everything straight away. I would also say that the waste water problem is bigger than the waste problem. In Sweden and in many other countries the sludge and the waste water go to treatment to get clean water. It was a by-product because the sludge was the first energy that we got from the waste. You got something for agriculture and then energy as a by-product. You need clean water and you need sewage treatment plants. There is the possibility to get energy from the waste water.

Landfill gas is a solution to get something from the waste until you have a proper segregation of waste. The methane gas that will be produced from the waste either you take care of it or you don’t take care of it. From the landfills you can get energy to start with consistently from the organic waste. A sustainable solution for solid waste management has to include separation of waste. We talk about waste as a resource, but in my view mixed waste is a burden to our society. Every kilo of waste that we put is a burden to the society, but perhaps, we can use part of it as a resource.

Someone has to pay to make it a resource. If you don’t pay, then you don’t get anything. You need awareness and you need willingness to pay. The challenge for many of the countries is to get people to understand that they will get something if they put something. I think that the producer of the waste should pay something, otherwise you have no incentive to minimise your waste. If you don’t have to pay, then you can keep on producing, but if you have to pay, there will be a small incentive to diminish your costs and your amount of waste.

Based on studies we heard today there is a lot of information that can help us to develop different kinds of possibilities for waste to energy. Our agency has been in many projects where we have been working in capacity building with entrepreneurs and having study visits looking at the Swedish example. I hope that we can contribute to something in the long run. This is the first mission for my side and I hope that it can be continued in sessions later with more experiences from Swedish waste”.


Dr. Andreas Taeuber, Head of GIZ-REETA (Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Technical Assistance) Project, from the Government of Germany in the CARICOM Secretariat“Thank you Mr. Roennols for looking at the waste water aspect, the experience in Sweden. We are looking forward to hear more about your activities and how you deal with waste and what are the problems and challenges”. There were no questions raised.


PRESENTATION II:

CARIBBEAN EXPERIENCE WITH UTILITY SCALE WTE CONTRACTING

Moderator: Dr. Devon Gardner, Programme Manager, CARICOM, Secretariat Energy Programme

“I recognised that we can use some of the waste resources as inputs in energy production either locally to support some of the local energy services which may be derived to support the economic sectors for waste to energy and you can end up with closed grid systems or also important to support utility grids in cases where there is the option for larger amounts of energy to be produced. Recognizing that the utilities will continue to always play a role in the energy sector within the Caribbean regardless of whether we like them or not. There are more options when it comes down to solutions than there are not.

We have to derive an understanding as to what those solutions could look like. In order for us to understand what those solutions could look like, we must understand the issues that retarded those solutions in the past. This particular session in a sense will focus on a set of presentations on issues related to Caribbean utility scale waste to energy contracting for the next fifty (50) minutes or so. I wish to recognise the representative of the Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corporation (CARILEC) who is the regional utility liaison who is here with us today. At some point, we will be calling on her to speak to the issues of CARILEC’s own interest in waste to energy as it regards utility scale options.

Those who will be making the presentations to us are persons who in most instances, I say most instances because countries are at varying stages of development and so you will get a wide range of experiences and situations being presented. There are those countries that have gone to the stages of having made requests for proposals (RFPs), tendering and selecting contractors. There are those who have only gotten to the stage to prepare RFPs. There are various stages.

We have Mr. Philip Weech, Bahamas, Mr. Emmanuel DuBois, Antigua and Barbuda, Mrs. Karen Roden-Layne, Grenada, Ms. Denise Forrest, Jamaica and Mr. Clive Hosten, Grenada. The panel discussions will be very interactive. Presentations will provide some amount of orientation for the panel discussion. We expect that the presentations will provide the platform for the issues that will be raised in the panel discussion”.

Mr. Philip Weech, National Energy Policy Committee, Bahamas, Environment, Science and Technology Commission (BEST), Ministry of the Environment and Housing, The Commonwealth of the Bahamas

“First of all the presentation will focus on the Bahamas experience with utility scales. I will like to first of all respond to a question that Dr. Henderson


raised on what the Bahamas is doing. Based on activities that are actually on going at the moment, we have largely private public partnerships (PPP) that are doing things that would fall under the overall discussion of what is waste to energy. We have biodiesel production coming from used cooking oil in several locations across the Bahamas and this is being done to offset diesel that is used in heavy utility vehicles. We are also doing methane recovery from a solid waste landfill to generate less than one megawatt (1MW) of power in Grand Bahama. Across the Bahamas in some small facilities we also have some biogas that is being produced primarily from food residue. That is on a very small scale and is typically the waste to energy application in the Bahamas at the moment. We don’t have large distilleries and we used to grow sugar cane. That is essentially the situation as it is today.

When you assess where we are, we have done technical studies ad nauseum related in some cases to waste management and we have done a lot of work in the technical potential under energy policy and under landfill studies. The whole connection between landfill, other activities and waste to energy is very well studied. I think the awareness within the Bahamian population is very high on the subject. We received numerous proposals, most unsolicited that looks at landfills and any other resource and tried to tie that into some waste to energy proposal. Within the public sector itself we are undergoing public sector reform, primarily looking at energy reform to vie for public private partnerships, as well as to provide for an overall regulatory regime and to put into place a tariff system for a self-generator to feed in and to be compensated.

The private sector has concentrated on methane. It is in the context of a clean development mechanism project. That has been plagued by the price of carbon now being less than fifteen (15) euro cents per tonne. Those are some of the experiences that we have had so far.With regard to landfill management in the Bahamas of 100,000 square miles, we have solid waste management facilities, some of which are very sophisticated and in other cases it is a hole in the ground were you dump the waste. Thus the whole conversation of what is garbage versus what is solid waste management.

What has been the basis for action in the Bahamas? In many cases it was not dealing with waste to energy per se, but dealing with the reality of landfill operations where you have landfill fires and there was the high cost of operating landfills. The effort to make use of economic incentives like the clean development mechanism (CDM) comes as a result to make the whole operation of the landfills more economically viable. Activities undertaken were done primarily by the private sector and in most issues cases the initiatives were due to external forces.

We have had experience in terms of doing fairly extensive examinations. We looked at contracting options with waste to energy including the process of gasification. In that regard, the gasification experience has been primarily technology in the advanced pilot stage implementation. This goes to some of the discussion that we had yesterday where the private sector supported by Government came in and wanted to put in place a gasification system in our second city, but the economics of it was such that it was more applicable to the city of New Providence. There was a different regulatory regime between the Grand Bahama and New Providence and so there was back and forth on the matter and the matter was never actually resolved.


The gasification discussion was interesting as it would constitute an applicable technology and we would have to look at several different factors. For example, it was not just that it was a pilot in an advanced stage; it was also about what was the waste stream coming at the end of it. Are you producing toxic ash? The other things that came out of it were that there was really not a very good handle on the energy potential of the waste material that was actually being disposed in the public landfill. It got down also to the issue of how much power would we produce. The low number was something on the order of seventeen megawatts (17MW) and the high number was thirty-seven megawatts (37MW). The issue of how it was to be paid for became a very interesting discussion. Not only was there a guarantee for the tipping fee, but there was a guarantee for the take-off and for the operation. The conditions that were indicated in the proposed contract were quite onerous. On the issue of economics, it was not really clear at the end on whether there was a neat breakdown between the energy cost and the landfill cost.

What is important from an environmental standpoint is that landfill operation in the Bahamas is to bury the garbage. The environmental impacts associated with cutting down a hill to entomb garbage, those costs associated were never taken into the whole economics of use of the gasification energy or waste to energy in the long term.

Where we are right now is that we do not have anything that represents a utility scale contracting other than what I indicated in terms of a project in Grand Bahama and even that is in jeopardy at the moment because the whole economics of is untenable”.

Mrs. Karen Roden-Layne, General Manager, Grenada Solid Waste Management Authority, Grenada

“I don’t profess to be an expert on waste to energy neither will I say that I know everything as it relates to that. I can give the experience that we face here in Grenada and I will start of by giving a historical background on how waste to energy came into being.Basically due to the uncertainty of the oil prices in the world, though not the case right now and the issues surrounding climate change, Caribbean governments were forced to consider alternative to fossil fuels and sought to get assistance in that regard. Grenada was one of them. As a result, a renewable energy policy was developed by Grenada.

In 2011 the Solid Waste Management Authority together with the Government of Grenada invited submissions of expression of interest to establish a waste to energy facility in Grenada. From the onset the Grenada Solid Waste Management Authority knowing that we had a monopoly in terms of the utility company invited GRENLEC which came on board with us to look at the possibility of converting waste to energy and the likely options that would result. They have been on board from day one in terms of meetings and we formed a committee on which they sit.

Owing to a number of factors including size and population density, Grenada does not have available land space to pursue landfilling as the major option for solid waste disposal in the


future. Consequently, we are exploring the possibility of the conversion of solid waste to energy resource. In 2009 a study examined the options of waste disposal among other things in Grenada gave support to a waste to energy thrust. It is recognised that there are several options for conversion and the end use of the potential energy contained within solid waste.

There were several expressions of interest received, however, due to the human resource capability or capacity to develop the request for proposals the Solid Waste Authority and the Government of Grenada sought to look for technical assistance to do so. As a result, the Clinton Foundation came on board to assist in regards to developing the request for proposals. Almost simultaneously, the Caribbean Development Bank came on board with the Authority to develop a scientific landfill based on the challenge to find space for landfilling. The CDB developed a project which included a review of the National Waste Management Strategy and the construction of a new scientific landfill site among other things.

The existing waste management strategy was developed in 2003 through the cooperation between the Grenada Solid Waste Management Authority and the OECS Environment and Sustainable Development Unit to look at the concerns regarding waste. Grenada with small land space and high population density faces serious constraints in the use of landfilling as the primary option for waste management.

In 2009 a CDB financed study by Hydroplan cited waste to energy as an alternative to landfilling. The Hydroplan study was done to assist Grenada in dealing with its waste management issues since landfill use had reach crisis point. After Hurricane Ivan a dumpsite for hurricane derived debris emerged in Perseverance where Grenada’s main landfill area is located. By 2009 it became imperative that the site be rehabilitated. Additionally, the scientific landfill which was developed in 2001 collapsed. With the need to urgently address Grenada’s immediate waste management needs the CDB project aimed to develop new landfill cells and this took precedence over waste to energy and as such, it has somewhat been put on the back burner.

Part of the overall CDB project is to provide assistance with the new waste management strategy and the Clinton Foundation continues to provide pro bono assistance to Grenada with a National Waste Management Strategy. As part of this assistance, in 2013 the Clinton Foundation Initiative did an assessment of waste to energy technology options for Grenada.

Presently, our waste portfolio is approximately forty thousand (40,000) tonnes per annum. We have an excess of thirty thousand (30,000) tires per annum. Plastic waste is about seventeen (17%). With the combination of both plastic and tires we see that we have some energy potential. Biodegradable material from the waste is about forty-five percent (45%). Despite the volume, there is the possibility of having tailor made equipment or technology that can fit our situation. Whatever technology is finally chosen, the culture of the country must be borne in mind. We do not want the situation as described by Julia yesterday where the plant was not being fed because persons did not want to mingle with the waste. Therefore, one has to bear in mind the cultural impact on the appropriateness of the technology that would be chosen. For us in Grenada, culture would definitely come into play. Grenadians do not want to take ownership for their waste once it is generated. They see it as someone else’s problem, not theirs. Education to things the way we see that it is right takes a great amount of resource and effort.


With this waste to energy thrust, however, we have seen companies doubling their efforts to promote their type of technology. This should assist in bridging the education gap and successfully move our people from seeing waste as an unavoidable evil to be disposed of, but as a potential resource that can contribute to solving our energy problems. However, our politicians need to be on board and we need to have legislative changes and regulations in order to make this waste to energy a likely possibility”.

Dr. Devon Gardner, Programme Manager, CARICOM, Secretariat Energy Programme“Thank you Karen. We have clearly seen that the majority of attempts to do contracting on the waste to energy projects have been focused on solid waste and I guess that the reason for that is that there is a centralized agency which has been given responsibility for that and it gives some sense to the importance of ownership and they have structured their approach. I will go immediately to the next representative who represents the Solid Waste Agency who is Mr. Emmanuel DuBois so we can see where the commonalities lie. Then we will go to the other folks”.

Mr. Emmanuel Dubois, Landfill Manager, National Solid Waste Management Authority, Antigua and Barbuda

“Just to give a brief overview of Antigua and Barbuda. Barbuda is one of the smallest islands in the region with a sanitary landfill. There are only fifteen hundred (1500) persons there. Due to the small population I expect the sanitary landfill to last for decades so it is a plus for them. Antigua has less than one hundred thousand (100,000) and is only one hundred and eight (108) square miles. If Chris Gayle would hit a ball from one end of the island, it would reach the other end of the island as a massive six (6). That is how small we are. We are surrounded by three hundred and sixty-five (365) beaches. What we have are sea, sand and sun. We sell Antigua as the land of natural beauty and you can enjoy a beach every day of the year. We have to protect the beaches. If the sanitary landfill is not well-operated then the beaches would be

affected. We depend on tourism for our daily bread. Most of our revenue is from the tourism industry. Today, as I speak, we have over eight thousand (8000) visitors on the island of Antigua from three (3) major cruise ships. We have to protect Antigua; not only for the tourism industry, but also for our own personal welfare we have to protect Antigua’s beaches and ensure that they will encourage visitor to come.

Although we are a small island with a small population, we do generate a lot of waste. Last year was one of our lowest volumes and we generated ninety-five thousand (95,000) tonnes of waste. On average we generate one hundred and twenty thousand (120,000) tonnes per annum. In Antigua, so we do generate large volumes for our small population and small island state.

In the 1990s we were given the mandate by an Act of Parliament to manage solid waste. However, our facility was an old one and we had to ensure that we had systems in place so solid waste could be managed properly. At the same facility liquid waste, raw sewage and petroleum


products were coming down to the site. We had all of the waste types coming into a solid waste disposal facility that was designed to handle solid waste. That was a double challenge of how do we handle both liquid and solid waste. We were fortunate enough in that we negotiated with the petroleum company and they constructed a biodiesel facility to handle waste oil. The facility was not very successful because of a number of problems including poor waste sorting. There was a number of liquid waste products were going to the facility. The same trucks transporting used oil would also be transporting sewage so that was a disaster.

In the early 1990s we were very fortunate where in the private sector a company came on stream known as Antigua Local Oils with the production of diesel fuel utilising used petroleum products. To date, this is a very beneficial product where persons could receive diesel at a reduced rate, utilising waste as a resource. We were fortunate when the gentleman who presented earlier came in with his technology and began producing used cooking oil into diesel also. His company is Themba Biofuels. It was very profitable in the sense of utilising waste as a resource as it would have been disposed of in our landfill where it was costing us thousands of dollars to manage on a monthly basis. It is now used as a by-product as fuel. Our heavy equipment operators and truck drivers are benefiting from his product, so profitable from that sense and with benefits to the environment.

We are left with sewage, liquid waste and solid waste to manage. In 2006 we commenced the operations of our sanitary landfill and to date it is now filled and we are now brainstorming about where we will get funds to construct a new sanitary landfill. As mentioned, our volume is one hundred and twenty tonnes annual so it is a lot.

We have been pushing the three (3) Rs. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. In Antigua we do have some recycling, recyclers and recycling companies. We have the Antigua and Barbuda Waste Recycling Corporation (ABWREC) bottles. They are not really recycling, but are processing waste for export. We collaborate to ensure that all of our polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) bottles are collected and transported to the plant. At one time we assisted by paying some of the staff because we saw the benefits of waste to energy for our landfill. They are also processing large bottles of car batteries and metal tanks for exports. Therefore, large volumes of waste are diverted from our facility to the recycling facility for export.

With reference to other activities to divert waste and reduce waste we commenced a composting project where we composted tree bars, processed wood chips, sold wood chips and compost material to the public. The wood chipping activity and composting are at a standstill now because of what the challenge is. With the incoming waste we had a problem with the Giant African Snail which infested the landfill facilities. We did not want to transmit the snails throughout the island and we had to make sure that they all remained within the facility to stop the spread of the snail.

In reference to how are we moving forward in terms of strategy we have been receiving a number of proposals. During the late 1990s and between 2004 to 2008, we had a serious problem with energy, its production and cost. A number of companies, investors and business men would come in and say that they had solutions to the problems, just sign this memorandum of understanding (MOU) at no additional cost to you and we can solve the problems. It was basically impossible. Who would utilise our waste and come to our island and state that we can


take all of your waste at no cost to you like a dream. They were looking at key areas : accepting the waste at our facility, the collection and transportation of the waste was not a part of it, our tipping fees and specific waste types. They looked at the subventions that we were receiving and we had to give it to them. Yet, the most critical aspect of it was that our sole power company would have to purchase all of the surplus energy from them. The power company has generators and generates its own electricity and is an independent organisation and so you can see the problems that we had to overcome. To date we have no waste to energy facility in Antigua and Barbuda.

We know that waste management is a problem and we have formed a team of experts including Ambassador Challenger who heads the Energy Division, Mr. Pigott who also heads part of the Energy Division, Ministry of Finance, legal personnel from the power company and some from the Environment Department that is studying the existing situation in Antigua and Barbuda to look at our waste types, volumes and what is best for us. We are trying to prepare a paper with the technocrats to see the way forward in terms of waste management. We have to find out what is the best solution for the situation and to make recommendations. To our Government on the way forward on waste management be it waste recycling, waste to energy or composting. We have to find out what is the best solution for the existing situation and make recommendations. I do believe that with the expertise that we have on board that we will develop a sound document to see waste management in Antigua and Barbuda at a higher level and to protect our 365 beaches and make Antigua a safe place to live”.

Dr. Devon Gardner, Programme Manager, CARICOM, Secretariat Energy Programme“Thank you Sir. There were many interesting things which came out of that presentation. In particular, there are challenges in terms of how to approach the utility scale contracting. So far, there has been very little success in negotiating utility scale contracts for waste to energy. That is something which will come up during the panel discussion phase. I will turn to Ms. Forrest for us to get a sense of what is potentially applicable and what experiences there may be in other sectors apart from the MSW sector. Ms. Forrest has experience also in waste water. I guess that we will see if there are experiences there or if the experiences continue to lie only in the MSW. Nonetheless, during the panel discussion we can guess what the possibilities are even in the areas where the experiences lay”.

Ms. Denise Forrest, Managing Director and Principal Consultant, Forrest and Associates, Jamaica

“Good afternoon ladies and gentleman and thank you for the kind invitation to participate in this most important meeting. The Chairman has expanded my scope, but what I think I will do is I confine my discussion on waste to energy linking it to utilities in the Jamaican experience and recognizing of course that there may be some similarity with some other places. I want to take the opportunity just to discuss the Jamaican experience in the context of private sector involvement in the first place and also to look at some of the issues as it relates to a Government related type project.


First of all, in terms of the context of the private sector there are waste generators who have access to organic waste and opportunities abound. We have done a lot of work at the pilot or lower scale level to produce gas and animal feed. You have heard from Julia on the work at the Scientific Research Council. Also, private people have looked at anaerobic technology using waste to produce energy from tree cuttings. Opportunities abounds. From the experience it is clear that we can produce energy that can be used by our utilities.

Within the private sector with respect to organic waste, there are no companies that are selling electricity to the utility companies. This is one of the issues there. There are significant barriers to these business opportunities which we have to address because we cannot leave the private sector out of this and we have to unleash the potential that exists there. One of the issues when we are looking at private sector development is that to some extent there is hardly any funding that encourages development and to upscale with a particular kind of waste. Some companies are not willing to do this kind of investment because they don’t understand the full potential as a business.

In terms of investment financing, we have a banking sector that is more comfortable with funding consumer goods than funding projects of that kind. The risks and the understanding of this issue is not necessarily where we wish to be. Banks are there, financing is there, but there is a missing link in terms of finding investment financing and perhaps at interest rates that are attractive for this type of investment.

Also in the private sector, there is the issue of the power purchase agreements between the generator of the electricity and the utility. Happily in our case, the utility is open to these kinds of agreements. It is a matter of pricing and pricing makes the investment attractive enough. I would like to think that the potential for waste to energy from organic materials remains untapped, both in terms of attracting private sector interest and in terms of the kinds of waste streams that the Government has control of.

There are some issues related to the enabling environment which are essential to move this forward. We have discussed these already and I have heard other speakers talk about the absence of effective legislative. In Jamaica we have legislation and we are fortunate enough to have it. We have issues related to enforcement. The enforcement reluctance on the part of Government agencies is related to a feeling that enforcing the environment on those kinds of regulations may stymie investment inceptors. We are perhaps not as strident and stringent and therefore the ability for the legislation to be a driver or a more effective driver is not what we want to see.

In our economic analysis also, we are not internalizing external costs. So the generator is going ahead doing all that it wants to do and they are not thinking about the cost to the general public because of the way that the waste might be managed or mismanaged. In the discussions and in the drivers these costs have to be internalized.

The government of Jamaica of course has committed to a goal of twenty percent (20%) renewable energy to generate electricity to replace the mix of fuels being used. Interestingly, the focus not necessarily has been on organic waste, but on solar and hydro. In a sense we have to begin to see how we can look at this as it remains an untapped potential.


If we look at Jamaica and the matter of our landfill gas as a potential for the utilities to generate energy, from the 1990s in the National Solid Waste Management Plan this was understood. Why? Not only was it important for issues of sanitation etcetera, but because Jamaica at that time had forty cents ($0.40) per kilo watt hour for electricity. With the fall in oil prices it is now twenty-six cents ($0.26). The cost of energy was high and so there was a need for a waste to energy project and there was the potential with respect to the use of municipal solid waste within an engineered landfill to produce energy to the grid as a waste to energy project. Technically, we found that there were some issues. We found that demonstrating feasibility did not guarantee action. In terms of contracting, issues of procurement did not guarantee action. Jamaica has a very well developed contracting and procurement process. We found that the availability of funding did not always produce action. We would have thought that this would be sufficiently motivating and would remove some of the barriers, but no, there were some other issues and it was a little more complex than that. There needed to be an agreement and an approach to integrated solid waste management. Some people said that we should compost it and others said that it should be used for energy. The philosophy and the approach are still to some extent not fully agreed. Why is this? It seems as if the confidence in the technology may be a consideration. Is it that the thinking is that landfill gas takes too long to be generated? There might be issues of reliability and with the technology in terms of anaerobic digestion. In some cases it is an issue that we can’t altogether ignore and perhaps still need to make the case. I think too that the issue of data in terms of the determination and the confidence to design the project and the risk assessment has been one (1) of the issues holding back waste to energy considerations.

The implications of the impact of the power purchase agreements. Yes the power company is willing to buy energy and in fact they are the only ones who can supply electrical energy in the distributor. So if I wanted to sell my neighbour my excess energy, I couldn’t. It has to go through the utility company. The discussion around the issue of what price they will pay for it has to be considered. The current price that they will pay is around ten US cents ($0.10) per kilowatt hour. These are issues that we have to examine.

When we look at all the logical considerations of feasibility and engineering studies, the openness of utilities to accept the energy, there is always the political consideration. Sometimes we do not understand what it is. It is important to achieving the use of organic waste, particularly at the larger scale within the country for energy. It is something that we have to unlock to ensure that it moves forward. I hope that I have given you in these remarks some kind of indication of where we are with this issue in Jamaica. It is not a total picture, but I trust that it does provide some insights. Thank you”.

Dr. Devon Gardner, Programme Manager, CARICOM, Secretariat Energy Programme“Denise spoke candidly about the power purchase agreements which may be a place that we need to look at to better understand why there is not more focus and interest in private developers in waste to energy opportunities. I turn at this point to Mr. Hosten to give us the utility perspective”.


Mr. Clive Hosten, GRENLEC Grenada

“First of all I have a little confession to make. I am Grenadian and I am from Pure Grenada. I represent the electric utility in Grenada, GRENLEC. Before I get into waste to energy, I will provide just a bit of background on the organisation. As Dr. Henderson said this morning, we are looking at small island states and you have small utilities. Our peak load in Grenada is thirty megawatts (30MW) which is probably a little bit less than Dominica. When you look at the cruise liners that come to Grenada, their installed capacity is twice the size of what we have here in our small islands. We are small and we always have to keep that at the back of our minds. The way we operate and function is totally different from the mainland large utilities.

I have heard here about the issue of comparison with price. There will have to be a difference. We look at economies of scale, materials and fuel being imported and added to that, we are not interconnected. This means that when we have a problem or when we have generation shortage we need to have added capacity to ensure that we can maintain our reliability. It means that instead of having two (2) and three (3) generators, we need to have four (4), five (5) and six (6). When one goes down you need to have a backup as when two (2) goes down at the same time, you need to have a backup. These are some of the things that we have to consider.

We also have to consider how we manage the grid. Utility is all about reliability. We have to ensure that when the customer wants electricity at a touch of a switch and when they put on their computers they can get electricity instantly. We have to ensure that our supply generation is always ahead of demand and there are some sciences and techniques that we have to deal with.Our corporate goal is to have twenty percent (20%) renewable energy by the year 2020 and is aligned with the National Energy Policy of Grenada. It is not always easy to accomplish renewable energy integration into the grid. As a matter of fact, GRENLEC has been working on this since 2005 and up to this point in terms of energy generation we have about close to three percent (3%). We still have somewhere to go.

What have we done and what were some of the challenges? In 2007-2008 we launched a customer interconnection programme. It was the first in the Caribbean at that time. It meant that customers having their own energy source, mainly with PV could use that top power their homes and their excess could be fed into the grid. Up to this point we have 80 customers and over one megawatt (1MW) of power that is interconnected in the grid. Right now we have an application list with some of those persons who are interested in that programme. It is a programme that we are very proud of.

We have also been looking at utility scale solar. At our offices we have one hundred and fifty kilowatts (150KW) of solar. Last year we signed a contract for nine hundred and thirty kilowatts (930KW) of solar, just under a megawatt (1MW) of power that we can distribute on our compounds and properties throughout the island. Because we have utilised a lot of the roof space on our property, with this new project we will use carports. So where we have car parks for customers and employees, we will put a structure and put panels on that to try to get to the 2020 twenty percent (20%) goal.


Dr. Henderson spoke of the St. Lucia experience and the price of land. We face the same thing here in Grenada. As a matter of fact, on the South and South east coast close to our beaches there is no way we can do a renewable energy project on those properties because of the cost to lease or even to purchase. We have a different problem to St. Lucia here in Grenada in the sense that we have located land for wind and solar and the price is reasonable so that we can have a bankable project from that perspective. Where we have had the challenge and the issue is that because we need a vast amount of land because renewable energy in terms of intermittent solar and wind requires a large amount of land, we have had to deal with multiple landowners to have signed leases.

I will give you one (1) of our experiences. We came across a nice property with twenty (20) odd acres. We found out that the landowner had died and had willed the property to his siblings who were in the USA and UK. We started some negotiations and drafted leases and lo and behold, we found out that the owner, who had had these six (6) siblings, also had three (3) outside children which can be a characteristic of the Caribbean. We also had to bring them into the picture, so we had to go back to day one. Luckily we have just signed that property. We are looking at some time next year as there is a development process that we have to go through. We can have an additional three (3) or four (4) megawatts from solar here in Grenada. We have gone through the same challenges regarding land and land ownership and having clean titles showing ownership to take to the bank to make the project bankable as has come up in these discussions so far.

The other issue that we face is transportability and constructability for wind turbines. You may have seen that the southern part of the island where we have the beach may be our best resource, but for the best price we have to go inland so to go through the winding roads and to go up to the mountains. It’s a challenge to get large equipment to those places. We continue in on our thrust regarding renewable energy.

Late last year we purchased three (3) electric vehicles. It is in our interest to find out how these vehicles can perform on the island. We are mountainous and we have heard stories that they are like golf carts and do not have the power to go up the hills. We therefore said that we would bring in three (3) and we will start putting up charging stations in our thrust towards renewables. We still use a lot of diesel for electricity generation, but we have a certain amount of renewables and our thrust is to increase that amount. So far these vehicles have worked well.

We have done a lot of work in renewable energy, but unfortunately we do not have a lot to show for it. This is a characteristic of a lot of utilities in the region. It is not that we are anti-renewables, but there are a lot of practical challenges when it comes to getting renewables onto the grid. For a diesel project we would have all of the expertise because we have done them over and over. With the renewables it is different and there is a development period that can be very tricky and requires a lot of experience. If you don’t have land then you don’t have a project.

When it comes to waste to energy, probably around 2006-2007 we said that we would like to look at biomass in Grenada and nutmeg shells were something that we looked at. Yesterday, there was a little lecture on nutmeg and someone liked the internal of the nutmeg. On the outside you have a shell which has a lot of heating value. If a shell catches on fire, it ignites and stays on fire for quite some time. We took a sample which we sent to the US to have some calorific testing done and it was pretty good, but then came feedstock, how to keep that sustainable,


coordinating with the farmers and making that part an integral and reliable part of the process to generate electricity. The rest of it is there in terms of incineration, gasification and the generation part of it. That was our biggest challenge and we said that we are an electric utility company and our focus, our skills and our generation in Grenada is utilising diesel, combustion engines, building and maintaining the grid and we should keep to that for now and so we left that.

Karen from Grenada Solid Waste Management Authority approached us regarding a waste to energy project at our landfill and right away we recognised that this was a national problem because the landfill was near to capacity. One (1) of the solutions was to build a waste to energy plant. When we heard that we said that we would partner which is another word that Dr. Henderson used this morning and share ideas and start from the beginning. We would tell our ideas and share our expertise with them. Remember, we are not in the waste management business. We do not collect, we do not transport and we do not know anything about it. We build diesel power plants and lines. We are pretty good in project management or so we think and we do have some nice projects on our belt - let’s work together, partner and solve this national issue together and as Karen said, we went through the process and got some expressions of interest.

There was quite a lot of interest and we saw proposals ranging from six dollars ($6) per watt up to ten dollars ($10) per watt which is pretty expensive. Diesel is just over one dollar and fifty cents ($1.50) per watt. Solar is two dollars ($2.00) per watt. Waste to energy is a lot more. We also saw scale. Some of the persons who submitted their expressions of interest had sizes of one point five megawatt (1.5MW), two megawatts (2MW) up to seven and eight megawatts (7MW and 8MW) for the same forty thousand (40,000) tonnes of waste per year and it didn’t make sense. There were over ten (10) proposals and something seemed to be wrong somewhere. That is where we needed the expertise from persons who had done this before, who had the knowledge, who were competent in this area to help us put the RFP together. We spent some time on that. We made a little progress, but sometimes we go forward and then backward, but we are more or less around that area and we have been talking about it for some time.

Our aim in all of this is to work together, partner and work within the generation part of it. Probably what we can do is that from the output from the gasification incineration with the gas that we can put a meter on that. From there we can put that into a generator turbine and we buy the gas from you and we will offer it and maintain the generation part of it. That is where our expertise is. We can also do the impact studies and see how that integrates with our grid because the management of the grid is extremely important and it has to integrate in our systems and need to have the proper protection system so if there is a problem on our line it can stay on and do not go of. It needs to work in true and in parallel. When we take of a generator we do not want it to go off. There are a lot of studies that need to be done to ensure that there is a coherent match with the technology and the equipment that we have.

We are prepared to help, work and partner with these studies and we build the line at the point of delivery. We can work where we have the expertise. Some of the things to consider in these cases we call them PPAs, partnership agreements are how long they will work for, for how long the technology will function and provide electricity to the grid. Remember, that the utility is responsible for the grid and providing electricity to customers over the long range. When we sign a contract with a customer, it is not only electricity for today, tomorrow or for a next year. It is for a long time so we have to make sure that we understand that. We also have to understand the


maintenance and when the equipment would be down or off so that we could coordinate with our maintenance. We also have to look at quality issues so that when it is on the grid it works within certain parameters and voltage frequencies. If we are purchasing gas it has to be of a certain quality and naturally, some of these things don’t work. Because we have to safeguard ourselves and our customers sometimes there are penalties. There are clauses that need to go into that. That is it from our utility perspective in Grenada”.

Dr. Devon Gardner, Programme Manager, CARICOM, Secretariat Energy Programme“Thank you very much Clive. Ladies and gentlemen, we all know how the utility companies work and from the presentation from Clive there are some key issues highlighted that in many instances the utilities are more focused on. The fact is though that there are many opportunities. But there are barriers that preclude some of these opportunities. In particular, one (1) of the things which Clive highlighted is the fact that the utility is doing a lot more than just utility business. Perhaps one (1) of the things that we should look at is where the utilities should be playing its role and where other stakeholders should be playing a role. Perhaps it is the way in which our energy systems are designed that does not allow space for other stakeholders to play a sufficiently large role. It really should not be the business of utilities to be purchasing electric vehicles to see whether it can go up a hill or not. Nonetheless, it ends up that this is the case and it suggests that there are significant gaps within which other stakeholders should be playing a role, but the utilities play that role, either because the way in which the system is designed or maybe it is a lack of interest from other stakeholder groups or perhaps both”.


PANEL DISCUSSION I:

“A NUMBER OF CARIBBEAN COUNTRIES HAVE SOUGHT ACTIVELY TO DEVELOP WTE PROJECTS: WHY HAVE

NONE OF THE COUNTRIES BEEN ABLE TO “CLOSE” THE PROJECT DEVELOPMENT CYCLE?”

Moderator: Dr. Devon Gardner, Programme Manager, CARICOM, Secretariat Energy Programme

“I will use some of the issues from the presentations to frame the panel discussion. The issues focused on solid waste, but there is cognisance and understanding that the experiences and issues that frame the solid waste experiences can in fact provide us with the understanding and transferability of other types of projects like liquid effluents and organic residues when we also looked at those projects. We should not necessarily see these presentations as solid waste presentations only, but see them as presentations that relate to a particular sector that has value and transferability for other sectors which we believe might be easier to deploy for instance than the solid waste sector.

Some things that we really wanted to have answered before we leave here in the afternoon session are what are the likely sources of sustainable organic waste for each country? Not necessarily in this discussion itself, but in the working groups later. Are we expecting that the majority of our residues or that the most sustainable source of residues will be coming from solid waste, from the distilleries and the farms? Are there enough of those that we consider to be the priority to provide utility scale power? If yes, then what kind of legislation will facilitate the development of waste to energy with independent power producers (IPPs) to provide power to the grid? If not, can the WtE options that are available be developed to support key economic sectors such as, can breweries be provided with sufficient heat to put back into their own processes through some of the waste to energy technologies like gasification etcetera? Those are some of the areas that we can look at to see some of the key things to consider.

Most critically though I want us to understand and to get from the discussions that will ensue that there is a disconnect between the private and public sectors considering that waste management typically is a public service obligation and that the current paradigm is one in which electricity and electricity production and in fact energy service production tend to be mostly private sector and that the two (2) may be necessary for a successful waste to energy project. For instance, perhaps it is a failure of the countries to develop proper public private partnerships that may have resulted in the fact that we have ended up with very little to show on the waste to energy side in terms of projects. We have been talking about the issue of decision making and how we can support it and how that decision making can really be in a sense facilitated by leadership.

At this point, I will open up the floor to questions on what the presenters have said and to have an open dialogue on why it is that we have been unable to close on projects where waste to


energy is concerned in the Caribbean. Why is it that we have had so many options and ideas, but so little to show on the other side?

Questions, Answers and Comments

Dr. Al Binger, Energy Science Advisor, Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC/SIDS DOCK), SIDS DOCK Coordinator“Just a couple of reflections. One (1) is that we need to focus and understand that this panel had the utility focus which brought electricity as the energy output. I think that we should keep in mind as we heard yesterday that the options to provide energy are by no means limited to electricity. There is a whole scope of energy services that the fuel generated from the conversion of the waste can provide to society. Some of these can be done in combination. If you heard yesterday that one (1) of the concerns was economic viability given scale. To offset the constraints of scale one can improve efficiency of the process and to maximise the income streams. So if you do a waste to energy project, you have a lot of thermal heat that is generated. The thermal heat has applications for cooling and drying. This is a major cost in most building. Sixty percent (60%) of the energy consumed in a building is for cooling. If you can combine and you can co-generate then you can improve your efficiency and it changes your scale.

The second piece is that the gas that is produced and one (1) of the colleagues in the tech section yesterday pointed out was that going to biomethane gets you into the transport sector. Despite all of the conversations that we are having in the region on the impact of imported energy on the economy, the largest amount of imported fuel does not go into the electricity generation, but in transportation. Here is a whole application that exists for waste to energy fuels. Many other farmers need refrigeration, light and gas. Prisons and hospitals are all institutions that use various types of energy, whether it is in hot water, laundry and cooking. Therefore, we should not just figure that all of the projects that we look at in waste to energy must have an application in the electricity sector.

The big part about waste to energy in the electricity sector, unlike wind or PV is the baseload or firm power which makes life a lot easier for the utility and makes the utility easier to manage with those kinds of arrangements and that the intermittent does not make your grid unstable. We should at least when we go into the working groups this afternoon, realise that there is not just one (1) market for the fuels that are produced whether by thermal conversion, gasification or by microbial conversion in anaerobic fermentation and in many cases, you can combine both sources. On the panel before it was mentioned that there was nothing to stop you from combining the produced gas with the gas from the fermenters to become fuel applications”.

Dr. Devon Gardner, Programme Manager of CARICOM Secretariat Energy Programme“One (1) of the things that I will use my moderator’s privilege to speak about is the place where CARILEC will eventually get involved is the issue of the changing paradigm of the utilities. We heard a utility representative say that this is what we are, this is how we do and this is what we know and we generate from thermal processes using diesel and we transmit and distribute that power. We have been operating in a context over the last five to six (5-6) years where there have been a lot of discussions about the fact that this current model of the utility and the approach that is traditional is one that might lead to the death kneel of the utilities themselves.


That is why to a large extent, there have been a lot of discussions around changing the model of the utility and whether there is the need for utilities to become more energy service providers instead of seeing themselves as generators and transmitters of electricity. This is something that perhaps could frame some of the things that our utility company highlighted that they are getting into a business that they do not know about. Shouldn’t there be that new dispensation of the utility towards understanding and bringing on board the capacity that will allow them to transform themselves to do these new things daily to sell heat, cooling and other energy services. In some instances liquid bio fuels, if possible. Rather than being electricity services companies, they can become energy services companies”.

His Excellency Dr. Vince Henderson, LP.D, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Commonwealth of Dominica to the United Nations and SIDS DOCK President, Conference Chair“I want to thank the panellists for their presentations. Clearly the fact that we brought in the utility although Al has a view that we should give some serious consideration to, but I think that the utility is important to be at the table. The discussion we have been having goes to the assumption that everything is the Government and then the Government is free to do as it wishes. I think it is important to get a perspective of the utility on this, but for the purpose of the discussion this afternoon, I just wish to suggest that perhaps we can give some consideration to how do we get the governments to pass appropriate legislation. It is a recurring thing and it keeps coming up. How do we get IPPs the authority to set up and sell to the utilities? How do we place them in a position where they must enter into PPAs? I say must, but there are some conditions that have to be met like cost and reliability and other important factors. How do we get Governments to legislate some of the things that they have committed to? In our part of the region like in the US policy does not always mean law. In Europe if the EU gives a policy directive, then that is law. Our Cabinets take decision and they say that they have put in place a policy, but it is not necessarily mean law. I can give you a case in point where in 2001 St. Lucia passed a sustainable development policy, but it was just a decision that the Cabinet took. There were some lofty goals in there and there was mention of allowing IPPs to sell power to the utility, there were targets that were set, but there was no law to help to give life to those intentions. We need to focus a little on how we present a case to Governments. What is it that we need to do?

From my experience what I have found is not lack of capacity as we like to say, but that we don’t have warm bodies to do some of the things. In other words, it is not that we don’t have someone who is legally trained for example, a legal draftsman to prepare the law. It is just that the Government does not have on its payroll or someone to do that or it does not have the money to pay a consultant to do that. When they say lack of capacity, it sounds as if we just don’t have people to do stuff on the islands. There are people, but we just need to get the money to pay them to do the stuff. Is it a situation where Governments actually need assistance to put in place those legislations? How do we get them to be put into law? How do we get pass the intention of actually putting it into law?

The other point that I wish to include is how do we regulate the utilities? There is a big discussion in the OECS Regulatory Authority. I will say that we should not reinvent something that was already invented. In 2006 Dominica passed the law, removed the monopoly from the


utility company which had a deal for about eighty (80) years and the law provides for IPPs. But ten (10) years later we do not have any IPPs. There is still a missing factor that we have not been able to address. When we took that step we also created the independent regulatory authority the Independent Regulatory Commission (IRC) which has been in place to regulate tariffs and rates and to make sure that the utilities are behaving properly.

That is an easy case to build upon for the rest of the OECS rather than trying to do all of these interesting things that the project was supposed to do. I think that it is important that we spend some time to help our governments to see what it is that we need to do to achieve the regulatory framework. How do we achieve that regulatory framework and what can we add to that conversation so that it does not keep recurring as a barrier? We need to go beyond telling Governments that they must pass laws and let’s help them to get it right.

I just wanted to share those thoughts for when it has to do with waste to energy or the generation of electricity it becomes important. I do agree with Al that the transportation sector is one that we have not touched much in our region. We can focus more on that and it can help, but in cases where we are talking about utility scale waste to energy projects then definitely we will have to address those things. Rather than seeing it as a barrier and just criticising the fact that it is not there, let us focus on how we can help to move that process forward and to remove that barrier”.

Mr. Clive Hosten, GRENLEC, Grenada“It’s the comment that you made that utilities specialise in generation and transmission and that could lead to their demise, I don’t fully agree with that. If you had listened to some of what I had said regarding interconnection and allowing customers to interconnect, looking at nutmeg shells and electric vehicles and we have looked at heating and cooling and at the location of the power plants and pipes would have to run to various entities and commercial enterprise and it is not that feasible. The utility has done a lot of work. One (1) of the things that we noticed is that we don’t publicise a lot of what we do. The utilities have been doing these types of analyses and studies. Right now we are looking at heat recovery systems so that we could take the heat from our exhaust to drive other generators so as to improve efficiency. The utility is constantly looking at alternatives.

Based on what I said regarding waste to energy and the staff, I don’t have an expert who deals with incineration and gasification. It came up earlier that it is based on science and we tried to be as efficient as possible. It is very difficult for us to have a full research team. It doesn’t make sense for us to reinvent the wheel as we are just too small, but we can keep up to date with technology. We have been trying to implement, review and change the landscape and the landscape has changed. We have done quite a bit of work and it is not just GRENLEC here in Grenada. All of the utilities are working”.

Mr. Philip Weech, National Energy Policy Committee, Bahamas, Environment, Science and Technology Commission (BEST), Ministry of the Environment and Housing, The Commonwealth of the Bahamas“I happen to be a big fan of the utility companies throughout the Caribbean. I come from a Water and Sewage Authority background. In terms of preparing the National Energy Policy for the Bahamas it is an interesting experience. In preparation for this meeting I went back and did some research on some of the things that we had looked at and try to answer what were the barriers


and what were the issues that prevented us from large scale options of energy, not just waste to energy technology. The reality is that in the Bahamas we do not have a maintenance culture. I take the point that comparing a utility in the Bahamas or the Caribbean with a large utility in the United States or elsewhere in the world is really an oxymoron. If you have an interconnected system when you have nuclear and all of these things on standby it becomes a completely different scenario from the standalone systems that we have. We do not have a maintenance culture and most of the problems that we have in the water supply or in the sewer system or in the utility come from the fact that most of them are under capitalised. They don’t have the resources even though they charge very high rates. They still don’t have the deep pockets as elsewhere in the world to do the things necessary to make the transition. That is the reality of it.

A good example in the Bahamas is the reverse osmosis technology. The island of New Providence with two thirds (2/3) of the population has had a challenge with a reliable supply or portable water. If we look back twenty to thirty (20-30) years ago, desalination was used and it was tied to electricity generation. That experience in the Bahamas is one that people can reflect upon and say that it didn’t work. With today’s technology, we use reverse osmosis almost exclusively for the island of New Providence”. So there are technological solutions that are appropriate for the circumstances.

The private sector from my review is trying in waste to energy. A good example of that is what they are doing with biodiesel. They are taking the waste cooking oil and from cruise ships that generate large volumes of cooking oil waste and are using that to generating biodiesel that is being used economically in their engines. It is proving to be something that is driving the industry so to speak. In the context of how it is being administered in the Bahamas, they don’t sell the biodiesel to anyone. It is maintained internally and it is used in their vehicles. The risk associated with the product that they generate is retained by them.

If you look at the experience in the Bahamas with what they are doing with methane recovery from landfills, they are doing so at their own risk and it is profitable. They are generating about one megawatt (1MW) of power by doing that. There are solutions. The issue, however, is what we talk about all the time that the utility companies are under capitalised and they don’t have a maintenance culture. There are not venture capital funds that they can go to, to find the resources necessary. In addition to that, there are technological issues that would need to be put in place. For example, the baseload demand that is required. There are also solutions that have been exercised elsewhere in the world where you have battery storage being used. Battery storage is not only the fact that you need a big lithuanian battery, but we can also do things that are tied to other technologies. The solutions are there.

We own these utility companies and we can decide tomorrow that we will take a utility company and spilt it up into one (1) that is a power supply unit and one (1) that is operating the infrastructure. That will be two (2) different companies. The fact that we have them combined in such a way means that some of the options that are available to us to deal with some of these issues, we are not addressing.

I take Ambassador’s Henderson’s point. The question is how do you make the transition? It does require someone thinking outside of the box and finding the resources necessary to make the transition. I will agree with the view that we do not need to do everything at the same time. We


can start the transition by looking at some of the small scale applications that we have. In the Bahamas alone, the varieties of the technologies can be tried in any one location separated from the grid. We have all of those examples across the Caribbean, here in Grenada and in small communities where the practical applications can be made, but somebody has to come up with the necessary resources. We can start by looking at some of the small scale operations. In the Bahamas we don’t have the issue of grid instability. Practical applications can be made, but someone needs the testicular fortitude to get started”.

Mrs. Neranda Maurice-George, GEF Focal Point Representative, St. Lucia“Thank you for the presentations and for the insights from the panel as well as the panel earlier this morning. As I sit here and listen to all of the deliberations, I just want to share some thoughts on a couple of points in relation to the legislation question. From St. Lucia’s perspective we had a geothermal bill floating from since 2004 for which we got assistance from the Organization of America States (OAS) to develop. That was right around the time when we signed an MOU with a company that will remain unnamed for pursuing geothermal exploration. No move was made on that for a number of years. It was not because we did not have an Attorney General’s Chambers that reviewed the bill, neither was it because we did not have people who were pushing it. Based on the experiences that we have around the room, it would seem that there would be more than one factor to push any form of legislation or regulatory environment or have that in place.

Of course, we cannot discount the necessity of political will, input, collaboration and inclusion of all parties, particularly the utility. For St. Lucia, Thomas Scheutzlich would be able to tell you that from 2005 onwards we have been trying to get the energy policy passed and the bill. There was a lot of back and forth consultations, negotiations and going back to the drawing board several times and having to change because you cannot get anything done. Of course, the enabling environment was not fully satisfied. In response to that I will say that some critical things have to be in play and we cannot discount any of the people that will have to be part and parcel of the decision that would affect the energy sector, not just electricity.

From the presentations yesterday, I was constantly bothering Mr. Ananias from the Solid Waste Management Authority because of course we all realise by now that for most of them the scale and size of the plants did not seem at all feasible for us. One (1) of the questions I asked him yesterday was, “Based on the amount of waste that we generate, is it feasible to begin to consider some of these applications?” Of course, a number of other questions came to mind. If we are to do these things and take advantage of the efficiencies in any system, what would it mean for us in terms of developing, piloting and scaling down something for our size and which would be useful for us?

There was a whole discussion that we were having around this end of the table this morning in relation to the whole cultural and societal aspects of our people as a Caribbean people. In St. Lucia a number of years ago shortly after the World Bank project with the Solid Waste Management Authority start up we had what was called and the Dominicans can probably accept the concept of ‘Police Zodie’ and that means a Rubbish Policeman. It shoes the concept from society and is basically consistent with what is said around the room that your garbage is waste and you don’t want to have to deal with it and it’s an issue for somebody else to deal with. We have to address some of those societal issues.


I think that we can move forward by looking at some small scale applications and some of the things that we started a long time ago. The agriculture sector would have benefited from a lot of those biogas examples. Our Science and Technology Officer sitting next to me was reminding me that one (1) of those systems that would have been installed a long time ago, that one (1) of the farmers on our energy project where farmers have the option of coming in to repair or replace their systems if it is necessary.

I think there are things we have across the region that we can build on. It would merit each country to look at which aspect from waste to energy that they want to pursue, starting from there with small pilots and scaling it up based on the amount of information. I know that we have a poor record of data collection in the region, but I still think that there are a lot of pieces of information all over the place that we can pull together and look at what is best for us and apply those.

I will just make a plea here for the epilogues sessions from yesterday because I have some questions from yesterday that I was not able to table because we seem to be doing badly with time, so just a plug for that”.

Mr. John Auguste, Energy Division, Ministry of Finance, Planning, Economic Development, Trade, Energy & Cooperatives, Grenada“I coincide with the views just expressed by the representative from St. Lucia because when I listened for the last two (2) days, we have a similar approach to rain water harvesting. We both see the potential in it, but we still depend on the water utility to build the reservoir for us. In Grenada we have implemented and installed digestors in the agricultural sector in the 1980s and they worked very well. They were placed on poultry and pig farms, at least two (2) of them. You do not necessarily have to go to the big systems to connect to the grid. That farmer was able to be more competitive in his services, because we took advantage of the waste generated to produce gas for him to cook, generate his hot water and clean his animals etcetera. We were able to use it for refrigeration, lighting and also for domestic use.

In going forward we need to take advantage of the opportunities that exist, irrespective of the scale of it. I have not heard any hint to the integrated approach towards solid waste management. We put the word management inside there, but we hardly put an accent on it or we tend to interpret it as us having to generate more to manage it. In fact, we should have an integrated approach that addresses all of these essential activities, the segregation and storage of the waste at source, the collection, whatever secondary storage, processing and disposal of the solid waste. Such an integrated approach would make our communities and our towns more liveable and will optimise the tapping of the potentials for solid waste through the recovery of recyclables, generation of energy, compost and even fuel that could be generated.

We tend to look at the management simply as management and not the reduction of the waste that we generate. We need to launch an awareness of the importance of reducing waste generation. We need to apply the principles of the five (5) R’s. We should reduce, reuse, recover, recycle and even look at the possibility of remanufacturing some of these things that we can consider as inputs”.


Mr. Eric Roennols, Environmental Consultant and Senior Advisor, Swedish Waste Management Association, Sweden“I just want to underline that Dr. Henderson said that there were several different ways to use the gas that you produce from a digester. If you cannot use the heat it is not economic to just produce electricity. There are other proven technologies for making fuel that are up and running and you can apply those in your case to produce compressed biogas and that can be upgraded to a natural gas standard. If you have a grid for natural gas you can put the biogas into the grid. You need to have a grid to put the gas otherwise you would have to use it more or less instantly just like with electricity if you don’t use. Upgraded gas can be stored for some time. Electricity has to be used directly. We can come into these discussions later. I just wanted to highlight the possibilities for using the gas for vehicle fuel which we have gone over more or less in Sweden completely to. In Sweden we don’t produce electricity we produce vehicle fuel which is more economic because of the losses that you get with heat when you produce electricity”.

Mr. Hannibal Anyika, Renewable Energy Analyst, Ministry of Energy and Energy Affairs, Trinidad and Tobago“Trinidad and Tobago has a unique situation in terms of scale. We produce in the order of 2000 tonnes per day. So we have the scale. A study was done by the IDB on renewable energy options in Trinidad and Tobago and waste to energy came up as an option. We have a number of drivers with this particular renewable energy. The utility Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (T & TEC) was more open to this form of renewable energy when compared to solar, wind and the other forms because it was dispatchable and they could regulate the grid.

Secondly, another driver was that we have the capacity in terms of the engineering skills, process engineers, chemical engineers, mechanical engineers, so there was the technical capacity. What has been preventing us from moving forward and based on the recommendation from the IDB is the fact that we need to do a proper waste characterisation study, looking at the caloric values and how the economic model could be skewed to make the project profitable. A number of waste characterisation studied was done before, but they were not comprehensive.

Based on some of the preliminary data coming out of it and the study done by IDB, it was recommended that we could possible look at a plant the size of 500 tonnes per day throughput as a pilot project. There are a number of factors that could make this feasible. There is space around the dump area for a power plant this size and the grid is very close to the dump and the high voltage line. The dump is close to the city. It is not only in terms of power, because as you may all know, Trinidad and Tobago does not have a power issue, but there is a major issue in terms of public health. The largest landfill which is the Beetham Landfill is situated close to the city and we have a number of issues with landfill fires and with the fumes coming into the city. In the case of Trinidad and Tobago and the utility scale waste to energy management, we believe that this is a way forward for us. First and foremost, we need to get the data in terms of a proper waste characterization study and look at the feasibility of it”.

Dr. Devon Gardner, Programme Manager of CARICOM Secretariat Energy Programme“Ladies and gentlemen I just want to say that tomorrow we are going to have a session looking at the approaches and some of the things that Ambassador Henderson has asked about. We can learn from the successes and the package of ingredients that we can wrap to provide to our decision makers to support them going forward.


Where we are this afternoon is that we want you to understand the challenges and then go into the working groups to explore what are the barriers and beginning to think what are some of the things that we need to do to remove some of those barriers so that we can build those items into our strategy and approach going forward. We must understand the barriers if we are to devise our strategies. Our strategies must take into account those barriers that we already know exists based on our past and present experiences.

Clearly, the issue of scale is one which again came up and really we have to match the kind of projects for the kind of scale that we have. There are countries with different scales and of course, there are different opportunities that suit different scales. We need to do a scale matching, if we can call it that, where we can find the right approach for the scale that we have.

Most critically and importantly, is the idea of how can we ensure that in the planning process, we reduce the issues of disincentives and bounded rationality which continues to impact our ability.


FIRST CARIBBEAN REGIONAL MEETING – ISLAND WOMEN OPEN NETWORK (IWON)

Ms. Christine Neves Duncan, Project Coordinator, CCCCC/5Cs

The Small Island Developing States Sustainable Energy and Climate Resilience Initiative (SIDS DOCK) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) joined forces to establish the “Island Women Open Network (IWON) for Sustainable Energy & Climate Resilience in Island Nations”. The network will play a major role in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment in the growing sustainable energy sector in Small Island Developing States in the Caribbean, Pacific, Indian Ocean and Africa. The network will make use of the capacities of the UNIDO supported ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE), the Pacific Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (PCREEE), and the Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE). The network will form a strong advocacy group for the mainstreaming of gender into SIDS energy policies, decision-making processes, programs and projects, as well as to give a strong voice to island women

The SIDS DOCK Island Women Open Network (IWON) requested the convening of its first meeting, on the margins of the conference. This meeting was in follow up to the launch of the IWON at the Third International United Nations Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS), in Apia, Samoa, in September 2014. The IWON is being supported by UNIDO, under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The UNIDO Energy Branch is providing technical support to facilitate the start-up activities of the IWON and to develop a Caribbean regional waste-to-energy project for scaling up to other regions.

It is my great honour and pleasure to hand over the proceedings to Ambassador Rhonda King, Interim Chair, Island Women Open Network (IWON)”

H.E. Ms. I. Rhonda King, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of St. Vincent and the Grenadines to the UN, Interim Chair, Island Women Open Network (IWON)

“It is my deep honour to ask Ambassador Henderson, as the President of the SIDS DOCK Assembly, to bring greetings”.

His Excellency Dr. Vince Henderson, LP.D, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Commonwealth of Dominica to the United Nations and SIDS DOCK President, Conference Chair“CCCCC/5Cs, SID DOCK, CCREE, a true Caribbean man, a true island man and of course, our partners UNIDO, the GIZ, the Swedish Energy Agency and our member states and ladies, a pleasant good afternoon. Just to add that for us at SIDS DOCK women have made a difference and I am not saying this to patronize you, but in fact some of the most active members of the


SIDS DOCK Steering Committee from the beginning were our female Ambassadors who felt that was important to pursue the whole concept in the interest of people. We felt that it was important as an organisation to place special emphasis on women, especially rural women. We know that in our small islands that a lot of our economies are driven by women. In agricultural economies we have seen the important role that women continue to play in ensuring that we can survive. It is for this and other reasons that we felt it were necessary to go ahead with the implementation of IWON to become a major player in sustainable livelihoods.

We believe and it is evident here that even in areas that were traditionally male dominated we have seen more women moving into that space and that is encouraging because it is always better to have more perspective, usually the better perspective, because women usually bring something that we as men cannot bring. So guys don’t feel any way, but it is important to highlight the role that women play and therefore, I am very happy to be part of the first IWAN session of this nature and to pledge our support to ensuring that we can achieve the goals together with the women of our islands. Thank you very much”.

Ambassador Rhonda King, Interim Chair, Island Women Open Network (IWON) “Thank you Ambassador Henderson and it is still early in the new year so I wish you a Happy New Year. Before I begin, I will like to compliment the organizers of this very important and historic Conference. It is indeed a splendid beginning to a new year. Coming as it does on the heels of the adoption of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and the Paris Climate Change Agreement which are two (2) of the international process that are critical in an era of rapidly changing climate and the ever widening gaps between those who have and those who don’t. Colleagues, ladies and

gentlemen we are pleased to have this opportunity this afternoon to remind this Conference of the urgent and critical importance of gender mainstreaming, as we discuss sustainable development in general and as a necessity for us to transition to clean energy more specifically.

This working session will endeavour to identify the barriers and the potential areas of focus for waste to energy within the Caribbean. As the interim Chari of the Island Women Open Network (IWON), a network that is an important part of the SIDS DOCK platform, I am anxious to ensure that all discussions that address any aspect of development remain cognizant of all facets of gender equity. In IWON we are developing a leadership network of women at the grassroots and community levels who will participate in the SIDS DOCK goal to increase energy efficiency by twenty-five percent (25%), to generate a minimum of fifty percent (50%) of electric power from renewable sources and a fifty percent (50%) decrease in conventional transportation fuel used by 2030. Island Energy for Island Life is our slogan 25-50-25 by 2033.

It has long been settled, at least theoretically, that social and economic development cannot be secured in a sustainable way without the full participation of women. Therefore, the pursuit of equity between women and men continues to be a priority for the international community and as such, must be at the centre of economic and social development. This sentiment of course finds full expression within the sustainable development goals. Four (4) of which speak broadly if not pointedly to the purposes of this Conference. For instance, SDG 5 says, ‘Achieve gender equality


and empower all women and girls’. SDG 7 says, ‘To promote reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. SDG 8 says, ‘To promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth with full employment and decent work for all’. SDG 9. ‘Build a resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.

Colleagues, island women are disproportionately under-represented in the reporting on gender within the United Nations’ system. There are limited or no specific references to SIDS or island women in major UN reports on women. Nevertheless, women make up one half (1/2) of the world’s human capital, accounting for half of any country’s talent pool. Additionally, and importantly, women have a smaller carbon footprint than men due to different consumption patterns and lifestyles. This holds true, regardless of the income bracket. I have a sneaky suspicion, however, that the energy sector still embodies a certain machismo or it connotes machismo. Therefore, one may quite unintentionally leave out half of the population when one discusses the business of energy, because one visualizes only one half (1/2) of the population as having interest.

Sadly, a girl’s destiny is determined the day she is born when the doctor announces, “It’s a girl, no cigars in order”. I am reminded of a story by a critically acclaimed Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie relates in her now famous essay entitled ‘We Should All Be Feminists’. I am going to quote a little portion of it:

“When I was in primary school in Nsukka, a university town in southeastern Nigeria, my teacher said at the beginning of term that she would give the class a test and whoever got the highest score would be the class monitor. Class monitor was a big deal. If you were class monitor, you would write down the names of noisemakers each day, which was heady enough power on its own, but my teacher would also give you a cane to hold in your hand while you walked around and patrolled the class for noisemakers. Of course you were not allowed to actually use the cane, but it was an exciting prospect for the nine-year-old me. I very much wanted to be class monitor. And I got the highest score on the test. Then, to my surprise, my teacher said the monitor had to be a boy. She had forgotten to make that clear earlier; she assumed it was obvious. A boy had the second-highest score on the test. And he would be monitor. What was even more interesting is that this boy was a sweet, gentle soul who had no interest in patrolling the class with a stick. While I was full of ambition to do so, but I was female and he was male and he became class monitor”.

That was the practice in Nsukka, Nigeria in 1986. I cannot say what the prerequisites for becoming class monitor is in Nsukka, Nigeria today, but I do know that one half (1/2) of the world’s population is female, yet the higher up the ladder of prestige, influence, wealth and power you go the fewer women there are. In other words, the monitors of policy making and their means of implementation are still largely male. Mindful therefore of the fact that two thirds (2/3) of all Caribbean households are led by women, IWON wishes to ensure that biases such as this story illustrates are minimized. To this end, our network executes and supports activities in seven (7) key areas:

1. Gender responsive demonstration and deployment of SIDS approved technologies in their SIDS DOCK project pipeline and must necessarily include gender sensitive knowledge and technology transfer exchange.

2. Building women’s energy and climate change specific technical capacity.


3. Gender responsive financing.4. Gender mainstreaming of policies, processes, programmes and project cycles.5. Female entrepreneurship development.6. Institutional education and awareness raising.7. Public education and awareness raising at the community level.

We believe that these activities and programmes will provide women at the community and grassroots level the opportunity, tools and skills to participate in the transformation of a low carbon economy.

Colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, I did not grow up in a Caribbean where I could not have been class monitor. In fact, Eugenia Charles showed me that a woman could be Prime Minister. Eugenia Charles was from Dominica for those of you who are not from the Caribbean and she was the first female Prime Minister in the Caribbean. Since then we have had Portia Simpson Miller, Jamaica and Kamla Persad-Bissessar of Trinidad and Tobago as Prime Ministers, proving that in the Caribbean, there is no glass ceiling to be shattered, but there are still gaps to be bridged. There are stubborn pockets of poverty in our region and two thirds (2/3) of our women are responsible for their families. IWON sees an opportunity within this burgeoning sector to strengthen the safety net and lift many of our citizens out of poverty. As we march purposefully towards renewable energy, a key component of sustainable development here in the Caribbean, I implore you to be forever conscious of a holistic and inclusive approach. Dr. Binger reminded us earlier today that we are not responsible for fixing the world’s problems. Rather, we can achieve what we set ourselves to achieve, so I thank you”.

IWON Meeting Agenda Items

Ms. Christine Neves Duncan, Project Coordinator, CCCCC/5Cs and Founder, IWON Ms. Duncan advised the meeting that the agenda was circulated to the female delegates via email earlier this morning and that about five (5) minutes ago it was shared with the men via hard copy. She further advised that for copies will be provided for those who were not already in receipt of same. She advised that the agenda was very simple and that participants would be introduced to the fact that with its partner UNIDO, the IWON had already prepared its GEF (Global Environment Fund) proposal for insertion in the regional proposal which would be the outcome of this meeting. She further advised the meeting that they would be informed on three (3) or four (4) short term activities in which they would like to involve their stakeholders.

The motion to adopt the agenda was proposed by Ambassador Rhonda King, moved by consensus and was seconded by Ms. Ghanja O’Flaherty, St. Kitts and Nevis.

Start Up Funding for the SIDS DOCK IWON

Ms. Christine Neves Duncan, Project Coordinator, CCCCC/5Cs and Founder, IWON “I would just like to point out to our colleagues that this meeting is being shared with our colleagues in the Pacific, in the Indian Ocean SIDS and with our sisters and brothers in the African Ocean SIDS. I will begin by saying good day and welcome to Grenada. I bring greetings from the Seychelles, our colleagues particularly our Group Leader Jeanette Larue. I bring further


greetings from Sheika Bundhoo from Mauritius and from Mr. Espen Ronneberg at the Secretariat for the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP). I am proud to bring greetings from Cape Verde. I sit here with two (2) hats. It is significant because Cape Verde is the only country in the world that has a majority of women in the Parliament and it has been so since 2006.

I will move into the first item and we are talking about setting up the SIDS DOCK IWON. As Ambassador Henderson said earlier, the SIDS DOCK statute came into force on the 30 th of September. Simultaneously, that meant that the SIDS DOCK IWON, the first organ of SIDS DOCK also came into force. Ambassador King oversaw the launch of the IWON in Samoa in September, 2014 at the Third International Conference on SIDS. At this moment, we are looking to the next steps with our partner UNIDO we will be looking at establishing our governance structure, preparing our resource mobilisation plan and immediately move towards our social media marketing, so that we can grab our young women who are coming up and needs guidance and a space so that they can operate and survive.

Secondly, we are going to be setting up a website so that we can communicate with you and the men and to involve all of our stakeholders. We have thirty-two (32) countries which are members of our SIDS DOCK so it is not just about the Caribbean. Why the Caribbean is so special is that it was the Caribbean, particularly the OECS countries, that really made SIDS DOCK happen. This is why we have to take our hats off to St. Lucia which was the first country to sign the agreement. Grenada, Dominica, Barbados and all of the OECS countries including St. Kitts were at the forefront. We thank the Caribbean countries for their strong support.

High on the agenda is looking at how we can develop proposals to help the sistren in Dominica, because some of you are aware that last August we had a very unusual event in Dominica where for about twelve (12) hours a storm stalled over Dominica in a particular area and caused unimaginable destruction. To this day, there are still people who have not been found and some communities are no longer in existence and the majority of people living in those communities were women and children. The matter is really urgent and Dominica lost between 80-90% of its GDP. We have a magnitude of work ahead of us.

At this time, I would like to invite my colleague Martin Lugmayr who is an energy expert at UNIDO. Martin has been a strong and supportive friend through working under an agreement that we have with UNIDO. They are the SIDS DOCK institutional partner. In Cape Verde they have a renewable energy centre similar to the CCREEE which was the first renewable centre in the SIDS network. It is located as I said in Cape Verde and Martin spent some time there. I would ask Martin to speak about the Standtall Campaign that we have in Cape Verde that we would like to implement here in the Caribbean as a pilot and then we would be upscaling to the Pacific and other regions”.

Mr. Martin Lugmyar, Sustainable Energy Expert, Energy Branch - Climate Policy and Networks Unit, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)“Thank you very much for mainstreaming me. I have to say that I am replacing a colleague who is in the UNIDO headquarters. She will be dealing with the IWON in the future and will also


deal with the resources that will be dedicated to this initiative, because it is very important for women to make decisions on their resources.

From UNIDO’s side gender mainstreaming is a priority for our Director General and we are trying to mainstream it through our project activities. UNIDO, through our project cycles, we try to always consider gender. From the energy branch we have guidelines for gender mainstreaming and it is very interesting. It can be downloaded from our website. So these are guidelines for gender mainstreaming into energy projects. There are not many toolkits for doing that so this is a practical toolkit. When it comes to energy women are usually impacted by the negative impacts of the energy challenges in the sector. We are working a lot in Africa and we know of all of these problems. The lack of energy and affordable energy is causing problems particularly for women. As the Ambassador said, women are usually impacted by that. For example, in Africa women are responsible for bringing the firewood which is becoming increasingly scarce, so they have to go for hours instead of studying and doing other productive activities. We know that a lack of lighting is a security issue for many women around the world.

I want to focus on the opportunities that we have with this network of regional sustainable centres, which we are establishing together with SIDS DOCK in the Pacific, where we will have one regional centre, the CCREEE already in the Caribbean and there is one the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) in West Africa based in Cape Verde. In Cape Verde the centre has already done some really good groundwork for mainstreaming gender. Gender is somehow an over reaching issue and we can do a lot of SIDS cooperation on that issue with the network of centres. With SIDS DOCK facilitating support we can have a very big impact.

The ECOWAS Centre in Cape Verde has already established a strong gender mainstreaming programme. There are three (3) officers in the ECOWAS centre who are only dealing with gender mainstreaming. They came up with the Standtall campaign to raise awareness about how it is important that women are taking part in energy planning, energy project implementation and so on. We can now do this campaign in the Caribbean and in the Pacific with the partners. From our side we are ready to assist with that”.

Ms. Christine Neves Duncan, Project Coordinator, CCCCC/5Cs “Thank you Martin. As you heard Martin said the most important word resources. In that regard, we will need you ladies because together looking at the application and registration forms that you have submitted, we have some strong women in energy here seated before us. Not just in energy, policy, environment and this is a real resource right here. We will be reaching out to you to tap into some of the skills and tools that you have to help us put this network together. Most importantly, the SIDS DOCK IWON is looking to establish a desk at the CCREE in Barbados in the short term. We will look to you to help us strengthen that desk and support that desk.

Ambassador with your permission I will move on to the next item which is a concept paper about some of the projects that we think we can get done with minimum resources. Of course you know that we are looking at low hanging fruits. Meaning that we are looking at projects mainly in the area of energy efficiency and how we can put in place at least three (3) pilot projects that will seek to focus on how we can use all of the biogas that we have in the islands, particularly focusing on our female farmers to whom we want to introduce anaerobic biodigesters. We want


to show them how they can convert the waste on their small farms to gas so that they can have it for lighting, cooking and things like that. Those things we know can make a difference.

With respect to our GEF proposal, if any of you have any comments because I know that we will be breaking in a couple of minutes to go to the working groups, I will be sending out the GEF proposal out to the men so that they will ensure that they go home and tell their respective partners that they made sure that the women’s issues were involved in the final product. I know that this will happen. So gentlemen we are sharing the proposal with you and we look forward to your comments and intervention so that by the time Saturday comes, we have a strong proposal that we can demonstrate to the other regions what gender mainstreaming is really all about”.

Ambassador Rhonda King, Interim Chair, Island Women Open Network (IWON)“Thank you Christine. I am told that under Any Other Business that Ms. Marie Karlberg of the Swedish Energy Agency would like to say a few words about an on-going project in Jamaica that she would like to share with the Conference”.

Ms. Marie Karlberg, Policy Advisor, Swedish Energy Agency, Ministry of Environment and Energy, Government of Sweden“Good afternoon ladies and men. Thank you so much your Excellency. We are honoured to be a part of this network and from the Swedish side gender mainstreaming and gender equality are very important. We have good role models in our Ministers who actually have a network of diplomats that they really try to empower for each other as women, which I think is very important. On building resilience to climate change impact in the energy sector we are working with Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines at the moment. I just received the document on the pipeline, so we will try to see what we can do from our side to take into consideration how to do gender mainstreaming on the activities that we are doing. That is what I can say for the moment and thank you very much for letting me participate in this”.

Ambassador Rhonda King, Interim Chair, Island Women Open Network (IWON)“Thank you Marie. Ladies and gentlemen we have come to the end of our historic first meeting of the IWON here in Grenada. You have learnt that we have been working quite assiduously and we are ready to hit the ground running. I thank Ambassador Vince Henderson for allowing us this opportunity to convey our first meeting during this historic Conference. We are shaping up to be a dynamic network and we hope that you are inspired and encouraged to join us in accomplishing our objectives. On behalf of the Island Women Open Network I thank you for your attention and this meeting is now adjourned. Thank you”. The meeting was adjourned at 3:37 p.m.


WORKING SESSION I:

IDENTIFYING THE BARRIERS AND POTENTIAL AREAS OF FOCUS FOR WASTE-TO-ENERGY WITHIN THE CARIBBEAN

Moderator: Dr. Spencer Thomas, Chairman, National Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (NTRC)

Dr. Thomas instructed the participants that they will be divided into four (4) groups and that there was the need to maximise the time available and to be efficient in their work. They were asked to concentrate on two (2) areas namely the barriers and the focus areas. They were told to list all of the barriers, but during the presentation they were to focus on the key barriers and the priority interventions needed to address them. Also, each succeeding group was asked to react to the presentation of the group which preceded them.

The working groups were led by facilitators and were intended to promote broad based representation from various groups including inter alia: public sector, private sector, civil society, educational institutions, financing and development partners.

Participants self-selected his or her working group.

WORKING GROUPS:

Working Group 1: Liquid Effluents: Sewage, Breweries and Distilleries

Working Group 2: Solid Waste: Municipal and Non Municipal

Working Group 3: Organic Residues: Large Farms and Food Processors

Working group 4: Organic Residues: Small Scale Operators


REPORTS FROM WORKING SESSION I

Working Group 1: Liquid Effluents: Sewage, Breweries and Distilleries

Facilitator: Mr. Dieter Rothenberger, Head of the German-Grenadian Pilot Programme, GIZ-ICCAS Programme, Grenada

Presenter: Mrs. Neranda Maurice-George, GEF Focal Point Representative, St. Lucia

Two (2) Main Barriers: 1. The absence of the enabling environment.

- Limitations with regulations, enforcement and a coordinating agency.

2. The absence of the business case.- Packaging products along the lines of addressing livelihoods and social issues within

those projects. It is critical for the stakeholders whether public or private and to also look at other various interest groups that may be able to affect the success of the project and to work these in from the onset to reduce the chances of a project failing.

Potential areas of focus:1. Educating decision makers to encourage the uptake of new technology. This is a direct

response to some of the pressures that our decision makers would face from the various ‘publics’.

2. Business case potential:- It is crucial to provide the necessary incentives like tax incentives for bringing

equipment into countries.- Focus on the marketing perspective for waste to energy. One can look at the cross-

cutting measures, return on investment and new product offerings at the commercial banks.

3. Critical is the coordination of efforts among project stakeholders.


Working Group 2: Solid Waste: Municipal and Non Municipal.

Facilitator: Mr. Eric Roennols, Environmental Consultant and Senior Advisor, Swedish Waste Management Association, Sweden

Presenter: Mr. Ananias Dunley Auguste, Director/CEO, St. Lucia Waste Management Authority, St. Lucia

Key Barriers:1. The question of the political will to move decision making in terms of waste management

and the choice of waste management strategies.

2. Inadequate collaboration with internal and external development partners in deciding what avenues to take.

3. Lack of the legislative framework to guide investments in the first place and also to attract investment and strategies that will be adopted.

4. Lack of the technical capacity within countries to be able to assess the kind of technologies required.

Practical Steps1. A practical step is to involve internal and external development partners to help

characterise, elucidate and define the problem and how it relates to the direction that the country wants to take. The beginning of that is happening here today with this comprehensive Conference.

2. Good education and public awareness to assist with the development and implementation of plans as well as buy in from internal and external stakeholders for the strategies that will be used and the strategies that will be implemented.

3. Provision of a comprehensive legislative framework to provide an incentive for investors and also to guide what happens with respect to the system that you eventually put in place with regard to getting proper enforcement to guarantee that the plans are going to be elaborated in the manner that they intend it to be.


Working Group 3: Organic Residues: Large Farms and Food Processors

Facilitator: Ms. Julia Brown, Divisional Manager, Process Development, Scientific Research Council (SRC), Jamaica

Presenter: Ms. Tandy James, Grenada

Areas of Focus:1. Awareness – If people are not aware of processes then they would not want them to be

implemented.

2. Public education and the creation of pilot projects to demonstrate and show people how things work.

3. Technical assistance with the use and maintenance of these things. If there is no maintenance, then technology would go bad and would not be used any more.

4. Cost of end use equipment. Equipment to make end products or to do other things like biogas.

5. Equipment for example, for maintenance is not always readily available in the country.

Barriers:1. Technology is not very readily available in our islands. We have to get the technology

here to us.

2. Funding.

3. Farmers like demonstrations and like to see the things before they use and implement them.

4. Poor management. When people are not properly trained and they cannot use and maintain the equipment.

5. Lack of incentives- There is a need for Government to give incentives to bring in the materials and to offer tax breaks.

6. Public awareness is a barrier and also an area of focus. Consciousness would cause more people to want to get it and to be on board with it. The need for pilot projects was stressed within the groups.

7. Food processing barriers include storage, transportation, supply, market integration and the use of more energy.

8. Waste into energy is useful for food processing and because of the amount of energy used it will cost less.


Working Group 4: Organic Residues: Small Scale Operators

Facilitator: Mr. Christopher Spurk, Okobit-Biogas, Germany

Presenter: Ms. Montserrat Lluch Cuevas, Ökobit-Biogas, Germany

Barriers and areas of focus were based on a biogas project in St. Lucia.

Potential Barriers:1. Upfront investment.

2. Lack of a sense of ownership despite the people being happy that the smell is being reduced. The operations with respect to the use and maintenance of these biogas plants will be ensured if there is a sense of ownership. It is important to make people understand the importance of taking care of the biogas plant and to understand that you cannot simple put it there and it will produce biogas. It is like a cow which if not fed, would not produce milk. The biogas plant is like a living thing like an animal and this should be understood.

3. People do not see the potential in small scale biogas application as a business opportunity. They need to understand that it is not just about the mass dissemination of the technology, but also about the benefits and to really understand how biogas plants work and their benefits. They can bring the biofertilizer to the market and sell it. In this case, the payback period of the plants will decrease.

4. Smaller scale programmes by themselves are a barrier when compared to big, national biogas programmes for which there is financial support. For examples, if we scale up from the beginning with a programme through the Caribbean, instead of ten (10) small programmes for biogas plants, we will have the financial support.


Discussion of the Working Groups Presentations

Ms. Ghanja O’Flaherty, Planning and Operations Engineer, St. Kitts and Nevis“Just on the last point in terms of if it is bigger it will get support, is that a too big to fail sort of concept that you are going for? I would like some clarification on that given that you were speaking on regional as opposed to a big project within the country. Is it that if so much is riding on it, then there will be more support?”

Mr. Christopher Corbin, Programme Office, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Caribbean Regional Coordinating Unit, Jamaica “A quick reaction as well is that I see a great degree of consistency across the four (4) groups and the specificities will have to be tweaked, but I think that there is a message there. It is just an observation in terms of what we need to do to be moving forward”.

Mr. Glynn Morris, Energy Advisor, REETA, GIZ-CARICOM Secretariat “A comment on the concept of a programmatic approach to small scale biogas. We were talking about the issue of sustainability and the need for skills and people who have experience and confidence to maintain and sort out biogas digesters. That requires scale and has the benefit of employment opportunities across the region within a biogas programme as opposed to twenty (20) pig farms in St. Lucia which is fantastic, but twenty (20) pig farms do not justify many jobs”. The idea was to think big, but not start big.

Mr. Eric Roennols, Environmental Consultant and Senior Advisor, Swedish Waste Management Association, Sweden“In Group 2 we discussed a lot about source separation and separation of waste at the landfill and there were different opinions. Separation at source means higher costs as you need to have separate bins and more transportation vehicles as well. If you want to make something out of the waste then mixed waste is a burden, but separated waste can have a value. We did not come to a conclusion, but we lifted the question of source separation being a fundamental issue if you want to get something out of the waste. With source separated waste at least part of it can be used economically”.

Mrs. Bethia Thomas, Science and Technology Officer, St. Lucia“I just wanted to respond quickly on the comment that my colleague from South Africa made. There are only 200 registered pig farmers in St. Lucia, but only twenty (20) benefit from small scale biodigesters. While it may be a small number, we have to think of the implications for livelihood of those persons. So though it is a small number, the implications are great for families and for life”.

Summary and Close

Dr. Al Binger, Energy Science Advisor, Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC/SIDS DOCK), SIDS DOCK Coordinator“First let me do a collective thank you for the facilitators, moderators and the rapporteurs from the working groups. What you have provided to us is very valuable information that will provide


the framework to begin the regional programme. The issue that we have to resolve in the next two (2) days is where the best place to start the programme is or should we focus on the small scale as a beginning. We have heard a number of suggestions that this is a very safe place to start. We have also heard that the technological options allow us to go to some large scale. Those will have to be justified case by case, but they should be part of what we look at in the programme.

On the whole issue of the municipal solid waste, there is some synergy between the fermentation and the thermal processes to dealing with the solid waste. We don’t have to do one or the other. As was discussed in Group 2 on the separation we need to look at information that says what is the relative cost of separation at the household or some separation at the household followed by further separation at the processing at the landfill to get more valuable raw material.

I listened this morning when Grenada was processing and was asked to do a small calculation on one hundred (100) tonnes per day and thirty percent (30%) organic, that looks like a baseload of about two hundred kilowatts (200 kWh) per day. I looked at the plastic which was about seventeen percent (17%) which would turn out to be about ten thousand (10,000) tonnes per year. If you build one of these pyrolysis units it would give you about three thousand (3000) tonnes of gasoline, about two thousand (2000) tonnes of diesel and a couple thousand tonnes of construction material. Countries based on their situation would have to decide how to structure the programme. Along the chain, there is massive technology to add value that can tell us what are some starting options and different countries and their situation can decide how they want to structure their programme. We will have to keep that in mind as we begin to design the programme.

I like the idea that we have to get political will and all that is related to political will. I said and I got in trouble for it, but I am old enough and can say it again that the first priority of a politician is to be elected and the second priority is to be re-elected. How we structure programmes and get political will has a lot to do with the psychology of people who are in Government and this is very important. We have to allow them to see this as a benefit to the population and it means votes. That for them is the most important thing.

With the access to the technology, the suggestions that were made were all very good. We need to do it through education, training and demonstration. People like to see things even though they might see waste and they don’t want to touch it, but they want to see what it is that they are getting into.

The whole issue of the cost of technology is understanding that we have more than one (1) income stream. If we do it correctly, we can get the fertilizer and the energy and we can get the irrigation water. We have not made much reference to the irrigation water in terms of the effluent, but for every litre of good rum we produce, we produce about fourteen (14) litres of liquid waste. By consumption we are doing some hazard to the environment, so we should at least take care of that part of our drinking.

I like the idea that a biogas plant is a living system. It is very different from a gasifier. This might be a way to get people to be more interested in it. It is not just a big container that you throw stuff in and you get stuff out of.


With the public education, I think that we have to spend some time with the schools. Demonstration projects should be put in places where they have the most visibility, where people can see, interact with them and want to replicate at home and we should find ways to make that possible within the programme.

Many things also from Group 3 including the issue of transaction cost. One (1) of the ways in which we will have to deal with this is by aggregating our projects so the two hundred (200) pig farmers in St. Lucia and they have more in St. Vincent begins to represent a major opportunity to aggregate from small scale, so we can provide the kind of financing that is needed. Once we have some numbers, we will know what kind of financing is needed. Usually, we like to go for grant financing, but these are different times. If there are income streams and there is payback, then we should make more loans after we have demonstrated receptivity. National Development Banks need to be much more incorporated. Their job is actually to make the kinds of investments that the commercial banks won’t do, so we would need in this process to figure how best to get the National Development Banks on board and have people like the CDB acquire money at low interest rates and unload to the member borrowing banks to make available money within the country for farmers, hoteliers and agro-processors to actually adopt the technology.

I see this as very useful information and we will ask to collect all of the information that you have. There is a lot of references to various studies and reports and if we can get those, it will help with the collection of the information. Not just for the proposal, but to provide information for colleagues who are not here, but who will necessarily become a part of the process. We can provide them with as much information as they need to bring themselves up to speed. On the issue of speed, I want to thank you for the very expedient manner in which we have concluded the day’s deliberations”.

Dr. Devon Gardner, Programme Manager of CARICOM Secretariat Energy Programme“The two (2) key things which stand out in my mind are partnership and leadership. None of us as entities can do this alone. It requires public-public partnerships, public-private partnerships, and private-private partnerships. Sometimes we speak only of the public-private partnerships, but we also require partnerships between and among the public sector itself. The whole issue of how we can use this project to enhance the degree to which entities, agencies and different organs can partner is going to be very useful to us going forward. We spoke about the banks and many different sectors that are going to be engaged and involved. Waste is one (1) of those things which is cross cutting and engages lots of sectors at all levels, both in terms of the feedstock production and technology operations to the financing and end use. We must make sure that we look at how we can build the synergistic partnerships that can make this happen”.

H.E. Dr. Vince Henderson, LP.D, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Commonwealth of Dominica to the United Nations and SIDS DOCK President, Conference Chair“Thank you very much and I believe that we had a very productive day. I would dare say that we achieved our objectives. We started this morning by laying the framework of how we wished to operate for the day and fortunately, some of the key issues that are essential to drive waste to energy programme within our respective countries and also collectively as a region, we have been able to highlight those in a way that brought life to some of the issues and challenges.


I look forward to being able to implement some of these as we work together to ensure that we can improve the lives of our people. Fortunately, we have a platform from which to work. I hope that by the next time we meet, the CCREEE will be implementing some of these projects and this will be key among them to help us to move the process forward after we have left here on Saturday. I thank you very much for your contribution throughout the day and we look forward to seeing you tomorrow”.


DAY 3 – FRIDAY, 22 JANUARY

SESSION IV: APPROACHES AND STRATEGIES

Opening Remarks: His Excellency Dr. Vince Henderson, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Commonwealth of Dominica to the United Nations and SIDS DOCK President, Conference Chair

“A pleasant good day to all. Yesterday we had a productive day. Thank you for your work in the working groups and presentations. I felt like the outcome of your deliberations will assist us tremendously in truly identifying the challenges, but also the opportunities with waste to energy within the Caribbean. Today, we will move to the next logical step which is really to examine and come up with possible approaches and strategies for moving forward. The work we are doing here will feed into the process. With the quality of people and the expertise that we have in the room, I have no doubt that we will come out at the end of the day with a document that is well informed and properly advised so that we can implement successful waste to energy programmes in the Caribbean.

Let me hand over to Dr. Al Binger who will help to guide the discussions and to ensure that we have the desired outcomes, which will be his work from henceforth. I am sure that he will do a great job in guiding the discussions so that we can in fact have a productive session”.

Dr. Al Binger, Energy Science Advisor, Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC/SIDS DOCK), SIDS DOCK Coordinator“I hope you take up the offer to do the Fish Fry. It is closer than I thought. With regards to what we have on the programme today, we started Day 1 which was the Tech Day, yesterday was the Solid Waste Day and today is the Climate Resilience Day. Most of the presentations and the information that will be shared with you and the discussions that we will have will focus on how the energy sector and the waste to energy subsector in particular, will contribute to building of climate resilience in our island states and particularly, to protect our two (2) industries as mentioned before, our agriculture and our tourism. There is a little change on our agenda and our colleague Dr. Umana is just about arriving, so we will make a little switch in the first half of the programme.

I am going to ask our colleague Dieter Rothenberger to lead us off with his presentation which will basically be on the Grenada pipeline and we anticipate by then the arrival of Dr. Umana so then we will have his presentation and the presentation from our colleague Warner who has been doing some work on a feasibility study related to the sewage problem that we have. He is doing some work in St. Lucia and in Grenada and he would bring us up to date on what that work looks like. Then we will have our colleague from Sweden tell us a little bit about the work of the Swedish programme and we will get on from there”.

Presentation III: Grenada Project Pipeline GIZ-Integrated Climate Change Adaptation Strategies (ICCAS) Programme


Presenter: Mr. Dieter Rothenberger, Head of German-Grenadian Pilot Programme, GIZ-Integrated Climate Change Adaptation Strategies (ICCAS) Programme, Grenada

“Good morning everybody. I am always surprised about the expectations, in terms of everyone has met me already; every Grenadian knows me. It’s a bit of an exaggeration in terms of what the Minister said, but I am very happy to be in front of you and to give a brief introduction into GIZ in Grenada, what the bilateral programmes in Grenada are planning with regard to waste to energy and in particular biogas. Today is the day of climate resilience. Results of Scoping/Baseline StudyHere in Grenada there was a scoping or baseline study done on waste to energy potentials. They looked at a number of waste to energy

possibilities including solid waste management and incineration. The result of that study was that as a starting point for Grenada two (2) projects seemed to be quite interesting and impactful. On one hand is a smaller scale biogas application in the farming sector and secondly, an anaerobic digester for a distillery. The scoping study was prepared by the GIZ REETA, by the Regional Project. In discussion with my colleague Andreas, we said after you have started the process we can pick up the ball and run to Grenada and look into the possibility to implement these proposals through bilateral programmes, which are funded by the German Ministry of the Environment, their so called BMUB (Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Environment, Building and Nuclear Energy which is Reform of the Electricity Sector to Support Climate Policy of Grenada (G-RESCP). That is basically the interlink between the regional and bilateral levels.

We did feasibility study for the distillery and detailed data collection and concept development for the other project. Yesterday in the working group someone from GE, Ian Baher said that someone who is integrating and bringing together the different stakeholders is key in getting a project somewhere. We still see our role as basically getting the key players around the table and saying that this is the next step. Based on the data that we have, we are seeing what are the roles and responsibilities for everybody and that includes the Distillery, Farmers, University, Solid Waste Management, NAWASA, Marine Protected Areas, Ministry of Agriculture, Finance and Development Bank to see what are their roles and responsibilities for them to get the project off the ground in the end.

Project 1: We would start with a presentation of energy contracting at Clarke’s Court Distillery. We are looking at anaerobic digestion which is meant to be financed through an energy contracting approach. The problem here is that the Clarkes Court Bay is highly polluted because a stream in the marine protected area that leads into the bay, through the effluent from the Clarke’s Court Distillery. Also, there are other polluters upstream like the Prison farms, animal waste, car repairs, communities and so on. Basically there are other contributors involved, but the single largest contributor to the pollution is the distillery and it has been criticised for years, basically because of processes happening after the coming out of the effluent. Everyone in


Grenada knows of the problem at the Stinky Bridge. The distillery is very much aware of that problem and they have had various studies including a World Bank study, but in the end it boiled down to technical feasibility and the technical application seemed to be very expensive and the upfront investment was just not possible for a distillery of that size and volume.

Stakeholders: The Clarke’s Court Marina Clarke’s Court Distillery Woburn Marine Protected Areas Woodlands Community Prison and Prison Farms (at the end of the watershed)

What is different with the biogas approach that we are now using, is that the approach is about bringing together waste management which is the bringing together of a waste management issue, meaning cleaning up the effluent with an energy issue and in the end cost reduction potential for the Distillery. Most of the other technology proposed are very much focused on the effluent, and the clean-up, but are contained in a lot of additional energy to be put in in order to do the clean-up and contained a lot of additional energy to be put into the clean-up of the effluent and this was not financially feasible for a small distillery.

We studied a lot of data collection with regard to the energy content and the pollution reduction possibility for the anaerobic digestion. We concluded that we can reduce the organic pollutants between seventy-one percent to eighty-five percent (71%-85%) depending on the process steps including some relatively simple waste water treatment after the anaerobic digestion. Reduce the other problems, protect the ecosystems and reduce the algae growth which is relevant for the marina. For the Distillery itself, the key thing is that we can replace the diesel used in the boiler by between eighty-seven and one hundred and sixteen percent (87%-116%), so that means that we can reduce energy costs for the Distillery.

The idea is a pond digester with a length of forty (40) metres and seventy (70) metres wide with a membrane which will act as the gasholder volume.

The company that did this study looked into the use of the biogas and there were two (2) options: Boiler Only or a Combined Heat and Power Generator. Either a small one used to link the gas in the boiler or only a large CHP system. The option chosen by the Distillery is to link the boiler by substituting diesel with biogas and having a small scale fifty kilowatts (50KW) heat and power generator installed. They can be used to replace the diesel. The large system was not feasible as it couldn’t cover the thermal energy demand.

We have four (4) scenarios: Option 1- The biogas plant with boiler and full water waste treatment. Option 2 - The biogas plant with boiler and a small CHP with waste water treatment, Option 3- The biogas plant only without additional water treatment steps. Option 4- Biogas plant only with a small CHP.

These are the four (4) options available. Options one and two are the full waste water treatment and the difference is boiler only or CHP and the other is only anaerobic digestion without further


waste water treatment with seventy-one percent to seventy-five percent (71%-75%) cleaning potential.

Potential Investors and the Payback CalculationOptions two (2) and four (4) are financially more attractive. These two (2) are currently favoured. We are looking into an upfront investment with the investors including the Distillery and the Biogas Systems provider, Marina and others who also benefit from the project. There would be payback by reducing the need for diesel and the sale of electricity. GIZ would be involved as technical assistance provider to the project, to support contract development, logistics and to bring the different layers together. The system would be managed by the technology provider jointly with the Distillery staff. The energy savings would go back to the investors who are the private investors, the technology providers and the Grenada Distillery Limited. This is our first approach and we are preparing an MOU with the Distillery and the systems provider. We will look into investment and financing in detail and implementing the project in the near future.

The second one was a small scale approach - market creation for biogas systems in Grenada (MacBIOS-G). We did a detailed collection of data on ten (10) farms which were quite representative in terms of size and had limited animals. There were farms that were only vegetable farms. We also had food processor farms like Belmont Estate, Summer Fruit producing juice and the River Antoine Distillery on a smaller scale. The energy replacement was the key point. We can replace for the different farms different amounts of energy. They mainly use LPG. At the Prison with one (1) system installed we would be able to reduce energy consumption by eleven percent (11%) and go up at the Mirabeau Training Centre for farmers to more than one hundred to three hundred percent (100% - 300%) replacement. For the small systems we have to see what is the demand side. It is not just the size of the farm, but also how much gas is used on site. Savings would be between seventy to one thousand dollars ($70 -$1000) per month. Payback periods would be less than a year, half a year and six (6) years.

With fertilizer, payback periods go down quite dramatically, payback periods would be less than one (1) year. That means they are attractive also for smaller scale farmers. The question is with the upfront investment.

Elements of the MacBIOS-G project:We are trying for a comprehensive approach jointly with a private partner in the form of: Technology Transfer-includes ten (10) small scale systems of five (5) cubic metres. Capacity building - where we work with a vocational training centre to build capacity

locally to installation, operation and repair of the systems. The idea of the training is that there will be medium to long term staff available to deal with and repair these systems.

Financing – have capacity building for local financial institutions. We worked with the Grenada Development Bank to introduce the idea of financial structuring of our E-project, including biogas. That means project based finance and the role of collaterals.

Regulation and standards- the question of Incentive system and technical standards. Local Implementation Partner- this is key. You need a local partner to follow up on the

activities.


Awareness Information-for the target groups such as farmers, food processors, officers at Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Finance and Energy so that the people are clear when we speak about biogas and what has to be done.

Roll out- the pilot systems should be used as showcases. Public Relations is an issue.- Use the local coordinator as a partner for the roll out. We need to see the upfront costs to

have a clear concept of how upfront costs will be financed.

Photographs were shown of biogas test systems and the contents of the photos described:Top left, we have a small scale test system, its only one (1) cubic metre. It is very simple. There’s an inlet, outlet, thermometer gas line, a manual stirrer. Most of the material except for the membrane is available locally. The five (5) cubic meter system on the right. In the Caribbean we don’t need a greenhouse approach. The bottom right is an interesting approach. This is the backpack. Basically it is used to make biogas mobile. It can be filled into the bag and brought to the source of use if it is not near to the system. That way you don’t have to use long lines or a farmer can hand a bag to his employee so that he can run it back home.

Summary:1. For both projects the starting point we looked at the wider impacts of inappropriate waste

management not only at the waste to energy part but also we focused on economics and finance.

2. One (1) key thing is the upfront investment barrier we are looking into and we are optimistic we would find a good solution.

3. Consider how to overcome upfront barriers.4. Small scale- we need to look at a more comprehensive approach if we need to make the

project sustainable and not just financing some nice pilot systems. Grenada has seen biogas already. Most or all of the systems have been installed. There were some problems with operation and there was not a solid enabling environment to keep the systems up and running and we ran into problems. Therefore: Technology Capacity Finance Regulatory Environment Awareness Local partnerships Link climate change with cost reduction for key sectors for jobs.

All play a key role.

In Grenada, in the last few years we have seen a stronger awareness about climate change impact from our Government and Prime Minister when two (2) days ago he spoke at a Waste to Energy Conference and he started with climate change and fifty percent to sixty percent (50%-60%) of his speech was about climate change. The perception of climate change as a major issue for Grenada is there.

The Link to Climate ChangeWe are all speaking about recommending the distillery. We spoke about mangrove and ecosystems protection which are major safety barriers for the island when it comes to impact on climate change. To link that with cost reduction, climate change and job creation all brought


together would gain political attention. We would meet with Ministers to discuss the small scale projects for full support up to the Cabinet.

We have three (3) boys from the GBSS who performed from the first day. We have put together a music video with the boys. It’s a taste of the cultural possibilities. GBSS is the alma mater of the new Governor of the ECCB. It produces people of good calibre. A pro-climate change video was played. The video showed different areas in Grenada affected by climate change and made a plea for help in fighting climate change. The video made reference that climate change should be everyone’s fight to preserve our country for the future generations. This video won 7th in the competition of the COP 21 in the global videos to show what climate change means in the different countries.


Mrs. Bethia Thomas, Science and Technology Officer, Ministry of Sustainable Development, Energy, Science and Technology, St. Lucia“I wish to thank you for your presentation, I feel encouraged for the work that we are doing presently in St. Lucia. A concern however is how do you take a concept from a pilot project and make it into a programme so that it is sustainable and continuous in the islands with limited finance and other limitations?”

Mr. Elliot Lincoln, Themba Biofuels, Antigua “I have a question about revenue from the fertilizer sales. You had a number of ninety dollars ($90) per tonne, how confident are you in that number? Have you tested that number?”

Mr. Hayden Romono, Trinidad and Tobago “Have you taken into account the benefit to the environment, watershed, corals and Distillery in the final calculations?”

Mr. Dieter Rothenberger, Head of German-Grenadian Pilot Programme, “Integrated Climate Change Adaptation Strategies” (ICCAS), Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) “Concerning the small scale the concept of the whole programme is including the approach which is needed for upscaling. We are not only focusing on the ten (10) systems. We work with the Technical and Vocational Center to train technicians to include biogas training in the curriculum so that people who try to get into craftsmanship and technicians can get information on what biogas is and how to deal with the biogas plants. Again, I am talking about relatively simple, but not only one (1) technology in terms of one (1) system. So that actually you want this part of the enabling environment later on so that when there are more plants to be built, they can build on these capacities. It is the same for the finance and for the regulation. All of the elements are part of the pilot project. The pilot project is not only technical part. The technical part when compared to the soft parts is relatively small. We do not just want to turn systems on the ground; we want to enable the country to take it up.

Besides the Clarkes Court Distillery, we have a few more distilleries here as well and we have looked into the River Antoine and its issue with the effluent and what can be done there. We are


working with the REETA programme and we basically feed back the lessons learned from our experience in Grenada into the regional programme. Subject to success it can then use it to apply in other countries, because as a bilateral programme unfortunately, I can’t go to St. Lucia and do the same thing with you. A regional project would be in a position to be able to upscale the lessons learnt on a regional level.

The fertilizer cost was the average cost given to us by the Ministry of Agriculture. The price of the fertilizer that we are producing is the current cost that the farmer pays for the artificial fertilizer. We basically said that if you can replace at the same cost or go a bit cheaper, then that will be the cost that you have to deal with on the market, as this is your competitor.

With respect to the financial calculation including the benefits, we didn’t do that calculation for the Distillery. At the moment it is only looking at diesel replacement savings and electricity feed in which we have to discuss with our colleagues from GRENLEC. The issue of the fertilizer is not yet included in there. Basically we have the fertilizer there which could be sold. Right now we are discussing with the Distillery about how this will be implemented. We are talking about a special purpose vehicle or an entity which will run the biogas system. In the end the Distillery will say that they produce rum and not biogas and fertilizer. You don’t want people to mix up the things. They said that the rum is fine with us, but the fertilizer is a different story. In the end, even if you want to sell it to your business partner who may be very aware and environmentally conscious, they all look at the bottom line. The bottom line especially for these small distilleries it is very tight. If you tell them that they will lose about half a million dollars ($500,000) with this project, but if we do some environmental economics behind that then we have a positive outcome, they would say that it is very nice, but they still can’t afford it. Therefore, we said that it must be financially sound without the environmental cost. This is a top up of course on the project”.

Mr. Rickardo Ward, Project Manager, Ministry of the Environment and Drainage, Barbados “I come from a natural science environmental management background and a lot of these things would be more easily sold if they are brought forward as mechanisms to establish regulatory compliance and the energy and other dimensions as co-benefits. It is not a criticism, but to bring the point for further discussion, that the response was predicated as an environmental issue, but that did not emerge as a substantive matter for elaboration in terms of the justification for it.

Some other things that I would have wanted to hear about given my environmental bent would be things like quality control for influent and effluent, the discharge contribution to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction, what the effluent without treatment would have contributed to greenhouse gases and what was the positive impact from the roll out of the project and also occupational health and safety issues in relation to the management. We are still talking about countries with limited land space, while presently someone might be quarrelling about a smell, we are talking about a situation which might bring an explosive hazard. These are the issues that you have planning decisions around for those kinds of developments and so on.

As we are talking about building climate resilience, increasingly we are being required to put systems in place for longer term monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV). I am wondering if you are attaching those kinds of considerations. Farmers and so on are not very good at


holding data and statistics and so on. We in the region need to infuse that in everything that we do going forward”.

Mr. Dieter Rothenberger“Okobit is there and we can do some detailed discussions on the technical issues. In principle on the MRV both in case of the distillery and for small scale farming approaches the idea is to come up with the upfront investment being paid for example by those who provide the system and being repaid by the farmers who get the savings of the deal at LPG cost. You need to have a MRV system in there because you have to monitor how much gas is produced, what is the efficiency of the system and as a result, what is the quality of the effluent in the end because this is a very strong determinant of the income source of the investor. It is the same for the Clarke’s Court Distillery, so the MRV system is there.

We are working with SGU to do and they have already started a baseline of effluent and pollution potential at the stream and the bay level and to monitor that when the system is installed to monitor at the stream and at the bay level of what has changed in terms of the pollution. When it comes to health and safety well of course the staff needs to be properly trained and there will be very clear safety manuals.

The issue with the biogas systems and explosion comes up all the time. The risk of an explosion with the biogas systems time wise is very small. It is within the start-up phase of the system when you have the concentration of methane and the air in a certain limit. It is a possibility if you want, but in principle the safety of these systems of explosion is given. Of course it burns, that is why we are producing it, but it burns like the diesel which is being stored there right now. Of course we will look into more details with that with the permission for the PPU and so on. A lot of experts are really convinced that the risk of explosion is basically negligible”.

Mr. Werner Wendt, Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Environmental Technologies, SET GmbH Austria “We are the biggest biogas producers in Austria. The risk question is a commonly asked question. The short answer is that the dangerous ratio between CH4 and O2 is so small that you would not hear about explosion in biogas storage. When it leaks it evaporates and there is only a very insignificant amount of time when it could explode. That has never taken place”.

Mr. Rickardo Ward, Project Manager, Ministry of the Environment and Drainage, Barbados “While I can sit here and appreciate that, the thing is that we will be dealing with communities so I just raised that point. The other thing is why I raised the point with the M & E as well is that lest we forget countries just came away from Paris where they transformed something called high end direct current (DCs) down to high DCs and it will be important for us to be able to engage with whatever projects that we are doing from the outset is to know that we need to collect that data as a measure and a contributor to what our situation is. It was in that context that I was raising the M & E issue of holding hard data that is measurable, viable and that could be reported in the context of what we are undertaking or contributing in terms of the global effort”.

Mr. Dieter Rothenberger“We have started working with the Regional Center under the SGU. They do a lot of CDM and carbon monitoring projects. We worked with them and they have started to do a calculation on


the methane in the end and the CO2 emissions. There is some income stream but we need to do the cost benefit analysis. There might be a link to put it on a regional level like a programme of sections. This discussion has just stated. It is key with IDC and their commitment after Paris”.

Dr. Al Binger, Energy Science Advisor, Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC/SIDS DOCK), SIDS DOCK Coordinator“I will ask my colleague Werner to look at the other aspect of the liquid waste which is the sewage”. Warner you are doing two (2) studies, one (1) for GIZ and one (1) for SIDS DOCK and the Swedish Energy Agency, so can you share with us some of your results to date?”

Presenter: Mr. Werner Wendt, Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Environmental Technologies, SET GmbH Austria

“We are the biggest biogas producers in Austria. We went through all the heights and depths of what the industry can offer. We follow a little bit of a different concept to what we have just heard from our colleague, because we are going into the large scale applications. With the small scale applications; we have worked together with CIO Biogas in Brazil and teaming up small scale farming opportunities and pooling into biogas together. We find it difficult to find critical masses of biogas available for substantial use, but for home use it is absolutely one (1) way to go. We go a little bit of a different way and this is what we have been working on together with GIZ in St. Lucia and together with the CCC and the Swedish Development Board here in Grenada.

Energy IndependenceWe see biogas specifically in the eastern Caribbean as one (1) of the opportunities for regional energy independence. We see it as an integrated programme in various aspects of waste to energy and developmental facilitation. It shall create a regional energy independence from renewable sources, thereby utilising available sorted biomass to turn it into energy plus different by-products. The biggest advantage of biogas in this stage is that we can store it, transport it and convert it into that form of energy that we require and when we require it. We have developed a completely different approach. In Europe we are not electrifying anymore. Electrification of biogas as a by-product has actually become a less important issue because of the very low price. Compared to here, the feed in tariff for biogas operators in Europe is insignificant. It goes down and it puts biogas plants specifically into a very risky business position.

The Transportation SectorIn Europe we go more and more into transportation. We changed transport in that we use CNG cars also agricultural machinery and diesel machinery are retrofitted and changed into biogas applications. We have been implementing a project like this since 2007, starting with ten thousand tonnes (10,000) of in lay material per year and now with thirty thousand (30,000) tonnes, basically proving that a municipality of one thousand two hundred (1200) people can produce three (3) times the energy they are consuming, based on their own waste that they are producing. For this we have been awarded with the European Union’s Sustainable Energy Award 2014. The small village in which we are working in Austria with one thousand two hundred (1200) people can be Barbuda. It is the same amount of people, less cars actually and the same


productivity potential in agricultural and waste management purposes. Thereby, the potential of proving that Barbuda can be one of the first fossil free islands in the world, with a very limited investment requirement, low operational risk, proven technology, regional sustainable development aspect and extensive labour creation for the region. Thereby energy cost reduction leading to cheaper industrial production cost which is one (1) of the key factors where we think that the Eastern Caribbean nations need to address their current production circles, based on the high energy cost high cost, local capacity building leading to immigration prevention and migration return support, which is a key factor that is currently important in Europe and of course access to energy for low income population.

Biogas as and Industrial ApplicationWe see biogas as an integrated waste management capacity again as an industrial application. This is one (1) of the potentials that we see in all of the Caribbean islands at the moment. We see the availability of biomass waste in abundance plus the availability of waste water fractions which should not be mixed immediately within the fermentation process, but we can think of separate fermentation lines. Specifically, the high quantity in St. Lucia of waste water which is available and can be used on a parallel basis with industrial applications plus some industrial agricultural waste from banana production for instance, or sugar cane production in Barbados that we can look into by changing some processes as they are at the moment.

Elimination of OdourWe are looking to addressing some of the projects like you mentioned before. We have our biogas plants in the middle of our settlements, right next to our community church. Why? We are building heating grids using the off heat from the cogeneration in our heating structures. If our biogas plants would be dangerous for explosion or smell, we would not be able to build them in the middle of our community and right next to the town’s church. We add sulphur ammonia chloride to the process in order to bind the sulphur completely in the process so it doesn’t smell. The biogas plant is located right next to the town church and restaurants and if there was any smell we would be thrown out immediately.

Vehicular OperationsWe use a lot of our biogas production for membrane filtering for vehicular operations. This is another issue that we see as one (1) of the future potentials also for the Caribbean. Retrofitting because we have a closed range on the islands for mobility of vehicles that means a limited number of CNG based fuel stations would be in a position to serve the majority of your vehicle fleet on the islands. Very limited investment into one (1), two (2), three (3) biogas based fuel stations that will be accessible for public transport and for private transport. Vehicle retrofitting can be done easily on every gasoline engine. Diesel engines are more difficult, but large scale diesel engines make sense. Private based diesel engines are too expensive to operate on biogas retrofit. This is what we have proven over seven (7) years that we can have a small community being completely fossil energy independent. This is what we should, can or would like to prove. In the Caribbean the islands are completely dependent on fossil fuel import at the moment. They can start creating their own energy applications and productions from the waste streams. Once they are properly sorted and logistically solved. The key issue most of the times is logistics. You can follow our development on various links where we are present online.Closed Cycle of Production


The key issue is that we create with the biogas application a closed cycle of production. There is no waste going out of these production issues. We use the sorted and treated municipal waste, agricultural waste or sewage in combination with an anaerobic filter. One (1) key component is what we have been involved in a crusher. The converter opens the cells and gives the bacteria easy access for the digestor process. We tested and experimented for years with different pre-treatment systems. This was the only one able to work on the grass materials found on the islands in abundance. The lemon grass, elephant grass and invasive grasses are all over the islands and are cut during the road cutting scheme can be transported to the landfills and let them rot there. We can also work with these on sugar cane leaves. In Barbados those are left to rot on the field in the traditional way of soil prevention, but by that you invite the parasites to chew on the leaves. If you take them away then you save a lot from the pesticides that current sugar cane producers are using. We have been testing in Brazil in Parana with large scale sugarcane producers very successfully. If you remove the leaves from the soil, ferment them and then bring the liquid fertilizer back out to the field. Reduction of pesticides use has been forty to fifty percent (40%-50%).

Upgrading of BiogasThe other thing is that we are upgrading a lot of biogas at the moment for CNG use for introduction into gas grid. We have a lot of very high quality CO2 available for industrial applications or for what we are doing at the moment in Europe is that we build greenhouse plants right next to the biogas plants. We feed the CO2 right into the greenhouse to boost the growth specifically of tomatoes. A lot of persons say that they are tasteless, but they grow faster. Basically, what we have here is electricity, fuel, raw biogas, upgraded biogas, CO2 and fertilizer. Where we come from we don’t put a price tag on the fertilizer. We basically charge them back to the substrate provider. For example, if the private sugar cane farmer produces leaves then they get fertilizer in return. So we bind the agricultural producer back to the application.

Importance of Inlay MaterialsOur main project development is in Sub-Saharan Africa. A lot of the problems that we see and a lot of the applications that are applicable here we do already apply them there. We are heavily involved in Brazil on the large scale and small scale community based biogas plants. The key here is the mixture of inlay materials. The problem that European biogas plants are facing at the moment is that they have been designed for one (1) or very limited different inlay materials. The key for economic success and for a large scale operation is the opportunity to work on a mixture of inlay materials. If we look into the different production circles of the distilleries here, they only work two hundred and fifty (250) days per year because they need to be cleaned. There are a lot of production circles in that. The biogas plant once attached to the Distillery needs to be adapted to this material flow. If the Distillery is closed then the biogas plant still needs to operate. I cannot shut down the biogas plant because everything dies. It means that I need to have a constant eight thousand five hundred (8500) per year working circle. Like this, you can only operate when you do your substrate planning independently to the availability at the Distillery. You need to mix and bring in the best possible recipe for the digestor process in to the fermentor.

Antigua DistilleriesThe only way to handle the large biogas in a way that is economically successful was to mix the waste water with bagasse or other materials, plant materials, road cuttings of invasive grasses


plus sugar cane leaves or alternatively prepare a production line on separated household waste, also to pre-treat it. The separation in the end must be handpicked. We cannot get around this. When we were first talking to St. Lucia they said it was difficult to find people to work in the waste environment. It is not an easy environment and in the end biogas based applications for municipal household waste would need manual separation. We cannot afford in a fermentor, difficult inlay materials because of bad screening.

This is of course biogas applications on different temperature levels. What we need to think of in the Caribbean is a mixture of concrete and steel fermentor based construction plus a lagoon construction as was mentioned before. Like this, investment levels can be brought down significantly.

Calculation ExampleFor a three point five megawatts (3.5MW) electricity capacity, if we take all of the biogas produced in energy production, we would need about twenty-five thousand (25,000) tonnes inlay materials per year of different mixture. This is the critical mass. We can go smaller on industrial applications down to ten thousand (10,000) tonnes per year which would provide about half a megawatt (0.5MW) of electricity. In essence it has been proven in European applications that half megawatt to three point five megawatts (0.5MW - 3.5 MW) from an economic perspective is the most suitable application to provide for enough creativity in terms of energy utilisation to be able to adapt to seasonal fluctuations of inlay materials plus changing energy consumption requirements. You don’t know what would be the price level of electricity in the next twenty (20) years. We need to react to energy price variations in electricity, but also in fuel terms. It is a complete energy provider for the community. It is not only energy and it is not only fuel.

The ConverterFor us over the last seven (7) years of application this has been the key instrument called the converter which is a crushing device and the only way basically to treat invasive plants, leguminous leaves, difficult inlay materials, straws mixed with horse manure, piggeries and poultry based inlay materials. All of these we can mix and react to different availabilities. We crush the material open, we don’t slice them or cut them to break up the cellulose to achieve a much faster biogas yield than without an application of this device. It pays off because the investment in this is relatively limited. We did three (3) generations of this unit. Under the bottom left picture is the initial generation. After two (2) weeks application the material is completely torn apart by the acidic environment. We experimented a lot to be able to apply this technique or application.

A Calculation ExampleMixed manure, fruits, waste water into a two point five megawatts (2.5MW) unit is suitable for Antigua, Barbados and St. Lucia as a standard application. It will be in the position to produce electricity under European circumstances for seven thousand eight hundred (7800) households or fuel for three thousand seven hundred and fifty (3750) vehicles on a mileage of twenty thousand kilometres (20,000 km) per annum. In that case one (1) biogas plant can serve fifty-five percent (55%) of all the CNG vehicles in Austria, so imagine what we can do on a CNG basis with the mobility applications in the small island states in the Caribbean.Transfer of Lessons Learnt


We want to prove that the small village in Austria is the same like the community in the Caribbean. We can transfer the know-how and the lessons that we learnt from the mistakes made. We made a lot of mistakes and there is no need to redo it. We failed all the time, but we stood up and got up and did.

The plant that you see here is a fifteen (15) million euros, private investment by people who believed that they could prove a difference. We will never build anything like this again. It is a money grave. Now we know what to avoid and how to avoid it. It is not only us, you have massive Germany, Austria and Sweden biogas based know-how, with lots of mistakes already done. There is no reason to redo it. Let’s build on it. There is the know-how transfer that we can offer. We know how not to do it. We can never say that we know how to do it, but we know how not to do it.

Biogas TractorsWhat you see here is the first biogas fuelled tractor that we built seven (7) years ago. On the right hand side is the latest generation of biogas tractors. We are now in the position to retrofit different sizes of diesel engines and gasoline engines. One (1) of our visions is a biogas fishing fleet. This is one fuel station which is very simple attached to a biogas application with very limited investment. On the island we have several fuel stations in place to feed the complete vehicle fleet”.


Mr. Werner Wendt“In terms of the consistency of the feedstock and the biogas plants, we did do a design on the amount of potentially available feedstocks at the moment and a projection for the next three (3) or five (5) years basically. We have normally storage areas on the facility which provides for the opportunity to mix it to a certain recipe. We are serving at the moment some two hundred and ten (210) plants that are uplinked and are centrally managed through standard computer systems and they are transmitting every hour, the performance data. We know what goes into the plants, we know how much stirring is needed to have the material rotation in place, how much energy goes into the stirring and how much pre-treatment goes into the materials when they enter the plant. We monitor online basically the biogas yield and the process performance of the plant. We can actually predict certain bacteria reactions a few days in advance based on the material input as it happens.

We are working with several universities including the Austrian Agriculture Industry University and also Danish and Swedish actually the European network of universities in identifying the best possible recipes for different agriculture and municipal waste applications like this. It means that we are building on quite substantive know-how that we ourselves and also our partners have achieved on different substrate mixtures. We try to predict the annual material inflow into the biogas plant which gives us a basic recipe and then a variation of opportunity to play around and to optimise the feedstock into the biogas plant.

In terms of financing, we are at the moment implementing projects with part private financing with large scale industrial players on the one hand. On the other hand, we are working very closely with the Austrian Development Bank and the setup of different development banks


through the Climate Change Partnership Fund that expressed a high interest to enter into financing projects in the Caribbean. We see this as a follow up to all of the feasibility works that are out already. The closure of being carried out can lead to a second project implementation.

Basically, what we require from a financing model is if we talk a half a megawatt (0.5MW) application, we are talking about four point five to five million US dollars. (US $4,500,000-US $5,000,000). Only if we go to cogeneration we have heat electricity and key customers at hand. Any further application in terms of biogas upgrading for CNG vehicles is limited, but adds on additional investment. A project for one megawatt (1MW) with about fifteen thousand to eighteen thousand (15,000-18,000) tonnes of inlay materials would be in the neighbourhood for seven million US dollars to seven point five million US dollars (US$7,000,000-US$7,500,000) as a ballpark figure out of which you can calculate that the GEF Project can be applied or different other available funding sources for loan applications in the financing part when a certain element of equity is already available. Also, there is now equity financing opportunities. We need to look at each project individually in order to identify the best possible financing capacity. On the return on investment (ROI), if we compare apples to apples we see at the moment in the Caribbean that this can be achieved in under six (6) years. If you compete with a biogas plant against the generation cost that the utility operators have at the moment in the Caribbean, you should be in the position to calculate a ROI of six (6) years.

With the question of leaving (the leaves on the field) I wouldn’t do it. Where I come from we go completely the opposite way. We take away all the materials from the field in order to take away the feedstock from the parasites. This is where we see the problem. We can prove that it works in Brazil and Africa. I don’t know how it works here. We would not do it. On the contrary, we will take away as much material that we can, ferment it and bring out the liquid fertilizer and some of the solid fractions as well and spray it back on the field. We are ready to enter into academic discussion on this”.

Dr. Tom Goreau, President, Global Coral Reef Alliance, USA“How important is it to be really consistent with the input in biogas digestors? The reason why I mentioned this is because it is a biological process and that the bacteria that you develop are adapted to a particular set of feedstock. What happens very often is that when you switch feedstocks and start to use random things you kill the bacteria and it stops working and you have to adapt a new batch to what is there. If a lot of people don’t regulate the consistency of the input then they don’t often get the results that they want”.

Mr. Alfred Watkins, WIPO Delegation“Can you say a few words about the cost of one of these systems, the payback period and how you are financing them in different parts of the world? Are they donor financed and are they financially viable private sector transactions?”

Ghanja O’Flaherty, Planning and Operations Engineer, Solid Waste Management Corporation, St. Kitts and Nevis “I have a question in terms of leaving the sugar cane in place. I know that a few agricultural departments across the region are looking towards no till agriculture which leaves everything in place because of the CO2 emissions associated with tillage. That will destroy a portion of your feedstock right there so I am just curious about how you feel about that”.


Mr. Werner Wendt“In terms of the consistency of the feedstock and the biogas plants, we did do a design on the amount of potentially available feedstocks at the moment and a projection for the next three (3) or five (5) years basically. We have normally storage areas on the facility which provides for the opportunity to mix it to a certain recipe. We are serving at the moment some two hundred and ten (210) plants that are uplinked and are centrally managed through standard computer systems and they are transmitting every hour, the performance data. We know what goes into the plants, we know how much stirring is needed to have the material rotation in place, how much energy goes into the stirring and how much pre-treatment goes into the materials when they enter the plant. We monitor online basically the biogas yield and the process performance of the plant. We can actually predict certain bacteria reactions a few days in advance based on the material input as it happens.

We are working with several universities including the Austrian Agriculture Industry University and also Danish and Swedish actually the European network of universities in identifying the best possible recipes for different agriculture and municipal waste applications like this. It means that we are building on quite substantive know-how that we ourselves and also our partners have achieved on different substrate mixtures. We try to predict the annual material inflow into the biogas plant which gives us a basic recipe and then a variation of opportunity to play around and to optimise the feedstock into the biogas plant.

In terms of financing, we are at the moment implementing projects with part private financing with large scale industrial players on the one hand. On the other hand, we are working very closely with the Austrian Development Bank and the setup of different development banks through the Climate Change Partnership Fund that expressed a high interest to enter into financing projects in the Caribbean. We see this as a follow up to all of the feasibility works that are out already. The closure of being carried out can lead to a second project implementation.Basically, what we require from a financing model is if we talk a half a megawatt (0.5MW) application, we are talking about four point five to five million US dollars. (US $4,500,000-US $5,000,000). Only if we go to cogeneration we have heat electricity and key customers at hand.

Any further application in terms of biogas upgrading for CNG vehicles is limited, but adds on additional investment. A project for one megawatt (1MW) with about fifteen thousand to eighteen thousand (15,000-18,000) tonnes of inlay materials would be in the neighbourhood for seven million US dollars to seven point five million US dollars (US$7,000,000-US$7,500,000) as a ballpark figure out of which you can calculate that the GEF Project can be applied or different other available funding sources for loan applications in the financing part when a certain element of equity is already available. Also, there is now equity financing opportunities. We need to look at each project individually in order to identify the best possible financing capacity. On the return on investment (ROI), if we compare apples to apples we see at the moment in the Caribbean that this can be achieved in under six (6) years. If you compete with a biogas plant against the generation cost that the utility operators have at the moment in the Caribbean, you should be in the position to calculate a ROI of six (6) years.With the question of leaving (the leaves on the field) I wouldn’t do it. Where I come from we go completely the opposite way. We take away all the materials from the field in order to take away the feedstock from the parasites. This is where we see the problem. We can prove that it works in


Brazil and Africa. I don’t know how it works here. We would not do it. On the contrary, we will take away as much material that we can, ferment it and bring out the liquid fertilizer and some of the solid fractions as well and spray it back on the field. We are ready to enter into academic discussion on this”.

Dr. Al Binger, Energy Science Advisor, Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC/SIDS DOCK), SIDS DOCK Coordinator“Just a point on the removal of the residues from the sugar cane fields. In the Caribbean there is a practice where we burn a lot of the materials, so it is not a lot that gets left in the fields initially from the detached trash. What is left is the higher part which is about twenty percent (20%) of the total biomass which is produced. The rationale to leave it in the field, is to keep the organic matter to leach the nutrients. The process you describe has even more benefits.

We will make a quick change and go back to resilience and talk about the Swedish Climate Resilience Project which is in a large context pretty much the framework for a lot of these projects that we are doing. As I mentioned before, Werner is doing a feasibility study on the sewage here in St. Lucia and we also have to do one here in Grenada”.

Presentation IV: CCCCC/SIDS DOCK Swedish Energy Agency (SEA) Project – “Building Resilience to Climate Change in Islands through the Energy Sector: North-South Cooperation for Sustainable Energy Development in Island States”

Presenter: Dr. Alvaro Umana, Consultant, Swedish Energy Agency

“Good morning and it’s a great pleasure to be here. I started in physics and became an environmental engineer of the first generation. We used to say; “It may be sewage to you, but it is bread and butter to us”. I want to tell you how much environmental engineering has changed and how much it is much more applicable to different types of conditions like you have seen here in European countries, but also in smaller countries and the Caribbean and Latin American.Small island economies are vulnerable to extreme weather events. One (1) hit can cost you more than one hundred percent (100%) GDP. We have problems with public and private utilities reliance on:

Diesel generation. Highest electricity rates in the world.

Very little penetration of renewable energy and no incentives for efficiency. Abundance of renewable energy resources: biomass, solar wind, geothermal. Lack of a legal and regulatory framework for independent power generation.

This is sort of an overall assessment of the situation.

We are trying to boost capacities for resilience utilising renewable energy and energy efficiency. That is the basic approach. Because of the conditions I just mentioned all renewable energy will boost resilience. Because renewable energy costs are lower today than before and certainly lower than diesel generation, even with the low prices today we should use this opportunity, this period


of low prices to shift to renewables so when the next oil hit comes we will be in a better situation.

The methodology is basically a participative process where you develop the solutions. We don’t tell you what the solutions are. We start with the local conditions or what the capacities are and we do an analysis of both energy and economics, but not in the traditional sense, but also including the external costs not included in the economic calculations and also co-benefits that are also sometimes not included in the calculations.

Key Issues for Resilience Does the proposed solution or technology have better capability to withstand and recover

from extreme weather events? Does it increase self-sufficient and access to affordable energy? Does it reduce or manage energy demand? Does it lead to diversification of the energy matrix? Does it improve quality or reliability of energy carriers and efficiency of end use

conversions?

These are questions you can ask to any technology and look at how it impacts overall resilience. This is very general, but very important when looking at waste to energy systems. It is key to think what the boundaries are of your system. Some will propose the biogas plant and not think about the supply or the quality of the waste or the seasonality. This has been brought out very, very importantly here. If your distilleries operate only part of the year then what do you do for the rest of the year because there are bacteria in the ecosystem. Somebody explained it very well. You cannot change the feedstock to the bacteria dramatically from one day to the next, because you will kill them. For example, there are some wastes like pig manure, which is excellent because it has pH that is right for the bacteria, if you start feeding that same digester coffee waste which has a pH of four point five (4.5) you will kill the entire population and your biogas will go down. We need waste characterization first and you’ve talked about that before.

You need to do net energy analysis. A lot of the systems and some of the systems are incinerators so that you actually have to feed another fuel to burn the refuse or whatever product you are using.

Moisture content is critical. If you are burning something that has high moisture all your fuel will go into evaporating the water.

We will not focus here on this because the Caribbean is not thinking on incinerator technology. This has a lot of problems we will see later.

What we do then is an energy analysis then we do the economic analysis but try to extend it to the externalities that are usually not considered. For example, the health cost of people who are getting air pollution from an incinerator or from a facility. How do you calculate those benefits or the employment generation that can be achieved through waste to energy systems? How do you sort the waste? Do you choose to sort it, try to see if the consumer will sort it at the point source or if you’re not, you have to sort it at the plant and how do you value that and how do you create an attractive job position that people will want to take?


Another key issue is do we want to produce fuels or do we want to produce electricity? This is key. For example, a people that has a very large over capacity in generation, if we propose a solution to produce more electricity it will make the problem worse. What we should try to do is to produce fuel for the generators that are always there. That’s another critical issue.

Waste Collection and Transport, Municipal Refuse Tipping FeesThis is where the bulk of the cost is. It is in the collection, transportation, sorting and preparation of the waste if its municipal waste. If you have concentrated agricultural waste the situation is different. What you should try to do is balance your feedstock to the biodigesters in a way that there are not very sudden changes in the composition of the waste that will kill the bacteria. What is valuable in the biodigester is the bacterial ecosystem that you have; that’s what generates your biogas.

Waste SeparationIt is impossible to treat with biogas or with an incinerator, comingled waste. If you try to burn that you generate a lot of pollutants and you have to feed it an extra fuel. That’s why you have to sort the waste by types. That’s why solutions like biogas only apply when you have an integrated solution, where you recycle the paper, recycle the plastic and then you can treat in an adequate solution, sewage and other organic waste. It has to be sorted. There cannot be toxic products there or they will kill the bacteria. This is not the subject of a little pilot project. This is a national effort that will take decades. You don’t build it from one day to another.

Sewer Collection SystemsRight outside of here is a sewer pumping system. A lot of countries don’t even have sewer collection systems. The whole part of town in most Caribbean cities and ports don’t have the sewer collection system. Here you have to collect it then pump it up to treat it because we are at the lowest point. That is another big energy cost. The solution for me is that we have to think of the long term goal of zero waste system and system integration.

IncinerationThe costs from high temperature are very important because you have fumes that spread over populations. If you burn plastics or PVC you produce dioxins that are highly toxic. You do have to worry a lot about that.

Anaerobic DigestersWe will focus on anaerobic digestive processes which include the biogas digestors. Also there’s a whole new generation of different types of anaerobic reactors. The simplest is the tube design with the water seal. The bigger digesters have the floating cup covers; they look like huge storage tank. There are solutions for the small scale digesters that are being developed now like anaerobic rotating filters where the bacteria actually stick to a drum and you rotate the drum through the waste.

The Integrated Systems PerspectiveThis is very important. Why do we have to treat the waste? We can say it is to recover the energy, but that is not the main reason. The main reason that we have to treat the waste is if we don’t we are destroying the main economic drive of all of these islands which is tourism. That is


the main reason we have to do it. We have to do it in the most efficient way that we can. If we keep discharging raw sewage in the harbours, the bays and the coral reefs they will not allow it for too long and people will start writing about it and people will criticise the conditions of the beaches and the reefs. In the long term, this is a fundamental reason why we have to do it. Old towns have no centralised collectors, so this is an investment that has to take many years. How do you build the sewerage system and how do you make them connect to the system? That’s another problem because there is a cost of connection as well. Another is also the fact that populations are growing and in the small islands populations balloon during the high season creating very variable waste production.

In the old days, engineers used to say dilution is the solution. This is what we are applying right now in the Caribbean and Central America. We collect all the waste, we don’t treat it and we just make a pipe and put into the sea. This is absolutely no longer acceptable because it is self-defeating and it is like the ostrich putting its head in the sand. In Costa Rica less than five (5) years ago, the Inter-American Bank for a large city as Limon Province, that was the solution proposed. In St. Vincent that was the same. The pipe broke ten (10) years ago and is still broken. We need to make a quantum leap in our own consciousness about how to do it. There are no easy solutions but we have to make long term plans. We have to identify the treatment options and separate the solid waste from the sewage. That is critical. In many rivers, creeks and towns the solid waste and sewage can’t be treated together effectively. Twenty five (25) or thirty (30) years ago people would say we need to build a big treatment plant. If you ever go to Washington, when you fly in you see one of the largest in the world called Blue Plains Sewage Treatment Plant. It has been treating and growing for fifty (50) years. It is all based on pumping oxygen into the waste - aerobic treatment. Today, we realise this is not the way to go because it consumes too much energy. The number one principle today in environmental engineering is that the energy contained in the waste is sufficient for its treatment and it should be used for that purpose.

Another old way of thinking is that we have to put all of the waste together and make one big plant. Today it is opposite. We treat the waste where it is generated in the small solutions. The other key issue is we also used to rely on big treatment plants. Today we try to use nature in the best way possible. We may have a digester, a lagoon and a wetland as an integrated solution. That is the new paradigm that we are trying to build. There’s a new paradigm for buildings too. Buildings should try to produce as much water as they can, treat all the waste water and generate all their own energy. That way you don’t have to rely on a central line system. This is part of the approach and types of solutions you should try.

Calculation of External Costs and Co-benefitsMany times when you have an incinerator proposal they don’t tell you what populations will be affected, how far away and what type of impact. This is left out of the calculations. They just say to you they produce electricity at this amount. In that case negative effects and external impacts need to be calculated and put into the economics.

They are also positives like employment in separating waste. In Latin America there are huge landfills. In Mexico City Landfill there are over one hundred thousand (100,000) people living and working there. In Colombia, the workers of the landfills got their rights written into the law so that when the city designs solutions, they have to consider their employment. You have to dignify that type of employment and give them uniforms, training, good pay and benefits. This is


a very important co-benefit where employment for young people is key. In a society structured more rationally, the people who have to collect waste should be the ones to be paid the most. In today’s world sixty-two (62) people own half (0.5) of the world’s wealth.

Digestors also have negative impacts that have to be taken care of. They produce carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide. Hydrogen sulfide smells like rotten eggs and you have to remove it. It’s very easy to remove hydrogen sulfide. The problem of explosions happening in small range of concentrations of methane to oxygen and can be easily contained. Regarding transportation options, the first ones I saw were the Chinese digesters from the eighties. They would put the biogas in huge plastic bags and to maintain pressure will put rocks on top of the bags. I hope this will give you some food for thought”.

Ms. Marie Karlberg, Policy Adviser, Swedish Energy Agency, Ministry of Environment and Energy, Government of Sweden“From the climate resilience work that we are doing it is very much a holistic approach. We are looking at cross sector linkages between key sectors like waste, agriculture, energy, water and tourism. While we focus on waste, we have a lot of work in the other sectors and cross linkages between waste and these other sectors that we can share with you. I also wanted to raise the point on long term MRV. One (1) of the components within this project is also to build a database for data. I just wanted to highlight that. What we are doing is basically giving support to the nationally identified priorities in the resilience projects that are coming out of this part of the process. With that I conclude, thanks”.


EXPERTS’ ROUNDTABLE II:

“THE WASTE-TO-ENERGY APPLICATIONS CONSIDERED MOST SUITABLE TO CARIBBEAN COUNTRIES: LINKAGES TO LOCAL POLLUTION AND GLOBAL CLIMATE ISSUES”

Presenter: Mr. Christopher Corbin, Programme Officer, UNEP

“I didn’t prepare a PowerPoint presentation, but I have been tweaking this to try and respond to some of the comments, questions and out own issues. Why do we need to improve the management of waste? I am reminded that pollution threats to human health, fisheries, tourism, maritime transportation and as much as I take the point about the impact to our tourism, ultimately it is about protecting our people and our economies. That is really what it is about and that is the focus. We are doing a better job in terms of being able to quantify the negative impacts of these and the lost investment opportunities to speak to our Ministries of Finance.

I think that we still need to use some of the tools that we have available in terms of being able to quantify that. There is a six (6) minutes video on pollution and its impact on YouTube if you just search SBF infographic. I will not show it, but I will share the link with the organizers so that persons can get a better feel for some of the pollution issues.

Do We Have a Problem?Going back to Ambassador Henderson’s question, “Do we have a problem?” I just extracted a couple of key facts. “Globally two million (2,000,000) tonnes of sewage and agricultural industrial waste enters waterways, UN report. Eighty-five percent to ninety-five percent (85%-95%) of domestic waste water sewage enters the Caribbean Sea untreated or partially treated. Fifty-one point five percent (51.5%) of households across the Caribbean lacks sewer connections, PAHO report. Biological oxygen demands and nutrients into our coastal areas from leaching from poorly managed dumpsites can be a significant or even more impactful than domestic waste water. Just last week there was a report published by the form World Economic Forum said that oceans are predicted to have more plastics than fish by the year 2050. Do we have a problem?

Characterization of Solid WasteThe average per capita production and characterization of solid waste in the Caribbean SIDS actually follows the profile of developed countries and this is influenced mainly by our tourism industry and our high importation of packaging. We have heard the really significant policy efforts taken by our countries with Guyana’s banning of styrofoam and Antigua and Barbuda’s banning of plastics. The rest of the Caribbean we wait for you to follow.

Treated Waste Water


Al hinted at it, but I don’t think that it is being emphasised perhaps as much and this is the link to food security. I also want to say a few things. Ten percent (10%) of the world population is being fed from the reuse of treated waste water. This market is recording a growth rate of twenty-five percent (25%) in the US and Europe. It is an increasing growth trend on every continent with the possible exception of the Caribbean, where our sociocultural responses to the reuse of treated waste water perhaps needs some rethinking.

UNEP ProjectionsI just found this example that was based on a projection by UNEP that a city of one (1) million persons, which is probably the size of Kingston and its environs can generate in its sewage enough nutrients to fertilize fifty thousand (50,000) hectares of farmland which can in turn produce one hundred and fifty thousand (150,000) tonnes of crops. The waste water alone can meet the energy needs of one hundred thousand (100,000) people. What are we waiting for?

On-going Regional ProjectsThere are several on-going regional projects and activities and GEF related concepts already under development that we also need to partner with. There are GEF projects with recycling plastics to energy, use of treated waste water and biosluge as a resource, including the recovery of nutrients. There are many regional agencies currently including ours working on projects related to solid waste, waste water and marine litter, but more from a pollution prevention and sustainable consumption and production perspective.

Need for CollaborationSo that was why it was important for me to be here so that we could now make the links to energy. I think that there are lots of opportunities there. I really do want to emphasise as we move forward, the importance of the coordination and the partnerships. Let us not just talk about having partnerships, but make them work. They do not work just by coming together. We need to do some joint activities.

Opportunities and Information AvailableThere are already some projects on the ground that can address some of the capacity gaps, the policy, regulatory deficiencies relating to waste to energy, business models and cases, data and information gaps, education and awareness and coordination. Many of those do exist and can be used. We have established a Caribbean Region Note for Marine Litter Manual between UNEP and the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute. It is working to support two (2) global partnerships on solid waste and marine litter and we are already lobbying them for support for pilot projects, in particular for Caribbean SIDS.

Existing is a Caribbean Action Plan for Marine Litter. It is a document which details many of the existing laws, policies, institutions and partners involved in waste management throughout the Caribbean SIDS. It was updated by the Caribbean Youth Environment Network one year ago. There are several publications in the blue economy and green economy from Samoa. I will not go into that, but let’s not duplicate please. Last year the Inter-American Development Bank had a regional solid waste workshop in Montego Bay. Many of the countries here actually presented and there were some excellent case studies on waste to energy. I remember the presentation from Belize about their landfill and how they were managing landfill gas and the presentation from the


Barbados’ representative on their recycling opportunities. Again, there are several areas on the ground that we need to work on.

Our regional office in ROLAC is now working on compiling a Latin America and Caribbean waste management outlook. This will document waste characterization and the whole regime of solid waste in this region. The International Maritime Organization is developing a Port Reception Action Plan for waste management alongside ourselves. That’s an area we haven’t mention at all. Countries receive ship generated waste and it is potentially a significant source for waste to energy considerations. We have to put in place a lot of protective measures from a quarantine standpoint, but activities are on-going on that.

Closing Statement I want to close Chair by emphasizing two (2) things. As a former country delegate as well and I do see these regional and global conventions, agreements and the Sustainable Development Goals and the Samoa Pathway as being burdens. It is really for us as countries and as a region to maximise the opportunities that they provide. They do provide opportunities and we need to get on the boat to make sure that we maximise from these.

As the Ambassador said is that our core responsibility is working towards improvement of the lives and livelihoods of our people. To do that, we have to take pragmatic action oriented and focus on low hanging, but high political impact fruit. Doing that, we will need to remove our tendency for turfdom even among ourselves as regional agencies and partners so that we can really find effective ways of moving this forward. UNEP will have a new point of contact in the sub region that maybe SIDS DOCK and CCREEE can work with more closely. They are about to establish a new sub-regional office for the English speaking Caribbean SIDS in Jamaica and that work is really expected to help in the coordination of many of the activities that are now taking place”.

Presenter: Dr. Tom Goreau, President, Global Coral Reef Alliance

“It’s a pleasure to be here. My approach is on the receiving environment where our solid, liquid and gaseous waste ends up. The importance of a lot of the waste to energy management is to reduce the volume of solid waste. Essentially, trying to minimise the volume of what is piling up in front of us. We are trying to get rid of it and we see additional energy and benefits to it as we recycle. At the same time, I know what you talk about when you speak of the solid waste, because most places where I swim have plastics. I won’t talk of the solid waste, what worries me is what I can’t see which are the nutrients and the bacteria in the water. That is really what is killing the ecosystem. They are very visible, but they are not the real problem.

Example from Kingston Harbour and Other PlacesWhen I was a small boy I swarm in the reefs inside Kingston harbour. We had good reefs. Kingston Harbour was the first place in the world to become a dead zone in the 1960s because of all of the sewage and garbage that went in. It has never recovered. The oxygen is confined to about the top six (6) inches. Everything inside is dead. Now when I was a boy in Jamaica, we did not have algae all over our reefs, because we didn’t have all this sewage going into the water. Now what we saw happened around Jamaica was that at every point where there was sewage and nutrients, the algae spread, smothered and killed all of the reefs. I have seen that happen all


around the Caribbean. These are some of the places that I have personally worked in Jamaica and personally looked at the algae, corals and reefs and in the Caribbean as a whole. I can show you maps for the Pacific and South East Asia. I go all over the world looking at these things and the same thing is happening every place. We are simply throwing our garbage into the water and killing our environment. This is an example of what happens. This is the waterfront in Nassau, Bahamas you can see the green slime on the rocks and underwater. These areas have expanded. In Jamaica now you cannot tell where the nutrients come from because all of Jamaica is eutrophic. This is true of Barbados and every island and major tourist area in the world.

Impact on the Coral Reef EcosystemWhat we see are the last few corals dying from disease and being smothered by algae. The problem is that the nutrients are the remains of our fertilizer and sewage and waste disposed. The leaching of the garbage dump and the nutrients coming from that for example, in Grand Cayman has killed the entire North side. It is just green slime and the water is no longer blue. When we measure the nutrients in the ocean what we find is coming from fresh water and not from the sea. It is as a result of our own activities degrading the environment and throwing our waste in the water. The problem is that the nutrients are the real issue for coral reefs. Coral reefs are the most nutrient sensitive ecosystem of all. It took us many years to work out just how sensitive they were. They get eutrophic and are overgrown by algae and nutrient levels that no other ecosystem can accept. Therefore, the water quality standards we have for other ecosystems does not work. No place has planned ahead for sewage except Cancun in the Caribbean. Eighty percent (80%) of the sewage was untreated because their planning was so inadequate for what happened afterwards.

We have summarised all of this data from around the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific because we have killed ninety percent or ninety-five percent (90% or 95%) of our reefs in the Caribbean. What we need is specific coral reef water standards. We know, that one micromole per litre or zero point zero one four (0.014) ppm of nitrogen and point one (0.1) micromole per litre of phosphorous or point zero zero four (0.004) ppm is sufficient to kill a coral reef.

We can drink waste water with nutrients level one hundred (100) or one thousand (1000) times higher and it will have no effect on our health. There are water quality standards related to human health and they are completely irrelevant for the environment. We need ecosystem specific standards and we need to have zero land based sources of nutrients going into the sea. We are killing our reefs by throwing away our waste that we can recycle as shown here and save our marine environment at the same time.

Mitigation Strategy in Turks and CaicosThe Turks and Caicos is the only country in the world that requires hotels to treat their sewage, recycle it on their own property and have ecosystem specific water quality standards. The core of water quality management is nutrient management. Nitrogen and phosphorous is the problem that is coming from our waste. No one knows how much nutrients they have going into their waters. You can see and smell the obvious places, the rest of it we have no idea and therefore, we are unable to manage it.

Reversal of Eutrophication


We can reverse it, but only if we stop all of the nutrients. To my knowledge, the only place in the world where this has ever been done is in Jamaica. In Dragon Bay in Jamaica one (1) hotel killed its reef, the right hand side of the bay was smothered with green algae because of the laundry detergent. This side had red algae because of the sewage going right into the water and the whole reef was being killed. I told them to put the laundry effluent in the sewage plant and to pump up the hill and water the plants so that the nutrients would not reach the water. They refused to do it for a couple of years because they did not want to listen to a local boy. Finally, a foreign export came in and he was there to look at corals in Port Antonio, he went swimming and got an ear infection and sued the hotel and then they did what we were asking them to do for years. Within weeks the algae started to turn black and within months then were gone. The fact is that we can do that. That is the only place in the world where eutrophication was reversed.

Coral Reef Losses and the Way ForwardWe have already lost most of our coral reefs and fisheries. The best places left in the Caribbean now only have about thirty percent (30%) of their corals. There were a few small spots in Cuba, Panama and Turks and Caicos. The rest of them have lost ninety percent to ninety-five percent (90%-95%) or more of the marine habitat, fisheries and marine protection with the beaches. There are other issues too. I am not going to be talking about global warming and atmospheric pollution now. The point is that waste to energy management is a key component in reducing the nutrients to the level that we can protect our coral reefs and restore our fisheries and our beaches, but it has to be complete. Cosmetic solutions will not work. Symbolic solutions will not work. We need to recycle all of the nutrients on land. That is the task ahead of us if we want to save our reefs from pollution”.

Presenter: Mr. Vintura Silva, Team Leader, Regional Collaboration Centre, United Nations Climate Change Secretariat (UNFCC), Grenada

“Good morning to everyone. It seems as if everything has been said, but everyone has not said it. We have five (5) regional centres around the world that belongs to the UN Climate Change Secretariat. The centre in St. George caters to the sixteen (16) independent Caribbean countries was set up to support the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) under the Kyoto Protocol initially. We have been expanding our work in order to support countries and the Governments and project developers in accessing climate finance under the UNFCC framework. This includes the previous mechanisms.

New MechanismsAs you may have realised, from the Paris Agreement there are two (2) new

mechanisms that have been introduced. One is the Sustainable Development Mechanism (SDM) which would go through a national cycle for the development in definitions and in terms of operation and the existing Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation (JI) mechanisms. The Caribbean as a region was not well represented in the previous mechanisms. This was due to the fact that the mitigation potential in the Caribbean relative to the rest of the world is quite small. When you are competing at a global scale and when we take individual


islands, it does not seem as if we have a problem because our scales for mitigation potential and emissions from a project that we would set up in the Caribbean would be relatively low when compared with the rest of the world. This actually goes low when you compare with the African countries.

Addressing Scale and Transaction CostsIn the Caribbean we have a unique situation and there is discussions to give special considerations to the fact that the scales and economies are quite small, but this also brings opportunity to work as a regional group. We are trying to see how we can combine the efforts being made in the different islands especially the smaller islands in the OECS to see how we can work together as a special programme. Access to climate finance or carbon finance has transaction cost and to overcome this you need to have sizeable scale in your project and a considerable amount of emissions reduction that would make certain projects feasible for covering up the transaction cost and to make money for the project. At the centre we support in building regional programmes. We have CHENACT which is the Caribbean Hotels Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Action and several initiatives have been taken. We would like to support the on-going initiatives from our centre and with the Government and the policies regarding the implementation of High end DC’s as a major part of the work at the Center”.


PRESENTATION V:

“LESSONS LEARNED FROM SUCCESS CASES: AUSTRIA, CARIBBEAN, GRENADA AND SWEDEN.

Panel Discussion III: “A formula for success if there is a checklist for achieving a successful W2E programme in Caribbean countries, what would this look like?

Moderator: Mr. Glynn Morris, Energy Advisor- REETA, GIZ, CARICOM Secretariat

“We will combine the next two (2) sessions: First session on lessons learnt and next the formula for success if there is a checklist to go forward. We have heard in the preceding the risk to the environment and to the economies of not doing something. There is an emphasis on what do we do. It is fine to have a rational understanding of the risks and the importance of doing something.

The challenge is now turn towards actually doing something. Whenever it comes to that point, it is very helpful to have confidence that others have done it elsewhere in the world or that there are others even in the Caribbean community who have done something. One can learn from this process by

using potentially affirming experiences. That is a term that is valuable and useful for us to remember. Where can we find, acknowledge and build on affirming experiences? That is what we are going to hear about this morning from a very distinguished panel, all of whom have experience of actually doing something.

I will ask the panellists to introduce themselves. Then we will have inputs from each followed by questions then the will lead into the checklist or formula for success. Eric say a few words on the benefits of lessons learned and how we can build with confidence on experience that has gone before”.

Presenter: Mr. Eric Roennols, Environmental Consultant and Senior Advisor, Sweden Waste Management Association, Sweden

“Thank you for giving me the opportunity. I come from the Swedish Waste Management Association and I have experience from the Swedish waste management point of view and assignment abroad. I will try to implement some of my knowledge to what we can do in the future. I will go quickly through some pictures and the last one of what are the key factors to success.

We have a lot of experience in Sweden with waste management. In fact, we have gone from landfilling to something else completely in the last ten to fifteen (10-15) years. Today we are not


landfilling at all from household waste. Only one percent (1%) of household waste goes to landfills and the rest are used in waste to energy. We also include material recycling in waste to energy. It is one (1) of the best ways of energy recovering when you do something else with the material that has already been used once. Instead of digging up virgin materials, you can do it once again or twice (2) or three (3) times again. We have gone from a situation where the waste management was a burden to the climate.

Today, in Sweden you can say that the waste management is climate neutral and we contribute to a better climate by doing waste to energy projects. Of course, everything cannot be implemented in every country, but I think that we have a lot of experience. We have a lot of experience and also in the Caribbean environment. It is a mixture. The Caribbean environment has small villages, medium size cities, small cities up to those with one million (1,000,000) citizens. I think that the experience that we have gained from large scale projects can and should be implemented in the Caribbean islands like Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago where you have these large cities. You have to solve the problems at the village level, but the huge problems are in the huge cities and you have to solve these also.

The Integrated Approach to Solid Waste ManagementWe have come up with economic models and we have tried PPP solutions. We have a lot of solid waste and natural planning and we have an integrated approach to solid waste management. We include all of the sectors that can have benefits from waste management. It is sewage treatment, agriculture, industrial recyclables and so on. The transport sector is very much included as a beneficiary. Today, just as in Austria, all the biogas producer in Sweden is used in the transport sector. We produce fuel and we have done this for a number of years and have very good experience in this. It is the absolute best way to use biogas nowadays.

The Fee StructureWe have introduced fee structures. We have the unfortunate situation that everyone has to pay. You are in the same situation. If you don’t pay, then someone else will pay. There are no free breakfasts and lunches. If we decide that we won’t pay then our children or neighbours will pay. I think it is better that we pay for what we are doing. In Sweden you have to pay for the waste that you deliver to the landfill or to the waste management company. There is a tariff for every household and we find that it is feasible to pay around one percent (1%) of your income for waste management. That is something to think about. You must have a willingness to pay. The awareness and willingness to pay is fundamental for getting people to pay for what they are actually doing. If you produce waste, you should pay for the waste. Every household pays between one thousand and two thousand (1000-2000) Swedish krona per year for the waste that they produce. We produce around four hundred (400) kilos of waster every year. The waste management companies need the input to do something with the waste. The waste to energy projects are not self-generating. Our experience is that it costs. You can use the waste as a resource, but at a price. It is not self-running. If you take into account everything like collection, transportation, treatment and landfills everything, so you have to pay for it. That is my opinion and my lesson from Sweden.

Upgrading of biogas is one of our specialities.

Key factors to success:


Public awareness. Willingness to pay. Integrated system is the best for success.

Examples of Where We Can Help:

Biogas for Vehicle Fuel ProductionThis will also be helpful for large cities. How can we use the biogas for vehicle fuel production? We have some experience from other countries where we had done feasibility studies and so on. It is viable and we can help when it is needed.

Landfill GasIn Belize there is landfill gas. We have vast experience from landfill gas extraction in Sweden from the 1980s and we still do it. From the start, we did it for an economic reason, but today it’s for the climate reasons, but we have all the experience and the expertise that is needed to do this kind of project. We have companies that can help you with different stages of waste management.

I will briefly show you some pictures from one (1) of the Swedish public utility companies for recycling and waste to energy productions. It is in the South of Sweden serving up to two hundred and thirty (230) inhabitants in the middle of the city. Like our Austrian friend said, you can be in the middle of the city if you do it properly. You would not produce odour if you have a good control over your waste and you can do waste management quite close to the city. It takes effort.

Strategies EmployedWe do door to door collection at source which is the ground for everything. If you don’t separate your waste it is just mixed waste and it’s a burden. If you have separated waste, it can be a resource. We do waste characterization and we have a waste laboratory. Every year each municipality characterises its waste. We can get figures on how much recyclables are still in your waste bin and you can make propaganda to get improvements. We have waste education and all of the children in the city come to the waste facility three (3) times while at primary and secondary school to learn about the waste and how to treat it. It is very valuable for the families. Food waste is collected in paper bags and is converted to biogas with the digesters. We convert four million (4,000,000) cubic metres of vehicle fuel every year. It is quite a lot and it gives a lot of fertilizer.

Biogas and IncinerationThis is a water scalable technology which produces compressed biogas quite efficiently. The gas is used for cars. The city’s bus fleet is run on biogas bus fleet and there are places where you can fill up your own car. We also do landfill gas of course and biocells to get out more out of the landfills and to get the best out of the deposited waste. In Sweden you need ten (10) or fifteen (15) years before you can take out all of the gas. Here perhaps it can be done in five (5) years which is perhaps better, but you have to start quickly. On the landfill and on the facility you need equipment. This is not high tech equipment, but you need excavators, flexible drums to produce for the incineration. We incinerate a lot of the waste in Sweden. Half of the waste goes to incineration in Sweden. We have good incineration plants and district heating plants. The waste


that is not suitable for biogas or recyclables goes to incineration. Then we have the ash problem on the other end. We also have to make use of the ashes, otherwise they go back to the landfill. It is a challenge today in Sweden to us the bottom ash for the incineration. Not only in Sweden, but all over Europe, you get thirty percent (30%) back and you have to do something with it”.

Mr. Werner Wendt, Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Environmental Technologies, SET GmbH Austria“There is not that much to add I am afraid. The reason is that you came up with a good overview of the European situation. The European situation is completely different from the Caribbean situation. When I first met Al in Jamaica’s Waste to Energy Conference we were listening to a presentation by a Swedish producer of waste incinerators and he was showing a picture of a Vienna waste incinerator. Vienna is the city of waste incineration. He was showing it to your colleagues, but what the guy completely forgot to tell was that this was the only waste incinerator in Vienna that doesn’t produce electricity at all. It only produces heat and injects it into district heating. What is it good for in the Caribbean? So it is important to compare apples to apples. The island situations are very individual. Some basic assumptions can be done, but in the end, every island has to find its own way. We can learn from the Europeans and the Americans and from the North-South and South-South exchange. Which I think at the moment is the more important issue to look at.

If you are looking at waste management structures and experiences that are done in India, Brazil and Latin America, there are a lot of capacities at hand and a lot of know-how out there. We were carrying out together with UNIDO and CI Biogas, which is a Brazilian biogas research centre project on identification of biogas space mobility in local commercial transports. When we went there, I saw a huge set of business enterprises in Parana, in the core of agriculture production in Brazil, going into the oldest landfills that they had, taking out the old diesel engines that were rotting away for the last twenty (20) years and were retrofitting them within three (3) days and pumping biogas into it. It is a fifty kilowatt (50KW) per hour engine that could work for the next three (3) years with a procurement cost of fifty US dollars (US $50) and if it breaks, they throw it away and go to the landfill and take another one. You see the sulphur dripping out from the pipes and they just take the biogas as it, they don’t need to clean it, but it works for two (2) or three (3) years at least, then you overhaul the engine in another three (3) years and your investment is minimal. There is a lot of know-how in the South-South Cooperation that we all need to tap in and it is incredible.

The Austrian experience is very similar to the Swedish experience. In Austria we burn a lot and nobody talks about what happens with the ash. Ash is highly toxic and you reduce only about thirty percent to forty percent of your volume (30%-40%) through the incineration that is done. Everybody closes his or her eyes because nobody wants to talk about this thing. This is a real problem in Austria and Europe that we are passing on to our generation. Should we do it different? Yes. I personally think that in the developing world with decentralization as one (1) of the key topics to remember.

For me personally, biogas digesters are the more suitable way to go. With the technologies as we have seen today, if we go small or very big, it doesn’t matter. From an ecologic and environmental point of view and from my point of view, it is the best possible solution. How does it fit into your waste management structures? We see it as an add on. The key to your waste


management is still your recycling stream. You have a lot of valuable materials in your municipal waste stream where a market for recycling is already developed. It is there and you just need to tap into it. You need to create critical mass of these volumes of recyclable materials that you can either use domestically or sell and make an income out of it. The remaining parts are these organic fractions that we are talking about. In your waste they are some sixty-five percent to seventy-five percent (65%-75%).

If you go down a little bit more, your tourists resorts are contributing to the waste. You can use your recycling streams for recovery to get the materials. The tourist resorts can do the separation themselves. Introducing the separation at a household level and forcing a touristic application for the tourist resorts in your countries to do the separation for themselves and this is the key to your success.

What is left over is the organic fractions cannot be used anyway for anything else. This is the classic fermentation part. We can work on eighty-five to ninety percent (85%-90%) of the volume flows from municipal household waste easily, with very limited investment size. If I talk waste incinerator investment, I am talking two hundred million euro at minimum to make it useful and meaningful.

If we talk digestion as we have heard, we can start very low and go up to a sophisticated application. Everything in between will deliver the same product, It is biogas. Raw biogas with sixty-four percent (64%) CH4 impacts you to. Now what can I do with it? I can go and take the oldest diesel engine from a scrap junk and turn it into a generator. I can get these small contributors to bring their biogas to a central storage, compressurize and put into the generator. The investment sum is limited. Or I can go big, sort, bring together your sources that we have on the island and come up with an industrial application. However you want to go, it will be in essence a mixture of these different sizes and qualities and quantities. The beauty about it is that it is storable and transportable and can be turned into the kind of energy that I require. I am not bound and I can leave it for a couple of months. It will not deteriorate and will still be there when I need it. This is why we are so focused on biogas and preaching about it.

Where I come from, I am not building one (1) single biogas plant anymore. Why? We built the biggest one in Austria, but we are not building one anymore. Why? There are reasons. We have very clever politicians who entered into a gas hedging contract. That meant that they had to buy natural gas whether they use it or not. They have no interest whatsoever, but us as a small biogas producer, inject it into the public grid. They don’t want it. It took me with the European Union to tell them that they have to interject our biogas into their grid. It took us three (3) years. In terms of biogas Austria is a developed country. In terms of biogas, Germany they don’t inject to the grid anymore. They go to mobility. Even on changing political dynamics. We couldn’t predict this when we started our biogas plant, but we were able to adapt and a commercially and technologically viable operation. Even after fifteen (15) years now which proves the case that even under very difficult climate changes, difficult economic requirements, biogas is still in the position to prove the case.

Now in Europe with the critical mass and under your current generation schemes, biogas is a competitive way of substituting fossil fuel consumption. In Europe, it has not gotten there, but it will get there again. We are distracted at the moment a little bit, but we will get there again. In


Europe we are competing with atomic energy, difficult and from a tariff perspective, a difficult energy production circles where again when we are in Europe we don’t compare apples and apples. We think very definitely in the developing world biogas is one (1) of the key issues to success for regional energy independence and solving the waste issues. In Europe and in the developing countries we will get there again once we get over the storms of energy prices basically collapsing”.

Presenter: Mr. Christoph Spurk, Waste to Energy Focal Point, Okobit

“I am the owner of the OKOBIT Company. The company was started in 2000. When we speak about the most successful implementation of Biogas plants in a country, the most successful is Germany. At first when we looked at the European situation there are more than thirty thousand (30,000) biogas plants with landfills and urban sewage from the base water treatment and other biogas plants. Other plants mean it is waste and agriculture plants and most plants are working in Germany. At the moment we have an installation capacity of more than four thousand megawatts (4000MW) and it’s the same as four (4) nuclear power plants. No country in the world has more biogas plants and electricity capacity than Germany.

In 1999 our Government said it wanted out of the nuclear power and to only produce renewable energy. It was the first time a Government made the rules or regulation to produce renewable energy in the grid. We began with three reasons in that law. It was the first time that the electricity company must buy renewable energy, there was a fixed price for twenty (20) years and it was the first time that banks provided financing for renewable projects in a larger capacity than before. Last year we produced thirty percent (30%) of our energy from renewables. Most of it is wind craft and the second is the biomass.

Biomass produces more than eight percent of our energy. Electricity energy is only produced by biomass. One of the most important things is that a wind park only produced two thousand (2000) hours of electricity in the year and biomass plants produced eight thousand (8000) or more and the portable type producing eight hundred hours of energy in the year in Germany. That is the advantage of biogas and biomass and we have the opportunity to produce it where there is consumption in the net. We are not only producing electricity. We also produce heat using wood and fuel for automobiles.

At the beginning of the biogas production in 1992 pioneers were producing with an old motor and oil tanks. There was no company producing a professional biogas plant. In 2000 there was a start with the EG from biomass. Most production was from waste, agriculture waste. There was waste from restaurants and from fruit and that was the beginning. In the year 2004 they did not build so much biomass plants again because of the owners of the waste. The owners of the waste said that the years before they were paid for the waste and in the neighbourhood they said we can have the waste, but cheaper. We had no biogas production.

In 2004 the Government had the idea to use agricultural crops. Maize was produced specifically for the biogas plants. There was an extreme development of biogas plants in Germany. In 2005 to 2008 we built more than 1000 biogas plants. In 2008 there was a development on the World Market. The price for maize went extremely low. There was a demonstration from the farmers in Mexico because they couldn’t pay for the maize. Then we got the idea to use more waste from


agriculture, more waste from manure. We developed a project using manure but the manure was transported to one (1) place. You always have to look at what is the best way, the best solution because when you have a substrate with less biogas yield you couldn’t transport it a long way. In Germany you don’t transport manure more than three or five kilometres (3km/5km), beyond that it is not economical.

In 2012 the Government said enough with the energy crops. They no longer wanted to produce energy crops for biogas. The concentration was only on waste and manure. In 2008 the most biogas plants were built in Germany and had more than five hundred kilowatt (500 KW) per hour capacity. In 2014 most biogas plants only have seventy-five kilowatt (75KW) per hour capacity and use only the manure from the farms.

The problem was that we needed to earn more money because the energy cost was very expensive. We developed a lot of energy villages. We have a new development in Germany. We optimized the biological process to produce more energy because we use more energy in the winter time than in the summer time. At the moment we have some biogas plants producing fifty percent (50%) of their capacity in the summer and the capacity is increased in the winter time.

Biogas Utilisation OptionsThe biogas plant normally has a CHP and produce electricity. Of the thousands of biogas plants, only one hundred and fifteen (115) are producing biomethane. They are injecting into the gas grid. When you are using the heat in the villages we transport it with water. You can transport not more than a half mile. We have the problem that they will produce the biogas, but we don’t have the option to use the heat because there are not enough households or we may search for a company that need a lot of heat. We can only transport the biogas. In Germany we built micro pipelines for satellite CHP. That way we can transport the biogas for more than ten kilometres (10km). It’s the cheaper way than to transport the heat.

The quickest way to use the gas is the upgrading system. Gas is also used to upscale the heat. You can produce the gas in Hamburg and use it in Munich. You have more options and a lot of heat consumption and can use it as a filling station. The biggest biogas plants are in the upgrading systems. In Germany there is a one point two megawatts (1.2MW) electricity capacity and it produces more than ten million kilowatts (10,000,000KW) in the year. It brings heat to households in that village.

The Design Site Plan of a Biogas PlantThe typical way is that you have two (2) fermenters, a second digestor and a storage tank for the fertilizer. In Germany we are using fertilizer like a mineral fertilizer because it is very expensive in Germany. They have three (3) CHPs and produce eight thousand five hundred (8500) hours in the year.

We realise that with Okobit biomethane plants, that the biggest one have more than one thousand four hundred (1400) non cubic meters every hour. It is equivalent to electricity for more than thirty thousand (30,000) households in Germany. We have one hundred and seventy-five (175) biogas plants. Total installed capacity is more than forty-two megawatts (42MW)”.


Presenter: Mr. Itajah Simmons, Officer, Ministry of Health and Environment, Department of Environment, Antigua and Barbuda

“Good afternoon everyone I am from the Department of Environment- Success reports of waste to energy.

Themba BiofuelsThemba Biofuels was founded by Mr. Elliot Lincoln. The company was launched in 2011 and presently they have collected over 98,000 gallons of used cooking oil which they processed to create biofuels. They have managed to reduce emissions of 428 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide (CO2). Themba Biofuels is now a supplier of biodiesel to various transports in Antigua and Barbuda and have made an impact on Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

Local Oil LtdThe other oil recycling company is Local Oil Ltd. They take the heavy oil from cruise ships and trucks and other producers of oil. They refine it and blend with kerosene and supply biodiesel to truckers. The asphalt is a by-product used for the roads. They too have made a significant impact in reductions in our country. This material is now a viable energy resource. They have been around from the past five to eight (5-8) years.

EWASTE or Electronic WasteThe other success story is the EWASTE or Electronic Waste, a non-profit organisation funded through the GEF Small Grants Program. They collect all electronic waste throughout the island including computers, batteries, microwaves and other electronic waste that usually go to the landfills. EWASTE has come on stream and successfully reduced these waste from going to the landfills. We now have a better management of the things that are now going to the Landfill. Batteries that go the Landfill usually explode and that leads to leaching and that would enter into our nearby water stream. We are actually reducing these types of effects. EWASTE also do public awareness. They give advice on sustainable solutions. They also do education and training.

The Antigua DistilleryWe have the Antigua Distillery. The Distillery has embarked on a program where they encourage locals to return and recycle the bottles so they can be treated and reused. We also have a problem we face at the distillery where the waste from production is being dumped back into the sea. We need to find a viable way to capture this waste and use it for energy production.

We look forward to making connections with the participants to find ways to convert the waste and convert it to some type of energy use.

Antigua Barbuda Waste Recycling Corporation (ABWREC)We have ABWREC which is the Antigua Barbuda Waste Recycling Corporation. They are in collaboration with the Rotary Club in Antigua and Barbuda and the National Solid Waste and Environment Division. They collect non-biodegradable materials. They do initial processing and


exportation of non-biodegradable materials, education, sensitising the public, conduct tours and demonstration at the facility and distribution of recycling bins for special events.

The National Solid Waste has been speaking to the landfill manager and we have not found an effective way of managing the liquid sewage that comes to the site. We are planning to have a pilot project for a biodigester in order to properly manage the liquid sewage that comes to the site. We would seek to develop a proposal to seek funding for this pilot project that we would like to start. This is my contribution on success stories in Antigua and Barbuda”.

Presenter: Mr. Manuel Fuentes, Consultant, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Austria

“I am going to talk about what are the business models that have worked well or the formula for success in waste to energy projects. I do not have a formula, but I can talk about a very key ingredient. A key ingredient is partnerships. We talk a lot about partnerships and we need to create a solution for every problem. We need to create win win partnerships for waste to energy projects to go ahead successfully. In the case of waste, where there is an environmental liability for some might be feedstock for others. Where there is a saving for some, might be a profit for others. This situation is what we have to look for and I would like to share on two examples to show that.

Example from the City of Vancouver, British Columbia, CanadaThis one is of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada which was quite old. The Kyoto Protocol was just coming in and there were no CDMs as yet, but the city wanted to do something because it had the biggest landfill in Canada and they feared the methane and wanted to do something as the enforcement of the CDM Kyoto Protocol was eminent. They didn’t have the funds for the capital investment for using the methane. They made a proposal for converting methane to electricity. They did not have the funds for the capital investment that was needed for using the methane so what they did was that they went to the private sector and through a bidding process for a business model on how to use that methane.

They came out with a typical PPP scheme which was that there was a private investor with a gas pipeline that put together the landfill with the engine generator using the gas. The only physical connection between the landfill and the power plant was the pipeline. Every year the electricity was being sold to the grid. Instead of the city spending in converting the methane into electricity, they received a paycheque of around two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) per year as royalties from the private company. Again, we had a win win situation where the city did not only save money, but they did something for the environment which was bothering them with the fear of methane. It was a classic PPP solution.

Example from the City Council of OxfordThe second one is in my hometown where the City Council of Oxford needed to refurbish the transport fleet of waste collection and also they needed to expand the almost saturated landfill. They were behind in their recycling targets.


They went through a bidding process and a local farm came with a solution by which they were recollecting the food waste from households and they were converting that into gas. They disposed of a big part of their fleet which was a big saving for the city and the farm was giving them a service for free essentially as there was no transaction involved, only the commitment that the farm was collecting the waste and converting it to electricity. This involved a big awareness campaign because people did not want to have waste food in their houses for a week. It’s a weekly energy collection. With a lot of awareness campaign they achieved from thirty percent (30%) of the households that were part of the scheme to eighty percent (80%) in two (2) years. That was quite successful and a win- win situation, because the farm diversified and allocated land that would have gone to crops, but they diversified their products and are selling fertilizers, electricity and heat to the city”.

Presenter: Ms. Julia Brown, Divisional Manager, Development, Scientific Research Council (SRC), Jamaica

“I will quickly share the success stories and models that we undertake as it relates to our waste to energy and mainly as it relates with the biogas technology in Jamaica. Waste to energy projects were initially undertaken as waste to energy projects, but as we moved into the whole aspect of the need to preserve the environment, it became an integration in that treatment was always about waste management and in that process, you generate energy.

Success StoryIn terms of our success stories there are a lot and we think that the models can be emulated within the region and just to mention here our work as it relates to sewage and anaerobic treatment of domestic sewage won us the Global Golden Green Apple Award and Christine must be happy that I mentioned this. That was special for us and within the various sectors as it relates to waste, animal waste, agro industrial waste and domestic sewage we have over six hundred (600) anaerobic systems. The largest ones deal with households where we have a capacity for over two thousand seven hundred (2700) cubic meters for complex lighting. We did mention the challenge of not being able to afford the end use equipment which does limit our use in terms of extending the whole aspect of the energy use.

The Three (3) Options Provided to ClientsIn terms of the model, critical to the sustainability and cost effectiveness of what we propagate, we train independent contractors to be a part of the money making process. In the scheme we have three (3) options that we would offer to our clientele.

Option 1 - There are clients that would not want to execute the projects that would undertake any hassle; they want a finished product and at the end of the day, the product is theirs. So basically, we would execute all aspects of the project utilising these trained independent contractors.

Option 2 - The clients hire the independent contractors and we provide technical supervision to those projects to ensure that at the end of the day, the end product is what it is supposed to be, meeting all of the various requirements.


Option 3 - Clients procure all of the materials through discounts and can provide their own labour. We provide the technical skills and supervision to implement the project.

Support for ClientsIn terms of the project development models that we utilise, of course, key and critical to any process is the assessment feasibility stage which includes all of the designs, that projects are designed and located properly. With the whole implementation of projects, there is the aspect of effective operation supervision. We train operators to ensure that the product is sustained and is sustainable. At the end of the day, you don’t give something to someone and a week later it no longer functions. We also develop operations and maintenance manuals to ensure that persons are well guided and are able to carry on the process. There is a commissioning period where the walk thru is done to ensure that everything functions. We also provide post implementation monitoring to ensure that everything is everything as it relates to effective functionality.

The Beneficiaries and PartnershipThis is an investment process and we get contractors involved. It is an income stream and a whole new business for contractors. The SRC benefits as a Government agency. The Government is trying to throw everyone off the budget and this is probably the same in the region based on the austerity measures and all of that. We need to gain and we collect technical supervision fee from the process. It is a win win scenario for our contractors involved and you mentioned the whole aspect of partnership and this is where effective partnerships comes in. Everybody is earning from the process and it is a business and we keep it as a business.

Lessons Learnt In terms of lessons learnt I mentioned when I spoke yesterday about the whole aspect of

how we package the whole biogas thing. Sometimes our European friends do not understand, but biogas connotes poverty in the region, I can tell you that much. So what we do I that we don’t say biogas, we say anaerobic technology and make it sophisticated. How you package the product and I know certainly for Jamaica and for the region as well we are very proud and would like to stay as far as possible from anything that connotes poverty, is critical in terms of getting buy in into the whole implementation process. It must be packaged to suit our cultural norms.

We recognise the need for cost effective and a sustainable approach to waste water management and the whole waste to energy. It benefits us. It is not just about treating water or getting portable water, but it should be linked to the whole aspect of benefits gained in managing the whole process. We need to ensure that everyone is on the same page and are seeing the benefits.

You need solid contractual agreement in the whole process and we see the benefits. At the end of the day, everyone’s roles and responsibilities are clear and everything is a win win and a success.

Regulations that will ensure that standards are enforced. This is critical in that we piggyback as Government agencies on our regulators to say that Client X is polluting because we cannot say waste to energy as they are not regulated against that. So we say


that Client X is discharging untreated waste and we need to put them under pressure. By putting them under pressure, the business will come and the whole aspect of waste to energy comes into play. Having that partnership with the regulators and ensuring that standards are met is a pathway into the whole aspect of waste to energy.

Commitment of the public and private sector. Through the private sector the whole thing can be implemented with the public sector offering their support.

Collaboration with Government, the private sector and waste producers. We should all be on the same pathway, because when we are not on the same pathway you meet and talk, but there is no implementation. I do not see what you are saying and I don’t think that it is necessary and don’t see the benefits and all of that.

You cannot overstress the whole aspect of our public education and public relations programme and training aspect that must be done and be effective to ensure that everybody is on the same wavelength as it relates to waste management and waste to energy”.


Ms. Calma Louis, Environmental Health Officer, Ministry of Health and Environment, Dominica “I have a question for Mr. Simmons. I know that around the region we all do e-waste and at one (1) point we all called it e-waste. I see you have a good programme in the collection of e-waste. My question to you this afternoon is what do you do with the final product? At the end, you may collect something from it which is very important, but the bulk of it would remain in a corner. Do you export it? What do you do with it? We would like to explore the same thing in Dominica as well”.

Mr. Emmanuel Dubois, Landfill Manager, National Solid Waste Management Authority, Antigua and Barbuda“As you rightly said, it’s a major challenge with e-waste. The cost of export the waste is very high and so we have been storing on site. Realising that it was a major problem for us in terms of storage and exporting, the Antigua EWASTE company came on stream. Basically, they utilise all of the e-waste. They specialise in computers and they utilise them as a training ground and utilise the usable parts from televisions and computers for training repair, basically a training centre for a group of students who are being trained on a regular basis. They are even selling salvaged parts from the old equipment. The plastics and non-usable parts are brought back to us. We have seen a major reduction. Prior to the establishment of the EWASTE company we had four (4) forty feet (40’) containers stored on site, now we have less than half of a container stored onsite. It really alleviated the storage problem that we had with electronic waste”.

Mr. Christopher Corbin, Programme Officer, UNEP “It is a bit of a question and a comment to our colleague from Antigua and Barbuda and it relates to the activities that would promote the use of waste water in particular. We currently have a GEF Funded Project the Caribbean Regional Fund for Waste Water Management and we


are doing two (2) pilot activities. One (1) in Antigua and Barbuda and hopefully, one (1) in St. Vincent and the Grenadines to start the process of demystifying waste water reuse and treated waste water reuse. I believe that some of the funds will be supporting the activity in Antigua and Barbuda. It’s a plea that for projects that are already on the ground and funded, it is very useful if country delegates are aware of these, so that they may be able to start the process of doing those smaller interventions and start to gather the lessons learnt from the smaller interventions so that when we go to the larger waste to energy type of projects, we have basis, data and information. From where we stand, we see that some of those opportunities are really not being taken advantage off, probably because persons are not aware. It speaks to the need to share a lot more information among ourselves. Perhaps we look forward to SIDS DOCK and CCREEE playing that kind of role moving forward”.

Mr. Itajah Simmons, Officer, Ministry of Health and Environment, Department of Environment, Antigua and Barbuda “I am quite thankful for that information so I will definitely have a talk with him later on”.

Mr. Ananais Dunley Auguste, General Manager, St. Lucia Solid Waste Management Authority “A contribution, having heard the input from some of the other countries in respect of success stories, I wanted to indicate that St. Lucia has a similar experience with waste oil. We have St. Lucia Distilleries, St. Lucia Clay Products Ltd and St. Lucia Linen Ltd which is really a laundry and they use waste oil for heating. In the case of St. Lucia Linen Ltd, they have a tanker that goes around and collects kitchen oil and waste engine oil from garages and hotels. Part of that is used for heating in the process of the operation of their laundry and part is converted into biodiesel which fuels the truck that does the collection.

On another note in terms of e-waste and I hope that everybody is aware, there is an emerging problem in the Caribbean. I know that the Basel Convention Regional Centre had a meeting a couple of years ago in Trinidad and Tobago where a number of initiatives were unfolding in terms of the benefits of trying to recycle some of the equipment. They also had the input of Hewlett Packard (HP) and Digicel in terms of starting up programmes within territories. I am not sure how far it has gone. I have not seen it in St. Lucia. It involved the collecting of older handsets and getting them out of the system and getting them disposed of finally. What can be recycled they would recycle and what could not be recycled, they would see about their disposal elsewhere. I am not sure how Digicel within the countries or HP within the Caribbean has implemented that. As I said, I am not seeing the impact and not seeing it in St. Lucia as yet”. I think it is probably happening in Trinidad and Tobago already”.

Mr. Girvon Piggot, Energy Focal Point, Ministry of Energy, Antigua and Barbuda “I have a few questions for Julia. Apart from the culture and the way the people view the waste, what are some of the major barriers that you have found with the uptake of these waste to energy plants? What has been the main use of the fuel? What is the typical ROI with the system, since it is a business?”

Ms. Julia Brown, Divisional Manager, Development, Scientific Research Council (SRC), Jamaica


“For the first one, cost is a major deterrent. We are presently working with Rototec to look at plastic based systems because our systems are basically home building materials which are very expensive. We are looking at options for using hard plastics. We always say that our systems will outlive you. The race is on now to see who will live longer when we use building materials. We have tried plastics, because under our research programme we have tried various things. We are a peculiar set of people because we want the thing cheap, but we want it to last forever. At the same time, one (1) of the risks that we are afraid to take is to give you a system that won’t last, because they want warranties that are thirty (30) years. In your contract you have to sign these warranties. We can only guarantee that if we know that we have household building materials. This is where one (1) of the major issues is the cost for implementation, because we are talking about a single household having to pay US fifteen thousand dollars (US $15,000) for the finished product. This is still a lot for a finished household and is one (1) of the major deterrents.

There are persons who would say that they would not use the gas for cooking because the sewage is going to be in the food. This is a major issue again. They will save to give them for lighting and other things, but not for cooking.

The return on investment has to do with the concentration of the waste. The guys in the agro processing sector will see anywhere from three (3) years to five (5) years maximum. The guys with sewage are another story because the sewage is very dilute. What we usually do with sewage especially at the single household level is that we add the kitchen and garden waste to boost the system. We do that so you can get enough gas for all of your cooking needs and possibly refrigeration and so on. You will find that this will bring the return on investment all the way down to the agro guys. It can be very aggressive based on the concentration and the quantity of the waste, concentration mainly because that would determine the conversion of your organics to gas”.

Mr. Victor Phillip, Electronic and Engineering Lecturer, TAMCC, Grenada “As we all know nowadays with the increase in technology we are moving away from the cathode ray tubes (CRT) televisions and everyone is going to the flat screens. Even the institutions are dumping out those CRTs which are working and they want to be in style even if they do not have money. We are having a problem with a backlog of cathode ray tubes Does anyone know of any useful way of using that? I know that shipping it back may be a cost. Is there any innovative way of dealing with that?”


WORKING SESSION II:

“IDENTIFICATION OF THE OBJECTIVES, DESIGN AND COMPONENTS OF THE REGIONAL W2E GEF-PROJECT”

Mr. Martin Lugmayr, Sustainable Energy Expert, Energy Branch-Climate Policy and Networks Unit, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)

“In the beginning the politician gave us a strong message that this shouldn’t be a Conference with just talking, but there should be a concrete outcome. SIDS DOCK, CARICOM Secretariat together with UNIDO and also develop with the other international partners like UNEP and GIZ which are already working in that sector to develop a regional project or programme for waste to energy for the region. Today these working groups will start the consultative project formulation. We thought that concerning financing that we have to look at the low hanging fruit. To date there is still the GEF-6 cycle and it may be a low hanging fruit to develop it as a GEF six (6) project proposal, but we all depend on you as a country if you really have an interest in waste to energy and also putting part of your climate change allocation to that project. We are depending on you whether you have a commitment for that. If the commitment is not there we shouldn’t start such a project.

Objectives of Working Group:Identification of interested countries and whether there is interest to put part of their GEF allocation in such a project and to receive input on what the project can look like. It is a regional project, so we have to identify the added value the regional corporation can bring in. During the discussions, we heard a lot about barriers, but also opportunities in the different countries. There are a lot of barriers that can be addressed more cost effectively if we do it on a regional level. We heard a lot on barriers like knowledge management and data management. They can be done more effectively on the regional level for data, management of that data and the updating of that data. The data is a very important tool to market the Caribbean region as an interesting portal or interesting market for investment, for foreign investors. This is a big challenge and sometimes there is a mismatch between developing projects or project ideas and to get financing for the development and then finally to get the tailored finance which is needed for the implementation of these projects. It’s a big challenge. Knowledge management is also a very important tool to attract investors to show them it is an interesting place to invest.

We heard about capacity development. We heard how much it is happening. We heard the lady from Jamaica who told us what they are already doing in Jamaica on small scale biogas. Am not sure if everyone in the room is aware they were doing these things. So the regional level comes in, knowledge and information exchange, working together on adapted solutions. We heard that one (1) problem is to adapt European approaches and technologies to the local circumstances. This is something where applied research comes in. Several universities could work together, define areas where a regional approach has an added value and address the common barriers.


Another important factor identified is creating economies of scale. This is something we can do through the regional corporation by bundling of several projects together. For example; in Cape Verde they developed a wind project, a very small project and nobody wanted to invest in it because it was so small. They then bundled several wind farms together and then offered it for financing. With reference to the presentation of CDB, they said they do not do projects under two million dollars ($2,000,000), by bundling several projects together you can meet the two million ($2,000,000). This should be a project from the Caribbean for the Caribbean and have local execution, execution through CCREEE and other regional and national partners. We have CCCCC/5Cs that has been working on waste management a lot. It is a win win situation.

CCREEE is a new organisation and it has to prove itself. There were a lot of promises that when CCREEE takes off it would do a lot for the region. The Ministers approved it and it went up to the Prime Ministers and Heads of State. It is located in Barbados. This waste to energy project can already be a concrete thing for the workplan. They can show us over the next months what CCREEE can really do for the countries. It can be a win-win situation.

On the other hand, you will have a partner coordinating this programme. It’s a Caribbean centre with a Caribbean staff, but linked with the international partners. The setting of the agenda and the priority will come from the region and CCREEE will help with the technical capacities. As I remember from the preparatory process of CCREEE, it was a big issue that on the regional level there was not the technical capacity to coordinate these things to make the links and the synergies between different projects, different countries and different donors. Now we have the capacity and we should probably give CCREEE the chance to execute that. For sure that is your decision as the countries.

The program must be much aligned with the activities already on-going. GIZ is already doing a fantastic job here and in the countries it is already happening a lot. The CCREEE would also have the task to closely coordinate and identify the institutions which are already working in the countries and to work with them on those issues because there is long term capacity development in waste to energy and this is what is needed.

Milestones for a Potential GEF WtE Project Identify five (5) countries ready to use part of the GEF allocation for example five

hundred thousand dollars (USD $500,000) to the project. A lot of countries are concerned about regional projects, because they are used for regional things and they may not benefit as much as they had put into it.

Principle of fair share – major parts of the allocations flows back into the countries proportionally into specific demonstration projects.

Smaller part used for regional soft activities for example policy, knowledge management and capacity building. It would be beneficial to all.

Endorsement letters-if there is interest of at least five (5) countries we may be able to get endorsement letters and we could start the preparatory phase. This is usually a six (6) to twelve (12) month process where the final project document is developed.

The working groups today are very crucial. They must be selected very carefully because one (1) of the main tasks is to give their inputs for the development of the project proposal. Today, the working groups are just the beginning.


For the working groups we prepared some questions. We thought it would be easier to give some rough framework for the project and then it would be easier for you to fill in your views.Project objectives can be scaling up organic waste to energy investments and industries in the Caribbean. I put in industries because it is not only important to have projects, but also a longer value chain in energy investments to get the maximum benefit for the country so that the local entrepreneurs are benefitting. Much of this know-how should be in these countries. This project should help to build up this know-how in the countries with the international partners, but in the long term the knowledge base locally has to build up.

We heard from a presentation from a GIZ how important it is not to only do some demonstration projects, but to also have a holistic approach. We heard that there are a lot of barriers why distilleries don’t do projects and there are many reasons. Maybe the payback is too long, maybe they don’t know about the solution and that it is viable to do that, or lack of internal capacity. We heard that one said that they didn’t have the time to research on bioenergy. This is something also that such a project could address to get the utilities together for example with common training.

The Main Components of the Project Technology demonstration and investment and business promotion. Strengthen policy and regulation frameworks and institutional coordination. Strengthen the knowledge base and capacities.

Technology Demonstration and Investment PromotionThere are not many examples in the Caribbean. Usually in Europe they are at the stage of scaling up, but in some of the Caribbean are on the death knells of technology dissemination. The GEF Grant Fund could help to bundle some projects. We have to carefully select these demonstration projects so that we can have all technologies or we can cover different types of projects. At the end of the project we can have a bundle of demonstration projects.

One (1) barrier is the financial barrier so the GEF Fund could somehow co-fund part of the investment or the project development of specific projects. One (1) idea that we have is to make it very consultative. In the project formulation during the reparatory phase in the interested countries we can have a call for proposals for demonstration projects. It is a very demand driven approach. You would already have attention from your counterparts in the countries and you can get some proposals. This could be one (1) thing on how to identify the first bundle of demonstration projects. The projects should also introduce something which stays for a longer time and not only a bundle of demonstration projects. They should also look at financing schemes to work on schemes with the Central Development Bank. We have heard today that there is a consortium of development banks which are working on this issue already and which are interested to work with the Caribbean. There is the need to come up with a financing instrument which is tailored for the various projects.

Knowledge Management and Capacity DevelopmentEstablishment of competence centre at the CCREEE or another organisation. As you know, we are working on a baseline report. This baseline report should not stay as a baseline report, but should feed in to the waste management system for the region. It could be the start of the


knowledge management system for the region, which is then managed by CCREEE or the CCCCC/5Cs. It is your decision.

Awareness raising Campaigns Then there is capacity needs assessment to see which stakeholders need which training and then to come up with innovative methodology on how to train people like train the trainers, working with the universities which can then train the others in the country.

Applied research This is also something that may be important.

Policy and Regulatory Framework There are many possibilities. Very often waste to energy is not even considered in the waste strategy and not considered in the energy strategy. The regional project could help to mainstream this policy component. The working groups will be like the start of a consultative project formulation.

Toolkits We hear a lot that we were not clear which economics such a project would have. I think there was a shift from very expensive at the workshop in the beginning to relatively cost effective today. At least, this is what I heard. There is a lot of knowledge missing about how economic is the project and how cost competitive it will be. So maybe tools like that can be developed or handbooks.

FinancingWe have to look at low hanging fruits and the GEF-6 cycle.

These were just some ideas from my side and now you have to work.

As you know, there is a Centre in the Pacific and a centre in West Africa. They are all working on the same issues. They are also working on waste to energy, so what you are doing here in the Caribbean is also useful for the brothers and the sisters in the Pacific and in Africa”.


Mr. Philip Weech, Director and Chair and SIDS DOCK National Coordinator, Bahamas“In considering the project, is there any discussion on whether or not we can design a project and look at all of these different areas. I guess the coordinator will have a better understanding of how we can do this. Are we looking at a project that looks at all of these areas of waste to energy or are we focusing on any one (1) of them? We would probably have to decide as this is a one (1) man delegation in the groups that we will go into?”

Dr. Al Binger, Energy Science Advisor, Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC/SIDS DOCK), SIDS DOCK Coordinator“The working premise that we have is that these are the four (4) areas where we think that they are substantial opportunities so we won’t make any cuts yet and we will continue to carry all four


(4) forward. If at the end when we draft the proposal that there is some consensus that we probably should focus on one (1) or two areas (2) then we will do it. My understanding and the kind of response I am getting is that these are four (4) areas and are all applicable. Some countries may not want to do all four (4). Some may decide that they want to focus on one (1) or two (2). The chances are that people will pick different kinds of combinations so we will carry all four (4) forward and later on if there is a kind of decision to be made in terms of how much weight and how we allocate the resources, we will do that in consultation with all of the member states representatives”.

Mr. Philip Weech, Director and Chair and SIDS DOCK National Coordinator, Bahamas“I assume that in any project design there will be some commonalities like capacity building, training and administration. Those things we will need not to consider in the discussion”.

Dr. Al Binger, Energy Science Advisor, Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC/SIDS DOCK), SIDS DOCK Coordinator“Those that Martin put on the board are core elements that we have to include in the project regardless if we pick one (1), two (3), three (3) or all four (4) categories of waste to energy”.


PRESENTATIONS FROM THE WORKING GROUPS

Group 1: Liquid Effluents

Facilitator and Presenter: Mrs. Neranda Maurice George, GEF Focal Point Representative, St. Lucia

“We looked at value added. We said that the project we would develop would demonstrate the success of waste to energy projects and should help simplify them going forward. There was a need to accelerate the learning curve. A regional project would help to address scope and volume in the applications.

Results:1. The removal of barriers previously identified. For example, identifying feasible models.2. Regulatory environment. Development of model regulation.3. Upscaling of current pilot projects or broaden scope.4. Improved water quality.5. Improve technical capacity and knowledge sharing.6. Linkages with carbon market.

Benefits:1. Positively influence attitudes and practices to waste to energy.2. Improvement in the health of our ecosystems. They are more vulnerable than we are to

effluent discharges.3. Improved water quality.4. Bundling a number of application to use the carbon markets going forward.

Addressing Financial and Investment Barriers:1. Access to resources for the private sector. We looked at a mixed portfolio like equity and

concessional loans.2. Developing capacities to prepare bankable projects for private sector.3. Developing templates to simplify application processes. – Incorporate tools to de-risk

some of the projects

Activities to create enabling environment for local business1. Consultation with private sector.2. Permits.3. Capacity building.

Activities to strengthen national policy incentives and regulatory framework:


1. Develop protocols and strengthen existing standards- in relation to land based sources of marine pollution.

2. Work with regional education institutions.

Group 2: Solid Waste: Municipal and Non Municipal

Facilitator: Ms. Calma Louis, Environmental Health Officer, Ministry of Health and Environment, Dominica

Expected regional added value of a GEF W2E Project:1. Characterization studies of waste and for optimal use of lands2. Financial funds benefits to the regional economy3. Benefits to the regional economy4. Decrease conventional fossil fuels

Priority activities to develop local business:1. Provide enabling environments and business opportunities.2. Technical assistance when needed: Train network3. Regional agreements to support legal frameworks. That will be the focal point to achieve

things on waste to energy.

WtE Knowledge and Data Management:1. Achieve different level of training.2. Create a regional network to share national statistics. It should be often updated for new

ideas and correction of issues.3. Creation of a training hub with the inclusion of universities, CCREEE, private and public

institutions.

WtE Gender Equality Aspects:1. Incentive proper facilities at the workplace.2. Identification of business opportunities for women.3. Active outreach to women groups.4. Deliver training”.

Group 3: Organic Residues: large Farms and Food Processors

Facilitator: Mr. Fitzroy James, GEF Focal Point, Grenada

“Added value to a waste to energy report:1. Knowledge management, information sharing and capacity building.2. Pooling of finances to finance local project.3. Advance use of biogas and others.


4. Project management and coordination. We are weak in this area in the region. This can assist the countries in adding value.

Regional priority activities to mitigate financial and investment barriers:1. Collective bundled financing.2. Establishment of a harmonised regional regulatory framework. Some of the countries are

not properly regulated. Some individual financers may be willing to know that the institutions are well regulated and what they will get out of it.

3. Project design and mitigation (A programme approach to financing).

Identified three (3) pilot projects in the advance stage: Possible ones in:

1. Guyana2. Jamaica 3. Belize

There is need for assistance in project design. There is need for more research in waste to energy management.

Suggest three (3) regional priority activities to create an enabling environment:1. Regional waste resource assessment (Grenada, GIZ) to determine the owner, volume and

type.2. Extension of the assessment to Belize and Guyana.

Three (3) regional priority activities to strengthen national policy:1. Estimate regional waste (NAMAS) - National Adaptation and Mitigation Action

Strategy.2. Broadening the scope of existing regional regulatory framework to include waste to

energy.

Three (3) regional activities from the data:1. Regional initiative to harmonise data collections2. Awareness raising programme3. Utilise and enhancing platforms that already exist to make people aware of what is

happening”.

Group 4: Organic Residues: Small Scale OperatorsVersion#:5 | Revision#:9 | Draft: 6/24/2016 212

Facilitator and Presenter: His Excellency Mr. Brian Challenger, Ministry of Tourism, Economic Development, Investment and Energy, Antigua and Barbuda

Added benefits from what could a regional project do to support national activities:1. Harmonisation of standards. Regional blueprint.2. Regional training mechanism.3. Financing mechanism.4. Economies of scale. You will be able to borrow at lower interest rates. Be able to attract

large financing institutions.5. Technical support through a regional centre so that every island would not need to have

its own expert but could draw from the centre.6. Information-an assessment of biodigesters available throughout the region.7. Provide a possible business model which could move the businesses to a viable state.

Efforts to mitigate the financial and investment barriers:1. We cannot get banks to change their laws-business plan, payback period, cash flow and

collateral. Assistance that could be provided would be to help the small business man to develop a bankable business plan. Collateral is required to show to the financial institution. There is need to move outside of the formal collateral needs.

2. The formation of cooperatives to help overcome the financial barriers.

Regional Pilot Projects:1. CaribShare Biogas, Jamaica. The criteria called for projects that could benefit from GEF

support.2. Biogas Digestives Initiative-Sustainable energy from concept, St. Lucia3. Themba Biofuels, Antigua4. Wood waste Project, Guyana.

Activities Directed to Create and Enabling Environment:1. Creating a market for the manufacture/construction and operation of biogas digesters.

That market does not really exist. It would make it more commercially viable and attractive.

2. Develop regional companies to produce components of biogas digesters.3. Regulatory framework- Power purchase agreements.4. Training specialists and technicians in the area of waste to energy. This need is a real one

particularly in some of the smaller territories.Mainstreaming Gender into Waste to Energy


1. Biodigesters managed by women worked best. In the Caribbean gender equity and equality is a complex questioned.

2. The critical factor was to ensure mentoring of all stakeholders by successful business persons.

3. Design projects that are equal opportunity projects. Not focused on any one group but sought to empower all marginalised groups recognised the challenges faced by women as home makers and business people combined.


DAY 4 – SATURDAY, 23 JANUARY

SESSION V: CLOSING THE GAPS

His Excellency Dr. Vince Henderson, LP.D, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Commonwealth of Dominica to the United Nations and SIDS DOCK President, Conference Chair

Today is the final day of our Expo and conference. We will use this morning's session to focus on closing the gaps. It has been a great learning experience. An opportunity to listen to various views and perspectives, suggestions and recommendations as to how we can move forward with our agenda of converting waste to energy within the Caribbean. We are from different Islands but from one Caribbean. Circumstances vary, there are peculiarities in some communities that differ from others but there are a lot of common threads that link us as a people and this provides a platform for launching solutions that could benefit all of us. A representative from CARILEC will lend their own perspective on how they see partnerships taking place between governments and the private sector but specifically with utilities and governments and other players. I look forward to the recommendations coming out of this session because these recommendations will drive what we do on the ground (projects) there are a number of you already actively engaged in real solutions and already implementing them, as well as ideas that have been generated so far, and the eagerness to come up with real solutions. The focus is not on technology transfer but technology deployment. It is time that small island states focus more in deploying technology in the islands rather than expecting technology transfers. The technology is always available, the real challenge for us is how to develop the best projects. It is not the lack of capacity - a term I don’t like to use because we should focus on deploying the best technologies and designing the best strategies and the best projects. How do you design projects so that they become viable, we have to also look at the financial aspect of them as well, but using the best skills to deploy the best technologies? That is what our focus must shift to. We are creating the platforms in the region with our institutions to ensure that we can train our young people and experts and give them the opportunity to hone their skills and to become experts in the field. 5Cs created opportunities for young scientists in the region do that the older scientists can retire. We have the opportunity to learn from these scientists who are housed in the 5Cs and have taken a lot of young scientists under their tutelage, ensuring that they can learn some of the skills that they have to offer, for example, Dr. Binger, Dr. Leslie, and the rest that have been working in the region for decades. They have a lot of experience from outside of the region and have brought a lot of that experience home and are now sharing with our young scientists creating a [new] generation of experts. Recently as we have established SIDS DOCK and more relevant to our region we established the CCREEE (The Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency). It will also serve as a platform for bringing together skills within the region. This has been a learning experience because listening to the experts, people who are making accomplishments in their field, clearly supports my point that I have


been making for a long time that we have skills in the region, tremendous talent, people who have trained in some of the best schools in the world and are prepared to help develop out region but we must give them the opportunity.

Meetings like this help to exchange ideas and to recognize the potential that we have within ourselves and among ourselves as Caribbean people. So while we benefit from people with tremendous experience like Tomas from the GIZ who has been in the region for more than a decade, and has brought a lot of young people [into the field] and worked with them to ensure that he could transfer some of his knowledge to them and give them the exposure and the experience, we have to create our own regional institutions to help us to train more of our people. My point is if you don’t have a problem you don’t need a solution. Also, you don’t need to train rocket scientists if you do not need astronauts. Why do we need to train anyone to be an expert in geothermal energy when you did not need one? So I think it is the same concept of not beating ourselves about the head too much. As we now recognize and accept that we have some problems for which we need solutions we must now ensure that we have the skills to solve those problems.

Hence the need for creating the platforms like CCREEE. So when our friends from the Swedish Energy Agency brings us expertise it is an opportunity for us to learn from that expertise. If it can be at a central location where all of our members can learn from that, it is an excellent opportunity, which is the platform I am talking about. We must believe in ourselves as Caribbean people that we collectively can come up with some of the best solutions for our Caribbean. We need to give our young professionals the confidence that they need to know that they can be world class. There is no better way to do that than to put then in the right position, with people who know what they are doing. I am encouraged by the quality of skills I have seen in this room and elsewhere in the region. I am encouraged by the genuine partners who have come forward to participate in helping us to build the skills that we need in our region and we will be forever grateful to those that have come forward like the GIZ, at the time when this was not a very popular thing to do, renewable energy was not a very popular topic of discussion in most of our islands when GIZ started with CARICOM, [CREDEP] and now REETA and other programs. So let us work closely with our partners. Let us embrace UNIDO as a new partnership that we have forged. Let us embrace the Swedish Energy Agency and thank Marie and her colleagues for the assistance that they have given us so far and we look forward to strengthening that partnership and expanding it. Some new partners are now willing to come on board, new partners WIPO, we will invite you to become part of that partnership with SIDS DOCK and the CCREEE. So we want to expand our circle of friends as long as they are willing to work with us in a manner that we find respectful and that demonstrates durable and genuine partnership.

Finally, I still believe that in our Caribbean region our governments must see our utilities as partners in transforming to a more sustainable energy system within our region. Sometimes we have to drag them along, but we must bring them to the table in order to find solutions. We have to minimize the competition and sometimes what seems to be very unpleasant relationships between who should really be partners. Devon taught me something when he spoke of government to government partnerships, which was a very interesting concept. Departments of government need to start talking to each other. You need to work to create partnerships between the waste management side and the energy side which is a new challenge for us. How do we create a partnership within the government system? Statuary corporations partnering with one


another, how do we get that to work? So that now adds to the complexities because we also have been struggling with private partnerships. The utilities have a central role to play but not in every aspect. There are different solutions that can be used like transport. But we need to have them [utilities] in order to solve the bigger problems of sustainable energy. And if we continue to fight amongst ourselves, we will not find the best solutions. Government must not pock the technology; the technology must be driven by the science. It must be driven by what is he best fit and therefore government must step back and allow as in be an enabler, to allow this to happen but without picking or choosing but allowing the science to drive us and get the private sector to play their role in bringing in the technology. Don’t favor one over the other but give them the fair opportunity to show which one would give us the best solution.

So I took the opportunity this morning to give my parting words and closing remarks. It was a long program but a good decision because it was a great opportunity for us to share. I am looking forward to your recommendations and please continue with your diligence demonstrated over the past few days, because these are real recommendations from which we will be doing real things and will eventually affect the lives of real people, so they are important and we look forward to your contributions so that we can help build a better and stronger Caribbean to improve the lives of our people. So thank you very much and I will call it a day!


SESSION VII:

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CLIMATE, OCEANS AND WASTE – THE FUTURE OF SMALL ISLANDS

Dr. Al Binger, CCCCC/SIDS DOCK

For the Final Segment of the Expo and Conference: yesterday afternoon we heard the reports from the colleagues in the working groups. Those areas will become the components of the regional program. So now we have defined four components. First these will be further defined in terms of the activities that will be in those components. Second, there will be a fifth component which will be the all activities towards the creation of the enabling environment. The regulatory, the training, the information, the knowledge management. We will then have a regional program that will have five integrated but distinct components. Countries will have the option to decide how many of those components they wish to participate in based on national situations and national priorities. With that in mind I am going to start the program with the presentation from Tom. He gave us a little teaser, he will finish that part, so you have a mental construct, a very clear picture of what is happening in the marine environment and the anticipated consequences if we don’t fix it. We will then, based on all the presentations, I don’t think there is a need to do the presentation on the current pipeline simply because this presentation was intended to show what are the projects that are under consideration. But based on the presentation we already have the full gambit of projects so I don't see any need and besides we will put all those project ideas on the website with the rest of the information so you can look at that at your own pace.

After Tom is finished with his presentation we will ask Manuel to make his presentation on the Gaps. A lot of these gaps are going to be related to the specific components that we have to do, so whether we are doing distilleries or we are doing small scale we will have information gaps that we will need to fill in order to prepare the proposal. So that will be a big part of the presentation from Manuel, we will go into working groups and we will begin to address the kinds of gaps that Manuel will tell us need to be addressed in order to have the information to develop the project / the full program. Once Manuel has finished with his presentation we will have some discussion make sure that we all understand and it is clear and then we will go to the working groups. The working groups will work up to 12:00pm and then we will come back, have the reports, have a longer period of discussion. One of the things I observed is that we haven't had enough time in the reports from the working groups to get more discussion about the interaction between the working groups and the issues that emerge. There are issues that crosscut and we would like to know what those issues are and how you see them and how we can address them in a comprehensive manner. Once the working groups are finished we will break for lunch and then return to have some time at the Expo. I am hoping that our colleagues from the expo will be available in the afternoon because we anticipate significant traffic coming in as well as colleagues who want to have further discussion about the projects and that after lunch period is also the time set aside to do 'matchmaking'. If you have a particular project in mind and you want to look at a particular technology, this is your time to get an in depth one on one with some of our technology providers to see how you can advance your project idea. We very much look


forward to the participation of our technology providers in the development of the regional program, and we hope that you will be able to participate. We won’t ask you to do a lot of work at the front end but we will be asking you to provide input as a document is developed and as we get ready for the submission.

Presentation: Dr. Tom Goreau, President, Global Coral Reef Alliance, USA: Relationships between Climate, Oceans and Waste – The Future of Small Islands

Yesterday, what I argued was that inappropriate waste management [was killing our coral reefs]. This is for two reasons. One is the nutrients, the nitrogen and the phosphorous. We need complete biological tertiary treatment of sewage effluent to prevent those nutrients going into the water, so the issue of nitrogen and phosphorous is at least as important as the carbon that we are trying to recycle. So we need to recycle those nutrients on land as well because here in the Caribbean is the region worst affected because we have high population density and the islands are close together. So this is happening worldwide along all inhabited coastlines because of our inappropriate waste management. And that is going through the liquid pollution phase. Now what I want to focus on today is how inappropriate energy management is having and even worse effect on coral reefs through the greenhouse gas effect and CO2. And so that’s where waste to energy is going to help us both through gaseous pollution and with liquid pollution. I want to argue that the situation is far worse than people realize. Coral reefs are the most temperature sensitive of all eco systems and we are already at the temperature threshold. We can’t take any more warming, we have lost most of the coral worldwide in the last 25 years to high temperatures, quite apart from the effects of pollution and diseases which are also caused by inappropriate waste management. So it is a very serious matter and there is very little time. Two degrees is a death sentence for coral reefs. What was agreed to in Paris is going to guarantee that we lose most of the remaining reefs and we are going to lose many this year because of the El Niño. We are very close to the end for most coral reef ecosystems unless we control CO2 and recycle that appropriately.

I was the person who worked out the temperature limit (Pointing to presentation) Coral reefs are already being affect by 1 degree of warming and by 2 degrees they will be gone. First ecosystem to go. So, 60% of the global economic losses from loss of ecosystem function, worldwide in the last twenty years have been from loss of coral reefs. Of all global economic losses in the entire world due to loss of ecosystem services have happened in less than one tenth of one percent of the ocean area. So that means that the coral reef countries are paying, have already an economic price of loss of ecosystem services, more than 600x the global average. We are paying a heavy price. We are losing our beaches, our fisheries, our biodiversity, our tourism. It is a very serious matter.

So, 2 degrees is not safe at all. In Jamaica we happen to have the fossil sea level from the last time temperatures worldwide were 2 degrees Celsius above normal. See it here (pointing to presentation) this is the ancient sea level, 120 to 130 thousand years ago, the last time global temperature was two degrees warmer, (pointing to presentation) you can see that the sea level then was about 7 or 8 meters above today's sea level. And at that time the coral reefs were all


killed in the equatorial areas by high temperatures and there were hippopotamuses and crocodiles in London England.

At 2 degrees warming you lose reefs and flood everywhere that is less than 8 meters above sea level, all low lying islands. And at that time the CO2 was only 270ppm. We are now at 400ppm. So for [400 hundred degrees] the equilibrium sea level and the equilibrium can be equal. This can be determined from …here is the other thing, I'll come back to this. It takes 1600 years for the deep sea to warm up. The deep sea holds about 95% of the heat in the system. The deep sea has been chilled to refrigerator temperature, just above freezing by the ice caps during the ice ages.

So, there is a built in temperature lag of 1600 years after we put CO2 in the atmosphere. We will not feel the full effect until the deep ocean warms up. People don’t realize with the IPCC projection; they miss the long term response entirely. Their time horizons are too short, they are political time horizons not scientific ones. So there is a built in time lag that no one has brought into consideration, billions of people will lose their land. Now if we take a look at the long term, the last one million years of global temperature records, CO2vsTemperature and temperature vs sea level. At the current CO2 level at 400ppm, the equilibrium temperature is about 17C above today's level and the equilibrium sea level is about 23m/75ft above today's level, that is at 400ppm. It takes 1600 years or more to reach that point. That is where we are headed for with today's CO2 level. It is far worse than the governments recognize. The excess CO2 that we put in through fossil fuel emissions will remain in the atmosphere for thousands of years. The temperature effects will continue for thousands of years. This is a one-thousand-year projection (reference presentation). You can see that the end of a thousand years, CO2 is still high, temperatures are still high, and sea level is still increasing. It is much more serious than people recognize.

The answer lies in rebalancing the CO2 Cycle, the global carbon cycle to take the CO2 out. What we have done is we have obsessed, present countries only have to count for anthropogenic inputs which is only a tiny portion of the global carbon cycle. The key thing is that we have destroyed almost half of the biomass, forest, trees whales, sharks, big fish, have all been turned into CO2 in the atmosphere. All the lands that have been deforested, we have lost about half of the carbon in the soil. Soils hold about five times more carbon than the atmosphere or the biosphere. A mismanagement of natural resources along with a mismanagement of energy have caused this imbalance. However, it is easily rectified. What we need to do is take the carbon and recycle it through the biota, and store it in the soil. If we increase the amount of Carbon in the soil only a few percent, we can store the excess CO2. We have the technology to do that. It means growing plants and pyrolysing the carbon into a form, producing biomass energy. It is carbon negative because it produces a form of biochar that gets buried in the ground and for every watt of energy you produce you are drawing down CO2.

The technology exists to do that, by appropriate waste and energy management. We can recycle waste vegetation and invasive plants that are taking over our ecosystem. We can turn that into soil carbon and the problem is easily solved. But governments aren’t doing that because on December 01 the French proposed including soil carbon in the framework convention on climate change, which I had originally proposed in the 80's at the UN. On December 10 the French dropped their proposal in the least common denominator agreement that they came up with that


has no road map or way to get there. The protocols of that treaty have to be rewritten in a way that causes appropriate CO2 management to solve the problem, right now it does not do that because it focusses purely on accounting for fossil fuel emissions and deforestation, not for the other 99% of the carbon cycle.

We cannot solve the CO2 problem in the ocean, because the ocean does not store carbon. Plants that grow in the ocean suck up CO2, then die and release it. The only way to get them to hold on to the carbon is to turn the ocean into a dead zone, which is not what we want, killing off all life in the sea, it wouldn’t store carbon. The appropriate way to do that for sustainable land management and increased productivity so that we can make more biomass energy from in, what we call the down to earth solution to climate change. Take the CO2 from where it is doing the most damage and put it where it will do the most good through biological recycling. That will be intuitively obvious to all of you who are involved in integrated waste management.

Red (pointing to presentation) is a dangerous excess of CO2 that we have to remove by putting in the vegetation and storing in the soil. Again the technology exists to do that and we are not using them at all. (referring to presentation) If we take a look at the global carbon cycle, with a mass belt of all the sources and sinks, it is a complicated figure to understand, but basically all the CO2 in the atmosphere, cycles through photosynthesis every 6 years. We only need to capture a small bit of that carbon and store it in the soil in order to rebalance the carbon cycle in a positive way. And so, we can't do in the ocean because we can’t control the fluxes of CO2 in and out of the ocean, we don't control that, the land is where we can do it so that is where we need to focus.

I have written a couple of books on soil fertility restoration, carbon sequestration, a 600-page book and we put out another book on marine ecosystem restoration. What I want to focus on now is the following. Besides appropriate waste management and energy management, we have to restore our ecosystems. We cannot balance CO2 if we don’t restore what we have destroyed, the forests, the coral reefs etc., because they are the ones that are holding the carbon, and in particular, more than any other ecosystem, it is mangroves, sea grass and salt marshes that are the most dense carbon sinks. They produce peat that is about half organic matter. We are destroying mangroves, sea grass and salt marshes, but again, we have to grow them back and if we don’t grow them back we can’t store the carbon. Restoration is missing from the climate change agenda and it needs to be central to it.

These (Pointing to presentation) are the richest soils in the world, these are 'terra preta soils' from Brazil in the Amazon. I did a lot of work there in the '80s in the Amazon, and these soils were made by the Indians in the ancient times. The made charcoal and they put it into the ground. They are the richest soils in the world, they are 10-40% carbon. The Carbon holds the water and the nutrients and makes the soil much more fertile if you manage it properly. These are some of the richest soils in the world that were built on top of some of the worst soils in the world. The Indians developed it in the Amazon maybe 5 or 10 thousand years ago, the knowledge was lost due to genocide from European diseases until we learned it. In the old days their charcoal making was very inefficient because they could not capture the energy. It was inefficient in terms of carbon and in terms of the heat. Now with modern technology we can make biochar, trap the heat, trap the liquids, trap the soil. That's the way we have to go if we want to solve the global


CO2 problem in a very big way but it has to be integrated into agriculture, restoring the fertility of soil and forests and restoring the degraded ecosystems at the same time.

This (Pointing to presentation) is an example in Rio de Janeiro. These forests were completely cut down for coffee in the 1700's, all the soil washed away. When the soil washed away, the springs dried up, the rivers dried up and in the dry season there was no water in Rio de Janeiro and people had to go by boat hundreds of miles to find a river so that they could get some water, they had to abandon the city for months. So what they did, they knew that they had caused the problem themselves, what did is, the city hired slaves to climb up to the last remaining forests in the mountain peaks to transplant seedlings and this whole forest you see above Rio de Janeiro is an artificial manmade forest, made more than 150 years ago, in the early 1800's. When they planted the forests back, the springs and rivers came back, and that is still the source of water to Rio de Janeiro.

So we know how to restore large scale ecosystems, we have known how to do it for a long time, it’s just that we have mostly been doing the opposite. And of course, when we restore the forests, we restore the hydrology, we restore the ground water supplies because it retains the water in the system. We also cool the temperature down, because the transpiration of the trees cools the surface of the ground. These are measurements of temperature that I made in undisturbed Amazonian rain forest (pointing to presentation) and the clear cuts right next door. In the clear cuts it got about 10degrees hotter during the day because it lacked the cooling effect of the trees. If we plant the trees back, we cool the earth’s surface. Because they are sucking water out of the ground and that’s evaporating it is transporting heat up from the surface into the atmosphere, speeding up atmospheric circulation and helping cause more rain. There are many benefits to this kind of restoration that we have to do. We need to take what was originally a stable carbon cycle, that we have perturbed, running the soil down, removing the carbon and rebalance it by increasing the carbon in the soil. Through that we can solve our CO2 problem and I believe out energy problems as well. Almost all soils in the world are severely degraded wo we need to restore them.

I want to show you know what we do to restore coral reefs. I am an inventor of a method that we first used in Jamaica back in the 1980's where we grow limestone rock out of the sea using low voltage direct current electricity. [Points to presentation] These are limestone rocks growing out of the ocean on top of steel bars, that you can see here [on the slide] two years of growth around a steel bar this size. That is rock that is three times harder than concrete that we can grow in any size or shape in the ocean. It grows stronger with age unlike any other building material. It is natural limestone rock that many of our islands are made from. It doesn't happen naturally but we grow it in any size or shape. It is self-repairing. This is lime stone that we are growing on steel [presentation] this structure has been in the water for 12 years. The electricity prevents any rusting. 12 years in the ocean with no rusting. [presentation] That was smashed into by a bat that broke off the limestone and it grew right back. It is self-repairing., the damaged areas heal first, it is a remarkable material. So we can grow break waters. When we grow structures like this on beaches that have eroded, when we grow the beach back naturally. We restore the fish and the coral reefs.

[Presentation] Let me show you that very quickly, this is an area in Indonesia, where I do most of my work. When we began all the corals were dead. [Presentation] You can see no live coral


there. This is the same area 10 years later. An electrical field causes a great increase in settlement, it speeds up the growth and increases the survival and increases the resistance to temperature stress. This is a four-year-old reef in the Indonesian area where there were no fish and no corals. You can do that in any place. We began it in Jamaica. Now we don’t have any projects in Jamaica but we have about 400 projects all over the world, in a bout 40 countries but most of them are in Indonesia where people have really taken to it. We have restored the entire fisheries [industry] of this village because the fish had gone. We have created a habitat for the fish. Marine protected areas don’t create habitat[s], they protect dead areas for the most part. If you don’t restore the habitat the fish won’t come back. But we have the methods to do that and we have built up huge fish populations in a few years in this place. We can do that essentially anywhere. We have greatly increased the settlement of corals, the growth rate, the survival, we speed up their natural mechanism to make biochemical energy.

Here [Presentation] is an example from the Maldives. We built a reef in front of a beach that had washed away. In 2 to 3 years we grew a 50ft wide beach. When we began that building in the background was collapsing into the sea and they said there was no way they could save it. We grew the beach back by simply growing a coral reef right in front of that area. And that coral reef that we grew at this location had 1600 to 5000% higher coral survival in high temperatures, severe bleaching in 1998 in the Maldives. Our reefs remained alive when 99% of the corals around them died from heat shock. Because we had the only live corals that were left, all fish came to them. It was the only place in the Maldives left where you could see any corals or fish. [Presentation] Here you see coral reef we grew and that's the new beach. When we began that beach was completely gone. Again, you can’t do that with a rock wall. When you build a rock wall or sea wall you increase the erosion in front, and you increase the undermining until the wall collapses and has to be rebuilt again and again. Sea walls simply don’t work, the accelerate erosion. Our methods prevent erosion because we simply slow down the waves off shore and when the waves reach the shore they deposit sand instead of washing it away. Very simple. [Presentation] That’s our reef after 15 years, it built up the sand, there was no sand there when we began. And that's our new beach.

Now these methods can be used. We used solar panels, we used wind mills, we used tidal current generators, but the real thing we want to work on is wave energy generators because a solar panel only makes about a 100W per square meter. One of these devices here…this is simply a very simple float, more to the bottom, with a permanent magna generator built into the hinge. Every time it goes up and down it makes a burst of electricity. Depending on the generator you put in you can make up to 10KW per square meter of energy. An island like Cuba which only has the lowest wave energy in the Caribbean because it is the most protected could make all the energy they need using only about 1% of their wave energy. So this technology will be on the market this year. We have been working on prototypes of this for several years trying to grow back beaches and reefs. We believe that is going to open up many possibilities for marine energy. It is going to make all countries with coastal areas energy rich in effect once this technology is cost effective. We are not there but we hope to be. [Presentation] This shows the power output as a function of wave height.

These electrical methods don’t only work for coral reefs, they work for mangroves, sea grasses and salt marshes. We can greatly increase their growth as well. In fact, [presentation] here is a salt marsh growing in a severely polluted site in New York city. This is a super fun [?] site, it is


one of the worse polluted sites in the US. [Presentation] Here we are using a solar panel in the background to grow salt marsh in a severely polluted area where it could not grow normally. We can extend the salt marshes seaward and extend the land seaward now all these ecosystems are [?]. The little trickle charge from that solar panel provides the plants the energy to grow under conditions they would not normally grow under. It is quite remarkable. [Presentation] Here is an example of sea grass we are growing in Italy in the Mediterranean on bare rock where sea grass could not normally grow. We have a little wire mesh under it powered by solar panels - we can put under conditions where they can’t grow, it is quite amazing. [Presentation] This is an example, a small project in the Bahamas. We are growing sea grass, and creating fish habitat, a tiny little project. We can bring these habitats back and we also make then carbon sinks again. So what we need is something…we call this concept 'geo-therapy' we believe that without restoring the natural capacity of the earths biological systems to regulate our fundamental life support systems, the quality of our air, our climate, our water supplies, productivity of the land and the productivity of the ocean. We have to basically restore the natural biochemical mechanisms, bio geo chemical mechanisms, to maintain our habitats that we have been destroying. We know how to do it. That's where the future lies, with restoration, recycling, both natural ecosystems and waste to energy. Thanks!

Dr. Al Binger, CCCCC/SIDS DOCKThanks Tom. Wonderful information. Somebody asked of the Grenadians if Grande Anse [Bay] is 25% of your GDP, and [if] you lose it what happens to the Grenadian economy. Well now you know that there are options [for] how we can protect a lot of our beaches from erosion by doing very practical sensible things. There is a great example in our Caribbean history. It is said that when Cortez was given instructions from Spain to conquer Mexico and he sailed into the Yucatan he sent his troops ahead and then he set fire to all the boats. The troops saw the fire and the came back and said "Chief why are you burning tall of the boats?" He said "I am burning the boats because lack of options clarifies the mind. You guys must have one thing on your mind which is capturing Mexico City". We don’t have anything. We did not burn our boats but our boats have been burnt and we have no options except to fix our situation. None. And I think that what Tom has presented clearly shows that we have means and ways to fix our situation. And of course, it starts with our regional project, but before I ask Manuel to make his presentation on the gaps and provide the background concepts for the working groups I would open the floor to see if there are any questions for Tom or any things that you want clear. So, the floor is open for a couple of minutes.

Chris Corbin, UNEPThank you very much Tom, thanks for and excellent presentation. I just wanted to add to what you’ve said in terms of the CO2 impacts and making that link again to climate change is the impact of ocean acidification, and that is something that is becoming a really significant regional concern. I know the OECS through its own ocean governance program is highlighting that as a very key issue. It is just one added fact that we build into the justification and the baseline and everything else as to why we really need to look at very urgent interventions as far as protecting our coastal and marine resources. I also want to highlight that there (in fact) are several efforts. There not there yet as Tom has said, we need to expand, enhance, upscale, replicate but I also want to encourage us that there are things going on through many projects in the region and really what we need to do is, using the terminology, lets main stream them upscale them,


enhance them build on them, because I think a lot of them are not aware that a lot of these are taking place on the ground. I just wanted to make that intervention. Thank you.

Dr. Al Binger, CCCCC/SIDS DOCKOur colleague from Trinidad and Tobago.

Hayden Romano, Trinidad and TobagoTom I just wondered Why do you think we always seem to go to the hard engineering solutions, and never even seem to consider…why do you think we lean towards the hard engineering solutions, the coastal protection solutions, rather than what you are suggesting, which is a softer solution and a solution that seems to be working.

Tom GoreauI think we are in a situation now where we know we have a climate crisis, we know we have to do something, it is much more urgent than people, even the scientific community realizes, because of this false short political time horizon that they were given. It is a devastating logical error, really. The result is we have a climate change treaty which has no mechanism to reduce CO2 to safe levels in any fixed time scale. It is encouraged as a voluntary activity. If you want to put carbon and do things yourself and pay for it yourself, you can do it but the fact is the rich countries don’t want any carbon accounting. The did not want soils in there because they did not want to have any kind of carbon price. The political 'third rail' of American politics. The US government will not support any kind of carbon price or carbon market. That is why think why the soils proposal the French put was dropped. The protocols have not been written. The UNFCC is just a vague wish list with no roadmap, no direction or no solution offered. It is up to countries to do the right thing voluntarily. That is all we can do at this point. And push at the international level for the protocols for UNFCC to be an effective roadmap to a solution. With the original UNFCC which was passed in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, it took five years for them to write the protocols, in Kyoto which were a disastrous failure. And so it will be several years of negotiation before we know what this treaty is going to mean. I think meanwhile, countries should do the right thing voluntarily and push the rest of the international community forward and that is why I've felt for 25 years that the small island states should be the moral leaders in this issue proposing solutions. Unfortunately, we have not been willing to do so.

Dr. Al Binger, CCCCC/SIDS DOCKColleague, what he was saying is, rather than doing bio rock, what we do is we go out and we do engineering based solutions, [like] tetra pots, $4000 per meter to protect a coastline using tetra pots. When you were in Maldives, Mali the capital has the tetra pots, very expensive. So his question is, why is it the natural inclination to go to the hard engineering solutions rather than take the more scientific based natural recovery that we can catalyze. And I think some of that is just in the politics of it. It is a lot more visible. There is a lot more money involved. And its maybe in some instances it is a lot quicker to show that you have done something about the problem, rather than actually going back and solving the problem from the initial roots using nature itself to heal itself. I never understand how politicians make decisions. You missed Ambassador Henderson, he probably could help you with that. I don’t know if we have anybody who wants to make a response as to how politicians think - Ricki is going to help us.

Ricardo Ward, Barbados


Well certainly I am not going to respond to the latter comment. I think it is a matter of what is promoted to us and lack of information. Certainly my own personal experience being here, this presentation was very eye opening. I know that we have been challenged in Barbados for quite some time with the deterioration of our reefs and the coastal management unit has been trying all kinds of things both on the soft side, but the more significant response as we all know is the hard side with the engineering solutions. We have been trying some transplantation and so on but the approach that I heard about today, given its rapidity, given its capacity to offer relatively quick solutions and seemingly permanent solutions it is new to me. I have never heard it; I would hazard a guess that most of the politicians in Barbados have never heard about it. So there are two things that I would take away from this and certainly in going back to try and be a champion for this experience is that we really need to deal with our sewage. That is our primary interest coming here.

We have a significant challenge on the west coast of Barbados where most of the corals are as Tom reminded me and a lot of the reefs around Barbados have died and largely because of the inherited practice of disposing waste water into the coastal environment. We have that issue; we have on the cards for quite some time the west coast sewage project that can’t really seem to get off the ground because of the logistical challenges of how we are going to implement it. But it still promotes the very same thing, collect sewage, put it through some primary or at the most tertiary treatment and then try hopefully to overcome the barrier, the concept that we can reuse waste water and that it would be acceptable to the public. So that has been on the cards for ages. So in promoting that I can go back and try and promote some of the systems that we talked about in terms of alternatives for sewage treatment but also to encourage the development on a small scale perhaps in the initial stages, to invite Tom of someone who is fully versed in these methods that you mentioned to try and do something in a very constructive way to address the issue. But one of the things I would like to ask him is how….it seems to me that you would have to do both things together. Because if you try to implement these methodologies in an environment that we know is polluted and the primary pollutant is the one that caused the death of the coral reefs in the first place, it may not necessarily give you the sorts of results that you want. If there is a response to that, that you could offer I would appreciate that. So for us I think that, not just Barbados but for all small island developing states, we do these things in terms of the hard solutions, because that is what is known to us, that is what is promoted by the vendors of financing and so on and that is the condition we find ourselves in I think. Thanks.

Dr. Al Binger, CCCCC/SIDS DOCKBrief Reply Tom. Did you get what he was saying. Ricky was saying that given the environmental conditions that have caused the reef to die, he wants to know, do you have to put in simultaneous interventions; one reducing the loads to the reefs and then subsequently implementing the remedial measures or you could implement the remedial methods and those would take care of reef despite the ongoing pollution.

Tom GoreauI think the answer is that we can keep corals alive for quite a bit. What we are doing with this mechanism is actually we are stimulating the fundamental biophysical mechanism by which all live makes its biochemical energy. So we are speeding up the growth of everything not just corals. Oysters, everything. It is amazing. Now of course some grow faster than others so we wind up with weeds as well. The thing is that we can keep corals alive where they would have


died to quite a degree, but there is a limit. But in other words it is a temporary solution only until we really deal with the global CO2 problem. It gives us a little bit of a gap. In fact, if we don’t deal with reducing CO2 to safe levels we are in real trouble, and those grasses that I showed you [presentation] you can see what safe level is, the safe level is about 260ppm which is pre-industrial.

Alvaro Umana, Consultant, SEAJust a very quick but very fundamental point. I very much agree with Tom that the issue is geotherapy and restoration of ecosystems services, not geo engineering. But we have not done a good job in explaining to politicians what restoration means in reefs, in oceans, on land, in forests, in soils and agree with you we are not going to make it unless we focus on geo-therapy. But we have to do a better job to provide an integrated view of what restoration of ecosystem services means, as opposed to geo-engineering. And including both water, land, forest, agriculture, everything. There is plenty of room for restorations, for example just in cattle. In Costa Rica the cattle association is saying we want to devote 35% of our lands back to forest. So we can do this in a much larger scale. We have the scientific knowledge and the technology but we are more attracted by the sexy solutions as Al said that require very large capital investment and [pose] sort of a magical solution that is going to take away the problem, it does not happen. Thank you.

Dr. Al Binger, CCCCC/SIDS DOCKNo more questions from the floor? Denise?

Denise Forrest, Forrest and AssociatesThank you very much. I want to thank Tom for his paper. I think it is tremendously important information, that for me, represented more than a glimmer of hope. I was thinking about it though in the context of the project Al. So the question may be more to you and to our thinking and coming out of some of the comments that came out of the group that I was in yesterday, which more or less said, yes we are doing this waste to energy project, but perhaps we are not linking sufficiently, and I am paraphrasing, to the restoration of our ecosystems, to the environmental issues. Yes, we are doing it indirectly but perhaps we need to do it more directly. So my question is, I am wondering if there is an opportunity within this project or if not let’s get another one to begin to incorporate a component related to that. Firstly, I think for education of the decision makers, but secondly maybe some useful on the ground activities because we know that the problem is urgent, we have no time and maybe we can bring the leadership needed in the region from this area, this gathering and this opportunity. Just some thoughts.

Dr. Al Binger, CCCCC/SIDS DOCKWe will take a question from Montserrat no, the colleague beside Montserrat.

Ron Bailey, PRM Energy My question first is related to the biochar. How do we put a value on that? I've been in this business a long time and we have been making biochar out of rice husk and out of a lot of other materials but it’s been used in other…like in the steel industry for insulating the toppings and so on. The remediation of the soil with biochar is a great thing but there is a conflict of interest between the environmental engineers and the commercial engineers. The commercial engineers want to make sure that you take every ounce of carbon of whatever you are gasifying, the


maximum amount of energy and the maximum earned on investment. When you do that obviously there is no biochar. If you could establish a value on biochar that could be used for soil remediation, you might be able to relieve that conflict. Is there any way to do that?

Tom GoreauI am not sure that I get your question though…

Ron BaileyWell, you were talking about remediating the soil with biochar.

Tom Goreau Well that’s just one component. There are other methods as well. Biochar is very effective if it is mature. The biochar itself is not a fertilizer, but what it does is it holds water, it holds nutrients, so you have to add those to it. So what you need to do when you make the biochar is you need to add compost and rock powders like basalt to provide the potassium and the calcium that you need and the phosphorous and other things and you need to blend it and you need to mature it. The raw stuff will kill your plants; the mature stuff is an incredible fertilizer. So the properties of what you lose by pyrolysis are very variable depending on the starting feed stock, the temperature and pressure and the time in which you do it. It is a very flexible process because you can optimize energy, you can optimize liquid fuel, you can optimize solid fuel, you can optimize carbon. There a whole bunch of different choices and what you produce varies in quality incredibly from low temperature stuff that is full of volatile material that won’t last very long to high temperature stuff that will last hundreds of millions of years in the soil, it simply won’t decompose.

Ron BaileyWell its generally the fixed carbon that can be left in the residue from biomass gasification. My thought process goes to energy crops. If you did not have to take 100% of the fixed carbon out of the product in order to generate maximum returns on the energy value, you could leave it in the biochar or leave it as biochar and incorporate it back into the process. In other words, there needs to be a value.

Tom GoreauWell at the moment the world refuses to assign a value to carbon. Politicians are terrified of that issue. And until there Is a carbon price we won’t be able to rewarded for doing the right thing with it.

Ron Bailey I agree; I am just trying to find a way to put a value on it.

Dr. Al Binger, CCCCC/SIDS DOCKRon, I think that what Tom is saying is that a prize assigned to the production of biochar has to be derived based on what people agree that carbon is worth. Until you have carbon basically as a negative commodity, you really can’t ascribe a proper economic cost to this product to actually do the remediation. So it follows, we need a step one, setting a carbon price that will then drive the engineering.


Tom Goreau Let me just mention briefly an alternative that was proposed in Paris was the opposite of what we were saying and that is the industrial agriculture and the energy companies were proposing a very different sort of solution. What they were proposing was to do huge industrial plantations of genetically modified monocrop cultures in order to be burned in huge central parks, the CO2 could then be extracted from the exhaust gasses and pumped thousands of miles underground where they would simply cause earthquakes and they were seriously proposing that as a solution, which treats the CO2, not as a valuable product to be recycled into more productivity but as a product to be hidden. It is criminal what they were proposing really. But they were very well organized and they call that carbon capture and sequestration but a. it is not technically feasible, it’s not affordable and it would cause worse problems than it would solve. But the fact is a very large constituency of very wealthy corporations pushing for that solution.

Ron BaileyI wasn't one of them.

Dr. Al Binger, CCCCC/SIDS DOCKIt is time for the break. We can continue this discussion with Tom maybe in there might be some new insights we can gain. For the moment we have a solution we can’t implement because we have a market failure and it is very interesting that we put so much faith in the market, that the market is supposed to be the master of all things but when it gets to something as crucial as your survival the market fails because of vested interests. They don’t see a way that they can make money. So let’s move forward to fixing out little problem here and let me ask Manuel and thank you Tom we really appreciate your time.


WORKING SESSION III:

PRESENTATION ON THE BASELINE DATA REQUIREMENTS AND IDENTIFICATION OF THE STRATEGY TO CLOSE DATA

GAPS

Presenter: Mr. Manuel Fuentes, Consultant, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)

Dr. Al Binger, CCCCC/SIDS DOCKKeep in mind the working groups so that you can actually speak to definitive things that you want them to do to help us with the gaps.

Manuel Fuentes, Consultant, UNIDO I will try to do this. Good morning every one. I would like to talk now about the base line and the data gaps that we need to fill. This is quite important for two reasons. We need to show the donors, the GEF in this case, where we are, which kind of information is available and what we want to do in term of completing information we have. It is quite important when you write these kinds of proposals to show where the region or the country, if this is a country project, but the region in this case, which is the base line, which is the information that is available because the donor will give additional value on that. Our proposal has to put a value on top of what we have now. When I started to do the baseline, it is a document you have received, you will see that it is quite incomplete. The data that is missing there has been translated into the questionnaire. And the idea now is to try to work with you, for you to let me know which kind of data is available and which is not available.

It is important for us to know [what] data is not available, that is a very valid question for everything that you are going to see now. So have that in mind, no data available is as important as the number, because in the discussion session, we are going to discuss about which of the data is missing. [referring to questionnaire] One section is about policies and waste management. Then there is another section about waste quantities and characteristics. Then, the potential of that waste to be converted to energy. Then the cost of each of the waste streams. Then the cost of electricity in general, to compare with the cost of waste to energy project. So this section is just projects that are happening, real energy projects that are happening in your countries. And then projects, waste to energy projects, and initiatives. We need information on projects but it could also be potential projects and ideas and initiatives that you might have regarding waste to energy. And then, very important, lessons learnt from existing projects. So every lesson learned you have for a project that exists in your country, please share with us that information.

So I am going to go very quickly about each section. I don't know if see something but you should have on your computers this [pointing to document] right now. So the first page relates to the policies. We would like to know about which policy is in which country. Follow example. I put England there because it was easy for me to fill, but follow the example of England and put information about your countries. And if it Is possible please attach, when you email us with the answer, if you have it in digital form, which are the policies you have referred, so we have also a


database of the current policies regarding waste management for each of the countries. So to complete it is quite simple and straight forward from the policies. So then we go to the solid waste management, more like municipal waste management. So we want to know different aspects like for instance, per capita generation. Which are the sites, the solid waste management plants, the collection [covenants], the frequency of the collection of the residue, the type of disposal facilities, the cost per ton, everything related with municipal waste. So that is the first table. Remember, no data available is as important as a number.

Second, it is about the stakeholders. Which kind of stakeholder is doing what. So the first table, that’s table 3, we just need a tick. We need to know for instance, collection, which kind of organization does the collection. If it is government, what is the government organization, private sector, NGO or other. Quasi-government means like a government agency. For this table, just tick the [appropriate] boxes to say who does what.

The following table, you need to explain a little bit about which is the role of the stakeholder you mentioned in the previous one, which are the weaknesses and the gaps in the procedures, in the management, and what you think could be improved measures. Second is the financial mechanism. How these are financed. So essentially I would like here, we would like to know about the finance mode. If [it is] direct revenue or is it private, who collects the money, because [they] also manage the waste, or is it local government or has some subsidy or international cooperation, whatever. So this is where you need to explain how the mechanisms you have been referring [to] in the previous table is paid [for].

So now, this is about the measures and the financial mechanisms, the gaps and the weaknesses, about [which] probably you can say the financing is not enough it is enough, or that we have a stream of funds that expires in one year or we don’t have a stream of funds and that's the reason why we don’t have waste management. Everything that is related with finance is in this table.Now, this table, number 7, is about waste collection. I filled it [out] with Grenada, because [for] Grenada there is a very good report about waste management and waste characterization. So, it has been done by REETA, so this is out of that study, the REETA/GIZ project. So, I put the numbers available for Grenada for you to copy or to do in a similar way.

Table 8 deals with waste water. Here you need to explain about the sewage, sewage systems, which kind of treatment, and if you have some kind of waste water characterization. Again you can see I filled the column for Grenada because that is what I had available. Again if it [data] is not available, filling that column can be one of the activities of the GEF project, if you think it is relevant as an activity for the GEF project.

Then investment in waste treatment and disposal, which is the last investment of the government or private entity, and I would like to have a description of waste treatment and disposal projects. Again, if you have a document that has information, just send us the document and we can read it and fill the information by ourselves. You don’t need to fill it if you don’t have time but at least attach, send us the document where we can get that information.

Then we have the section on waste characterization. This table is exactly what it says in the title. We need to know the percentage component of organic waste, clean waste, plastic, paper,


cardboard, etc. If you have the characteristics it is okay, if not at least if you could put the value it would be fine.

Now, this is a section for the potential for converting waste into energy. I divide it here by different types. This [referring to questionnaire] is for gasification or incineration projects. Which kind of material, waste will be available for that. You are very open her to put in others, put whatever you think could be available for incineration of gasification kind of technology. But the important, you may not probably have the last column [on questionnaire], I can fix that but the unit and the amount would be very important if you have [them].

Then, very important, to have waste generation in hotels, this is touristic island so, it you have [for] hotels and also ships, it would be fantastic. There were some talks about the importance about the waste that cruise ships are leaving in the different islands so we recognize that as a special topic. If you have that information, it would be very important. Then, this is the cost of electricity, this is a general energy management project, if you could fill that, more for the people that work in energy. Then information about projects. Every project, initiative or idea you might have, please fill in section 6. The idea is to try to find, to generate a pipeline of initiatives or of project ideas. So we can say to the GEF, okay, here is all the potential that the islands have for waste to energy. The more you put [the better] at least give us a hint where [the] initiative or project [could be].

So these are the tables I would like you to fill. And then the last section is [for] any projects that [you] already have in your country, you will fill there, lessons learned, and barriers that the project had.

So this is the questionnaire, now Any questions about this? My email is available to you through this organization so I can answer any questions, I can help you to fill the questionnaire, so please get in touch with me if you have any questions or doubts.

Now about the questionnaire, I would like you to discuss. First, with all this information we are going to build a database, with waste characterization, potential for waste to energy and potential projects. So the first question is what is the added value? very similar to the first question you had yesterday. What is the added value that a regional database like this will [provide] to your countries, if there is any? It is very important for us to know because it will be a regional project and it is very important for you to think about the impact of a regional project in your own country. So this is the reason for this question, how you could benefit individually from this regional database. It is important for you to think about that and reflect on that.

Then, there is a lot of data that is missing, so if in the preparatory phase of the project we need to concentrate on some specific waste streams which will they be? So this is the objective of the second question, help us to understand where we have to focus in the preparatory phase, which kind of waste streams we need to look at as a priority. And then, when you go back home, the last question is which are the most difficult barriers you will have to fill [out] this questionnaire, and give us ideas or activities to overcome these barriers. We could implement them in the preparatory phase. We can do those, we can do some activities, even in the preparatory phase, to overcome those barriers, related of course to the most important sector that you identify in question number 2. So I understand you will have a lot of problems when you go back home


trying to fill it and think about activities to overcome that. So this is [what] I would like you to discuss in the next hour. Any questions?

Dr. Al Binger, CCCCC/SIDS DOCKQuick response Manuel. It seems you have two sets of data gaps. One set is things that are relatively easy, and should be available on a country by country basis.

Manuel Fuentes Which one?

Dr. Al Binger, CCCCC/SIDS DOCKThere are some that are pretty evident and there are some that are more difficult and we probably need to figure [out] some kind of mechanism to collect that data. So it probably would be good, remember the working groups are based, not by national positions, but they are in working groups based on categories, can we do it a little bit different maybe by asking them to look over and identify the data that is needed that is more difficult to acquire, and to make a list of those, then basically propose some kind of approach to how we will fill those data gaps as the first part of the conversation and then leave the data that is easier to collect for some other time or after, just to prioritize.

Manuel Fuentes I think that because of the four groups, each group has their own interest regarding the priorities, so each group could identify the priorities. In large farms for instance, Group 3, they might identify as a large farm or food processor which are the main waste streams. Chicken or banana plants or whatever, each one of them will have their priorities, so we are going to have priorities for each category.

Dr. Al Binger, CCCCC/SIDS DOCKColleagues, the floor is yours, let’s start with Chris.

Chris Corbin, UNEPIt’s actually a bit on your recommendation Chair, I am wondering in terms of the working group discussion, one of the points that could come up is pointing to the potential sources of where this data is, whether it be institutional, regional, projects or whatever, without having to go through an extensive debate because, I am aware even with the persons we see here, they may not be necessarily be familiar with the broad range of where data is within country levels. So that was one of my points, and the second one really related to the structure as well as the groups, and I am just wondering when I look through the questionnaire and then I look at the thematic focus of the groups, what is going to come out of that? Is it going to be that different in terms of information and data? I am just wondering in terms of the group focus areas now and whether or not we are just…there might be a different way of structuring, I haven't thought it through but having seen the questionnaire and these questions I'm just wondering.

Rickardo Ward, BarbadosI understand what we are trying to do here. I think this is going to be particularly cumbersome given our construct and also given the mechanisms for fully agreeing and deciding that this is the interest of the countries, certainly I can’t sign off on anything here, and while any expression that


I might offer would be based on my own understanding of the domestic situation and areas of interest and perceived need by me. So, in the end, whenever I leave here, I'll have to take this back and have a discussion with the various entities, and come up with what we identify as being the more critical to put in this particular project construct and have that decision, send it to cabinet and have the approval then so as to lead to the endorsement that may be required. I was speaking to Phil earlier, and he was saying that he is reasonably sure that there is existing documentation, probably in the IDB or Caribbean waste water association (CWWA), that might be available as a background reference. There might also be information in the archives of what used to be the Caribbean environmental institute, I don’t know [what it is] now, and probably at UNEP or other areas. If persons are aware of what they are right now they could perhaps contribute a list to you so that you can start with that even as we go back home to try and sensitize persons, the various stakeholders as to what we are trying to do, and solicit the domestic interests so that the process of arriving at consensus and agreeing on the provision of an endorsement letter, and allocation of resources and so on and so forth, can come. The other thing is that I expect that at some point in time you will require from the governments some contribution, some statement about co-financing. So that complicates the thing even further in terms of the domestic discussion and coming to some formal confirmation or indication to you as to the countries engagement and involvement with the project going forward. Thank you.

Philip Weech, BahamasI also would agree that the whole process of collecting information as this questionnaire intended is something that very important. On discussion I've had with colleagues, the same thing …… for me this questionnaire will have to be farmed out to at least four of five different agencies to verify. But most of the information you are looking for, in terms of solid waste, solid waste volumes and other things, is the subject of a lot of studies that have already been done, primarily in the Bahamas, through the IDB. So, a lot of that data exists. It might be dated but it would probably be a much smoother process if someone was tasked with the responsibility of looking at existing data sources and trying to produce it in some sort of format and then seek out verification, and that is another way of dealing with it. I am equally concerned about the fact that there are a couple of things we need to do to commit the resources necessary for this project and we need to go a little further than we apparently have.

Ricky made the comment about his processes. My process is the same way. I would need to give a project concept and get, an endorsement on the project concept even at the regional level, in order to move forward. I think I can do that with what we did yesterday and the day before in the working groups. The issue of a regional waste database, you are presuming that a regional waste database would be critical to the implementation of a project, I am not certain that I am prepared to accept that at this particular point in time. But from what we discussed yesterday, in terms of the priorities, the focal areas, the private sector involvement in waste to energy and all those other factors, I think we have what I would need or what would begin the process of having a project formulated at a very top level form for us to begin to get the initial endorsement for. But to go to the other more detailed work that is required at the national level, I need an endorsement. I need to have that at least agreed that this is something that we should focus on going forward, that is my concern at this moment. I would like to walk out of here with more than just questionnaires to fill. I would like to walk out of here with at least an overall top level project concept that I can get endorsement for and then I can begin to allocate the resources


necessary to feed into the development of the regional project. I know Al that I am pushing you to some extent, but time is not elastic. Thank you.

Dr. Al Binger, CCCCC/SIDS DOCKSome response from Martin and then Manuel. I think the comments are well taken. Clearly we have to provide countries with an initial project concept because this is the first requirement to get the signoff to continue. Is this on the subject Riki?

Rickardo Ward, BarbadosTechnically yes you did provide a project concept, but only for waste water before, the thing that was started from last year. But what we have discussed seems to be broader than that. I want to endorse what Phil was saying and that we need [….] holistically.

Dr. Al Binger, CCCCC/SIDS DOCKI understand. I’m not sure we can get you the concept paper to leave [with] today. What we would say is give us a little time to put the information together, to update the concept paper, because as you said we came in with a major focus on the waste water but we have actually expanded it into other [things] so the project has to address that in the concept stage. For the data, there is a lot of sense in saying that there is a lot of data that is available nationally for some colleagues and there is some that is available regionally. Maybe one of the things we should do is for each of those pieces of data, if we have ideas as to where there are nationally we could make a note of that, so that, that is information we have [and] we know where to follow up. If it is going to be available regionally also indicate the source of that so we can follow up to get that information and we know where to look for it. For the other comments let me ask Martin and Manuel to make some responses.

Martin Lugmayr, UNIDO Well taken this point on the need for this project concept. And there I would propose that there is already a draft of the project identification form for the projects. This the first concept what you have to submit to Global Environment Facility, so based on all these comments we got in this workshop, the project identification form will be filled and then be sent out to everybody. This would be the process. The challenge is a bit in that exercises that you would need are already an indication that **** (?)somehow would be interested in that project, this is the one point. The other point is, what I wanted to say is we are not doing this exercise, this information collection for the GEF, the objective is to establish something for the region and for the countries, what is useful, and in the countries then also for the different stakeholders, private sector, policy makers and so on. And then, I think CCREE could, this data collection in future then, I think [it] is something, what has to be done now should be done by CCREE, and CCREE should also build up these national networks now and in the future, so that this data collection is not an international exercise. It should be a regional exercise. So CCREE would have the…. So today in the working groups when [discussing] inputs, what are the problems, in the countries we should identify how CCREE now could assist the countries to empower this data collection.

Dr. Al Binger, CCCCC/SIDS DOCKI think based on the comment from Rikardo and from Philip, I think we cannot use the PIF as the concept paper. I think that we need a very different document to basically lay it out and what's in the PIFF. The PIFF is the requirement of the GEF. I think they need a little different paper. The


will eventually have to sign off on the PIFF but we can’t send them a document to sign off on before we send them the concept for them to even begin the work at home, thy have to get that kind of agreement from the….

Martin Lugmayr, UNIDO So we must first revise the concept paper?

Dr. Al Binger, CCCCC/SIDS DOCKYes, to make it expand. We have identified the five components that we want to work on so therefore we have to integrate that. That level of detail was never in the initial concept paper.

Devon Gardner, CARICOM The issue on the table in my opinion is one in which we can in a sense take in a stepwise approach. The fact is that the data collection exercise is not going to be an overnight exercise, it is a gradual process and the issue of data collection is one piece of a project that we have undertaken at CARICOM as Martin indicated, and we have always agreed is something that will eventually become an activity and requirement of the CCREE. So at this point in time what has happened is that the CARICOM secretariat with OLADE and the member states have set up a project we have called the Regional Energy Statistics and Information Management project, which we are using to collect data in member states. And in fact some member states have already been trained. Some of the people who at this meeting are not necessarily the people who are involved in the data collection exercise in countries, so we have to recognize that while we are talking about data collection and data issues there are things going on in countries with folks who are collecting data in the countries.

So what we need to do is to identify realistically what data we want to have to develop the PIF, and then eventually what levels of data we need to develop the project document and thereafter what the sustainable requirement for data going forward. So we can disaggregate into the urgent sets of data that we need now, try to get those data so we can utilize them towards development of the PIF, then at the second layer which would be not so urgent but also important, that we need in the next stage to develop the project documents. We can do a Gap Analysis, identify the those exist or whether there are some which don’t, and in doing that gap analysis we would be able to find a mechanism to get that data that is outstanding, and then of course we develop a sustainable model that will determine how we can consistently get and manage the data that is required for us to have a comprehensive understanding of the sector going forward. And I think that this maybe an approach that could work, so that we will work together with the consultant from the secretariat to identify through the focal points, who have been engaged in the energy statistics and information management project, some of the data that exists, so that there can be that level of input available to the project at this stage, and we will work with the GIZ/REETA project which supports the CARICOM program as previously agreed to do comprehensive analysis across the countries that would build additional data quantities to support work going forward.

Dr. Al Binger, CCCCC/SIDS DOCKThat is only for the energy sector. There is information that is needed on the solid waste, there is information needed on the waste water. So that might probably help to address some of the easiest part of the data collection which is the energy data but the data on the farms, breweries,


sewage facilities, that will have to be...I don’t know what the state of ……we will hear from the colleagues as to how that works. But Manuel this is your baby so let’s see how we will get it christened and give the working groups some clear instructions so they know exactly what it is we are asking them to do.

Manuel Fuentes, UNIDO First I would like to say that I agree with the gentlemen there that we have to decide if filling the database, or the database itself is important for the countries, or an important activity of the project, something that has to be data mined. We believe that it is, and yesterday there was some indication that some countries believe that it is, but that has to be established of course. And that is a little bit the reason of the first question. Regarding a comment from UNEP, I think we could structure the main sectors, the four groups, they will identify their own priorities. Each sector, group, they will identify their own waste stream priorities. This discussion does not have to be country by country; it has to be sector by sector. This is very well understood from the previous two group discussions. Each sector, sub sector has to bring their own priorities. And also, the idea of asking for a priority, waste streams are a little bit of what Ms. Duncan said, it is two steps, one is the preparatory phase toward the project and the other one is the project itself. Probably for the preparatory phase, for the project document, we need to know which are the priorities, we need to give some…put some meat into the information we are going to give to the donor basically. We need to let them know what we want to do and why, which is the urgency of why we want to implement the project. Then, the complete database, the rest of the information I think has value in itself, because it might help or not, that will be data mined by question number 1, if the other countries might want the whole of the database or they think that the whole of the database is relevant. As for the project preparation phase, you need to put some ideas what you intend to do in the project, which are the project ideas GEF wants to fund eventually and why.

Dr. Al Binger, CCCCC/SIDS DOCKLet me just direct a couple of questions to our facilitators because I think they are the most important to understand exactly what we are asking them to do. Can I ask Ms. Maurice George? Is she here with us today? Can you give us some response? You think we are giving you a basket to carry water? You think you can manage this? Then I'd also like to hear from Ms. Louis, and Mr. James and then I'll come back to Philip, you had another intervention. So please, Colleague from Saint Lucia.

Maurice George Good morning everyone. I think whatever we decide, I'm to coordinate/moderate the session and the responses would be based on what my colleagues feel whether or not they can/there is value added, I think that is the first thing we have to identify in a regional waste database. So if there is value added that will be yea or nay and if it is yea we will identify some. I don’t have a problem with following the listing as proposed. There were some modifications proposed? Identify which would be more difficult to acquire - so if we want to go along that route that's also fine be fine. And, I suppose that if we identify those that are more difficult to acquire, meaning that it possibly easier to do within the confines of a regional program, that is also…if we can…it is just a matter Chair of whether or not we can wrap our brains around the issues and come up with answers for them.


Dr. Al Binger, CCCCC/SIDS DOCKThank you very much. Ms. Louis? Is she here?

Calma Louis, Dominica Morning everybody. Like my colleague just said, it is all dependent on the other members of the group and how we can work around. We really looked at the issue of regional yesterday and it was a bit difficult for us to really put things together because every country had their specific areas of weakness and strength. So we said it looked like something based on countries, where the countries could have met together and decide what is best suited for them. However, we did a fantastic job at it and I must commend the group members, and we will be directed and as we go along, yes we also looked at barriers, so we will be able to look at barriers and the challenges and ways that we can overcome. We will try our best to do what we can and we know what we came out here to do something good and we will be productive at the end of the session. Thank you.

Dr. Al Binger, CCCCC/SIDS DOCKBe sure that whatever information that the group collects that it is going to be useful to us because, the framework is already established, so thank you very much for that. And Mr. James?

Fitzroy James, Grenada Good morning to all. I anticipate that we may have some challenges in terms of very country specific. A lot would depend on the extent to which the members of the group are involved in the sectors themselves. So in terms of making firm commitments in relation to the particular country we may have challenges there but we will work on each of the sections and try to identify the one from the GEF for the regional level and also from the country level based on the contributions and let’s see how we can go. Again we will be focusing mainly on the priority area that is assigned to the group, that is organic residue, looking at the, in particular the large farmers and the agro processors. So from that perspective, what seems to be coming up from here is that one we have to look at the different statistical and information systems that are in place. Those…. By CARICOM and see where the gaps are there and identify what are the additional data collection that we may have, that's where the challenge would be. If there are any mechanisms in place at this stage let us focus and those mechanisms that are not in place probably we have to go back to our constituency to find out whether or not those systems are in place because some of us do not have do not have access to all of that information at this stage. So it would be, I would say a work in progress.

Dr. Al Binger, CCCCC/SIDS DOCKOk. And one of the things I was saying to the working groups is the data is with some other colleague or some other agency. It would be good if we could get that information because that narrows down the task of actually getting the information collected. Ok. So now my only other challenge is, Ambassador Challenger had to leave early so we need a volunteer for group four; let group four when they get together decide who will be the chair. With that I will thank Manuel for the presentation. Let’s do the break and resume working groups. Look forward to the deliberations before lunch.

Presentation: “Waste collection and recycling, Zanzibar Island”


Mr. Eric Roennols, Environmental Consultant and Senior Advisor, Swedish Waste Management Association, Sweden

The Zanzibar case focuses on things that are very similar to your problems here. Zanzibar is a touristic island and an island with no functioning waste management. I had a colleague who went there for a hotel. He stayed there and he found the waste management did not work, there was too much waste everywhere, littering. The talked to the hotel owners and he got them into the idea that ok we can do something together because there was a hotel that wanted to do something for the environment and they wanted to have an environmental profile to attract more customers in the future. So they got in and started small, very small and they collected the waste from the hotel and they sorted it, they started composting - the local people, creating jobs…works for the people and they sorted out drastic methods and so they worked together with the municipality, and the municipality helped them to bale and store it at an empty site and then they could export it to Tanzania and to Kenya when they had sufficient, much material that it would be worthwhile to export.

This is kind of a…it’s not a big story, it’s a small success story. You can start small and then you can improve and you can get bigger. Today they cover more or less 5% of the waste collection in Zanzibar. Zanzibar is a place, an island with more than 1 million inhabitants and they produce something like 70,000 tons of solid waste every year. But it’s an island society and they have to do something themselves. And they had the idea [to] start with the ones who want to pay and then you make a good example and then perhaps someone else will continue to pay. So it’s an example that ….I mean the hotels, they can pay, it’s a shame, every hotel that doesn’t pay for the waste or just dumps it together with the cheapest solution, it’s a shame. And I think in the future and not very far future, the willingness to pay from tourists will increase. If you can present a hotel who takes care of the waste and the waste water and you make some advertisement and of course people will pay the extra fee on the hotel bill that you can have a conscience that you will do something better for the environment. And so I think that if the legal requisites don’t come the market forces will take care of this. The hotels that [don’t] do this in their business will have problems in the future because, at least European tourists and American tourists, if they just have the possibility they will weigh, they will choose the ecofriendly solution when it is available.

So I think you could start small and you could increase and you could have both the economic advantages, you will get a better public view [image], you will create public awareness from this and you will see there is a willingness to pay from the tourists and I think there will be a willingness to pay also from the hotels. And this goes for many sectors…they want to expand their facilities….they said please inform [others] about this way of working. To create work, jobs on site and with some help from abroad you can start something, and it’s a good example. And talking about willingness to pay, would you buy a bottle of rum if you knew that the liquid, the waste water from the rum production is just poured into the river nearby and contaminating the society, the people living nearby. If I knew it I would never buy that bottle, if there was an ecofriendly alternative that could have on the label, 'we take care of our waste we don’t litter the environment'. At least in Sweden they would have [a] hop on the market directly. So I think it is worthwhile to think of the environment, also from an economic point of view. So it was just what I wanted to say. Thank you.


Dr. Al Binger, CCCCC/SIDS DOCKOk, we can also ask our colleague for a couple of minutes from CARILEC to tell us what CARILEC [is] doing and how CARILEC sees all the subsector development and the kind of role that CARILEC members could play or are considering playing. So, colleague from CARILEC, over to you.

Andrew Thorington, CARILEC Thank you very much Dr. Binger. And first of all if you would permit me to say thank you to the organizers of this forum for facilitating CARILEC's presence. CARILEC is an association of electric utilities in the region. It has approximately 35 full member electric utilities. Key utilities that are not part of CARILEC would be Cuba and Puerto Rico. All the others generally are part of CARILEC. We also have approximately 66 associate members that are primarily vendors and consultants and academic institutions that are associate and or affiliate members of CARILEC. So what do we do? CARILEC hosts approximately five conferences per year. Two key ones would be the engineering conference and the renewable energy conference. One which I would like to extend an open invitation to everyone here and of course having listened over the past few days to everything that has been said I believe that it is absolutely necessary for me to return and seek to, not merely influence a change but ensure that there is change in our program in terms of, seeking to endure that we have afforded discussion, maybe a panel discussion in our renewable energy conference in September, on waste to energy. So I would really love to see that come to fruition coming out of this forum here.

A few sentiments have been made concerning CARILEC and its role in all of this. But more than that I want to start by looking at what CARILEC has done concerning the utilities business model in the context of the transformation. CARILEC has been championing the need for the transformation in the context of hosting a series of regulatory forums at our renewable energy conferences over the past few years. We have collaborated with the World Bank, with the IDB, OAS to ensure that our utilities are aware of what is happening, are aware of what is required, for us to transition to sustainable energy. Although of course a lot more can be done and should be done.

In 2009-2012, CARILEC collaborated with IDB, in seeking to build capacity in the area of sustainable energy, that is renewable energy and energy efficiency. That project, having been successful, afforded us the opportunity to once again, for a second phase, to collaborate with the IDB on CARILEC's sustainable energy programming, climate change adaptation and sustainable energy programming, which contains components such as: climate change adaptation strategy, the development of a strategy for climate change amongst electric utilities; supply side management; demand side management; renewable uptake as well as we'll seek to increase efficiencies of our operations and to reduce losses.

In the context of waste to energy I must inform you that in 2011 and you may be surprised to find that the utilities are ahead of you, CARILEC would have hosted a forum, a three-day forum, that focused primarily on waste to energy, during which our utility members and participants were trained, were informed adequately at that point in time and trained in the area of renewable energy, waste to energy, and waste to energy technologies. So certainly CARILEC is aware of this field of study, of the fact that we need to look at waste to energy. Notwithstanding however,


not all our utilities are at the point of allowing IPPs. So of course we recognize that is a problem, and we've been dealing with that over the years, and also this year we will seek to continue that discussion, one in which we would usually have ministers of government, the regulators, the utilities, consumer reps and other stakeholders in one room, one place, to discuss the challenges and opportunities. So we are seeking to progress the transformation.

While there are a few utilities that I have mentioned and are willing to consider waste to energy in their portfolio, that's the energy portfolio, we must understand that our waste to energy projects have to be viable. If we want to approach the utilities, then we might as well ensure that we approach the utilities with viable projects. I'm not sure that to this point I've heard that coming out from the audience, where one would have approached the utilities with a viable utility scale project and that utility would have turned its back on such [a] proposal. Unless it is a case where it has not been viable or it is just simply because of its license and we've been talking about the fact that the utility business model needs to be changed, they are not allowing IPPs. So that's known and that's acknowledged. And we are working to make the right changes or the necessary within our utility members. However of course we recognize that CARILEC cannot do it alone, that is why we seek to, and it brings me to another point, of partnerships.

CARILEC has been seeking to forge meaningful partnerships, and one such I would like to mention here is the fact that we've been seeking a partnership with the CARICOM Secretariat. And I am certain that Dr. Gardner can attest to that. I have been equally aggressive, as he has been in forging such a partnership, because we realize the benefits of and the need for such a partnership. We can have partnerships with the arenas which we do, the DOEs, the Carbon War Rooms, which we do, but it is necessary for us to have the partnership with CARICOM. And if through CARICOM we can extend such partnerships with the energy ministries, and of course we have recognized that, that is one of the reasons we need to go through CARICOM, then all the better. So CARILEC is not static, and CRAILEC has been taking the initiative to champion the transformation. But of course we do realize that it is not an easy task and it is one that will take some time simply because of the fact that we need the support of our governments who primarily will have to deal with the legislative change, or changes that are necessary, which of course are outside the purview of CARILEC's operations. So in a nutshell I would simply close by saying CARILEC is certainly, and our utilities by extension, are interested in waste to energy projects, albeit, not all of our utilities as I have mentioned because of certain barriers. But we are very much interested, and we will certainly want to work together with all the stakeholders in this room, and even those that are not here, but that are necessary for us to drive the transformation forward. Thank you.

Dr. Al Binger, CCCCC/SIDS DOCKThanks a lot, That's good news. We've often said that we can’t transform the energy sector without the utilities. So the offer of partnership in this venture is appreciated. I hear you saying basically that we could look to CARILEC partnership to deal with aspects such as regulation, capacity building and the whole issue of policy and legislative framework that is necessary to move the transformation of the energy sector, so we will follow up with you through the process of the development of the project. Very interesting point you make that there is no case actually, of a utility saying no to a well-designed waste to energy project, so we will hope that it continues to be the case and we look forward to your cooperation so thank you very much, much appreciated.


DISCUSSION OF THE WORKING GROUPS PRESENTATIONS

Moderator: Mr. Martin Lugmayr, Sustainable Energy Expert, UNIDO

Group 1 - Liquid Effluents: Sewerage, Breweries & Distilleries

Group Presenter: Denise Forrester

Good morning colleagues, I am presenting on behalf of group one, and group one was the group that considered liquid effluents. I must, first of all you'll note the members of the group, we have a very diverse group of people with experience across the board and this was wonderful in terms of the ideas that came forward, the nature of the discussions that we had. I could describe them as 'we stormed, we established norms and then we performed', so you are getting the benefit of our performance here in terms of the outcome, but we really did enjoy working together and I think it shows the benefit of having diverse groups.

With respect to the area of regional waste data base, I would like to think very humbly, on behalf of the group, that we've added some value, because out thinking, and we'd like to propose it here, is that perhaps this should be repackaged to read, 'A knowledge management platform'. And we say this against the background of our experience with regards to efforts to set up regional data bases. And so we are suggesting that perhaps the thinking should go to something like what we named it, it can be tweaked. And we feel that the value that will be added by this platform is first of all clearly it would help to promote the efforts that need to be pursued on the regional level. And it will allow access across the region to lessons learned at the national level that can be disseminated and shared at the regional level as we seek to develop projects. Excellent for networking, a portal for both public and private sector groups. One of the values, we also think it will help to establish scientific approaches to problem solving across the region, again because of the richness and diversity of the experience that will be formed in the platform. Measurable aggregate effects depending on the sector and the waste stream that you are looking at and an improved opportunity by the presence of this platform to engage international partners in developing regional projects.

With respect to priority sectors we really see this as sewage and industrial waste water. And industrial waste water, depending on the country could move from brewery waste to agro processing waste to distillery waste. And the general data requirements of these that we think are necessary, are those, and this is crosscutting across the sectors, will be flows, characterization, existing information about collection and disposal mechanisms as they exist. GIS mapping because this kind of information may inform how we prioritize action, impacts, and we also think that there should be some information, data on the indigenously developed solutions with regards to these particular waste streams.

With respect to benefits, we saw, we found two benefits. Improved access across the region to resources. Technical, financial and we could go beyond that. And a harmonized approach to database collection, and we see this perhaps as an approach that will be bottom up.


In respect of services. What services could this platform offer? Well we had an invigorating discussion on this and we feel that one of the things that will come up, perhaps in the medium to long term, coming out of the experiences that will be garnered through this platform, are incentives for the utilization of recognized Eco branding initiatives. We feel that perhaps this will encourage companies to move towards this. It would perhaps provide information that would be useful for benchmarking. It would provide a service that will allow or facilitate providing information about networking. It would provide a service to those interested in research, over and across many issues. It would also provide services to advocacy groups. The feeling is that coming out of this kind of collaboration could be the development of an advisory group and maybe also a think tank, but these are the kinds of services we think the platform could contribute to.

In terms of agencies across the region, from which information and data and expertise could be harnessed, CWWA, the range of development banks CARPHA (SAEHE?), UN Agencies, PAHO, WHO, and relevant industry organizations where these exists. So this is the report from group one, thank you so much for your attention.

Group 2 - Solid Waste: Municipal & Non Municipal

Group Presenter: Chris Corbin

Thank you very much chair. On behalf of group 2, and we do have the list but we decided in the interest of time not to list all of us but we were very ably chaired and rappateaured by our two ladies who have led us over the last three group meetings, so like group one, we had a very enriching discussion and I am hoping I can do justice to some of the major points that were raised. I promised we weren’t eavesdropping; we didn’t necessarily eavesdrop on group one but we did have the same concern about being too prescriptive, in that we were ready for a regional database and we thought the real focus should be on the aspect of a platform, a networking, a sharing of information and of knowledge management, and therefore perhaps, coming out of that would be whether or not we really need to have such a database established in terms of sustainability. As we were discussing, we actually moved straight into some of the key value added characteristics of such a network but specifically how they could support some of the national activities needed and we had quite a variation among the representatives in terms of how strong their central database is and it was thought that any regional platform needed to be based on having very strong national databases and processes for data collection and those could then be shared more effectively at the regional level.

When we looked at some of the data which was needed from a solid waste management perspective, the aspect of waste characterization again came through very strongly in terms of sources of waste, the origin, the quantity, what were the caloric values. Some countries identified that they characterized waste every five years, some said that it wasn’t a national activity, but only done at the landfill. So there were varying elements there that we thought a regional approach could definitely help. And then we saw a set of data associated with the energy side of things and we were thankful to have the contribution of our colleague from CARILEC who pointed to a number of aspects of data that needed to be generated to convince


the utility of the importance of this. And this is just one, he mentioned some of them earlier this morning.

The third aspect which would be very useful in terms of national data that could contribute to our regional platform, would be the existing environmental and energy policy legislative and regulatory framework, and this has a lot to do with the planning approval process in each of our countries, to move waste to energy plans forward. We had quite a bit of discussion about remembering our technology experts reminding us about consistency of feedstock. It was mentioned that in a solid waste context there tends to be some variability, or some seasonal changes /variations in the type of waste. A peak around Christmas time, a peak around when a cruise ship is in port and these are things that have to be factored in so that you don’t only get data from one period of time.

Finally, we saw the value of harmonization and quality control and assurance, through a regional platform that would provide some kind of guidance to us at the national level. In terms of the priority sectors and here again, given the nature of solid waste which pretty much permeates every sector of society, we sort of took a slightly different angle in terms of what may be some of the key sectors that would demand data and the type of data that each of the sectors would demand, so we had first of all the solid waste management authorities. They needed particular type of information to help guide them in terms of whether waste to energy is something they would want to pursue, and some of that information we mentioned in the first slide. Then we had the business companies the technology providers, the private sector. They now want to be assured that certain of the enabling environments are in place for waste to energy to be profitable. And again they need it to be a key sector, through which some of that data should be targeted. And then they had the general public, civil society, the end users. And here we had the concerns for example expressed on what impact would it have on human health, would there be impact in terms of pollution. So again, a certain discrete set of data and information would be necessary to help guide/garner public approval.

And finally, we looked at the template, and our discussion in fact went broader maybe than just the template questions, but maybe some of the general challenges that we saw in terms of collecting data that would help guide waste to energy planned development, and one was availability, and in some cases we thought that during this project preparation phase it was really important to understand where there was missing information so that perhaps during the first six months of the project, even during the project preparation phase those missing gaps could be filled. There was concern about data quality and some members of the group mentioned that they were not necessarily completely happy how their data was being collected so they had some doubt about making that data something that a project would be based upon. So again some idea about the quality assurance and the guidelines in terms of an evaluation of some of that data that would be used. One of the key challenges that came up when we went through the data list, the solid waste authorities in particular said, a lot of that data we have, and it is easy to provide and we are here, we give a commitment. But then we saw that there were a lot of other agencies that would need some kind of involvement or commitment in order to provide that data, and how could, in some cases local officials or the representatives here get the support of their colleagues at national level, it was back to that public-public coordination, so we thought it might be useful as a solution to perhaps have the project, the GEF focal point, CARICOM, our dear colleague Dr. Binger, someone with some influence writing at the appropriate level so that it could be a


decision that various Ministries or agencies at nation level assist us in completing those particular templates and questions posed.

And finally we realize there were a lot of questions and a little bit of time. And it might be useful in some guidance to identify what perhaps were the critical questions that were required for the proposal that could be given our first look at and then maybe some additional time to complete the rest of that and in so doing we believe that the offer from the consultant to be on call and perhaps to have a trip or two to one of the islands that have difficulty collecting that data, that may be facilitated. And we just want to say ditto to group one and all the lists so we won’t go through that, all the agencies mentioned by group one we agree with, those are potential agencies that can be conducted for data and information. Thank you very much to my group for the contribution.

Denise ForrestMr. Chair, can I have an opportunity just to comment on something I didn’t say, which is really 'ditto' to what group 2 said with regards to the collection process for the questionnaire. You would note that I sat without giving a response from group one and fundamentally, I thank Chris for saying it, more or less the process in which he outlined is the process that group one feels is the best to deal with the whole matter of collecting data for many reasons, quality assurance being one of them, and process with respect to accessing data from governments. So thank you for that opportunity.

Group 3 – Organic Residues: Large Farms & Food Processors

Group Presenter: Julia Brown

Good afternoon everyone. I am here to present on behalf of group 3 which deals with organic waste and agro processing from large businesses. OK we looked at it from the three different aspects. The first one which we mentioned, Regional waste data base, we thought that knowledge management was very important to that whole aspect. In terms of the data base for key technical experts, data base for equipment and service providers. We also mentioned something about database in terms of baseline information, because we know with projects we need to have baseline information because to do a project proposal you need to have that, because as we all know, there is something in agricultural projects called 'before and after' or 'with or without'. Our focus is 'with' the project as against 'without' the project. Because you know, after a project will not give you a good result in terms of the impact of the project. In terms of priority sector where data is needed, we see policy for waste management as a very important part of that area because without the policy there is no guide as to how the project is going to come about. A great connection, an energy policy, we think that is key, as you know in the region, the policy for energy is mainly around the electricity company. We think there must be some means of incorporating other energy elements in the electricity policy. We think there is need to have a stakeholder analysis.

We need to know who the stakeholders are and what waste is emanating from the different stakeholders. We need data on livestock farms, livestock populations, data on crop waste and


residue, data on industry waste, for example supermarkets and food processing, and the data on poultry production. We know in the agricultural sector there is a lot of data around, they are not compiled in any one location, so we think that is obviously going to be a constraint on gathering the data and we'll come to that later on in the next question. Barriers, and we realize there are no centralized repository for data. A lot of discussion went on into this because in the agriculture sector some data is available but they are scattered. The next thing is lack of access to available data and the difficulty of collecting the data. The thing that…you need to develop projects to collect data because [of] the amount of work involved in gathering data, we think you probably need a specialized project to collect data utilizing universities and consultants. And then we also need to collate such data and incorporate the specific data [inaudible] into the national survey. So data we think is a very…limitation as it comes to the project because, although some are available, they are probably not in the right form, and therefore we need to have enough resources in that area to collect that data and analyze it. Thank you very much for your attention

Group 4 - Organic Residues: Small Scale Operators

Group Presenter: Itajah Simmons

Good afternoon everyone. Itajah Simmons representing group 4. Earlier on today, we had quite interesting discussion and I think that we kind of approach the questions from different point of view. However, I think that our discussion was quite a challenge and quite the brain teaser. So for question one which was the added value a regional waste database would have for your country or institution. We actually were discussing and we came …….it depends on who were the targeted users and what are they going to use the data for, what's the intended output. So, we looked at it and...depends on the country or the company or whatever institution that the added value….it would determine the added value. How important the data is to you? Also we said that it depends on the level of detail that can be offered to provide useful data. We had….it would depend on how well the database would be maintained and updated because to have a strong database we see that it would need quite a bit of maintenance and updating as frequent as possible so that you could have good added value. And also we suggested that it would depend on the strength of the commitment from the various data collectors, from the different countries. For the private sector where data is needed for waste to energy projects, we suggested that the small scale, for small scale operators, livestock farming is a priority sector. Reason being is that livestock farming is prevalent within all the Caribbean countries, and so sometimes we don’t have data and [on] who is doing what and what amount of livestock they have and the availability of the waste and stuff like that.

So we suggested that they should have a mapping of all the livestock farmers and the quantity of waste that is being produced on these farms. Also we said that the dynamics depend on the size of the farm and the number of farm[s] because the number of farm[s] changes often. For the last question, which speaks about the barriers, we…in completing the questionnaire, we suggested that the lack of focus and scope of the data collection is too broad [?]. In the questionnaire, the focus was too broad, all sections of the questionnaire [do] not apply to all the users, so they will have…there will be difficulty in filling out the form, difficulty in gathering certain data that we are looking for. Solutions that we were suggested were providing institutional strengthening and


resource[s] for the parties that are already doing data collection and those that are already working closely with the waste sources. Getting the commitment from the various data collectors, from the various countries by making them know why it is a benefit to them. Also survey assessment to establish the right scope and level of detail required for the project and the intended users [of] the data base. Thank you. Dr. Al Binger, SIDS DOCK/CCCCCLet me share with thanking all the presenters on the working groups for tackling a very ticklish subject. We have very sound recommendations that we will take into consideration as begin the design and how to collect the necessary data to support the project development. I take the point that essentially the data that we will get will just allow us to have a big picture which is what we will need to frame the proposal but when it comes to the particular projects, we are going to have to have much more precise data, do it is actually two steps and we need to figure how we can do this in a very comprehensive manner. I want to thank the working groups so let’s thank them for all the hard work, not just for today but over the three days, so your effort is appreciated. Just one little logistic note, if we could get the names of the other working group members because we will be contacting you, we will have a lot of follow up on those specific areas you will be an integral part of this process.

Now all that’s left for us to do is to bring this conference to a close and to do that I am going to ask a couple of colleagues to join us. I am going to ask my colleague Andreas to join us, from the GIZ, Devon from CARICOM, Anatole from WIPO and Marie from Sweden.


CLOSING REMARKS

Andreas Taeuber, GIZ-REETA, CARICOM SECRETARIAT

Let me be the first one, of the last ones. I want to focus my final remarks on what we from GIZ/REETA can do to support this process. First of all, I think, our example in Grenada to make a real resource assessment, about one and a half years ago we started with that, finalized it already some time ago, and now developing two real projects is a good example how to start. We need this for the whole region so we will from GIZ/REETA support initiatives to collect the data, the information about the waste situation in certain countries. I've talked with representatives of some countries, like Antigua for example, Antigua and Barbuda, for example but also Belize and other countries where we will start to support the whole process by inviting a consultant or a specialist, expert, somebody from university, not relevant but somebody from the relevant country to support us to collect all the information which is needed. As some countries are very small, you really have to go on the level, for example some islands have two or three or four big farms, you would have to go to the farm and really collect the data on the farm if it is not available in an authority or an agency. So we want to support, really to collect the data, understanding of course we should look at the big picture, but we noticed for example the Grenada example, if you have a complete overview of the resources available, you then can develop a project.

Then you can understand who are the possible owners of waste, who are the possible project owners for the development of a real project, so you have to have an overview, what is available in the relevant country, and on that basis probably it is easier to develop a project to involve other partners, be it foreign partners, national partners, or other partners from other countries in the Caribbean. So that is something where I would like to commit GIZ to support the whole process here, and of course, our primary partner is CARICOM but we cooperate of course with CDB, with CCCCC / SIDSDOCK and the member countries directly, bilaterally. So that is something we will definitely do. Regarding this event which we have co-sponsored together with UNIDO and other partners, I see it as a big success I thank you very much for participating so actively. So definitely clear, this is not a starting point, there is already so much going on, so many developments, so [much] information already available, and the exchange I think it was very interesting for me, also the hear the ideas in the working groups which have been developed. And I also would like to commit us GIZ/REETA to support Professor Binger with having follow up, so that this is not a onetime event and there will be a big gap and break and in one year we think about another event, but I think we need follow up we need develop some real projects, be [they] small or big, not relevant. And in countries it will be very different, I see for example in Guyana I see a rice gasification project, which I would not see for example in Grenada.

So there will be different projects, different situations in different countries, and we as a regional project supporting CARICOM will support them as model projects. We cannot directly finance because we are a technical assistance institution but what we always do and we have the cooperation of CDB, the Caribbean Development Bank, Joseph Williams has been here the first day, to organize that these projects get financing in the region, we have to work more on attracting possible investors, possible partners who offer partnerships, so for example, we heard


it from my colleague Dieter, that is the intention to develop one or two projects, as projects where the provider of technology would possibly involve himself, itself to show that the provider of the technology trusts his own technology, involves himself into a project, so co-finance will be an equity partner. So think there are lots of aspects and I don’t want to keep us too long away from the end of this event and I know there are three, four other people who want to talk so I only want to say thank you very much. I promise the GIZ will continue to work in here, our project is extended to 2018, so we have a lot of time to get real projects done and you will find my contact details and for my colleague Glyn Morris, or from the REETA team also on the internet site of CARICOM. Contact us if you need specific help for example a consultancy or technical assistance, we are happy to work in this area of waste to energy in the Caribbean. Thank you very much.

Dr. Al Binger, SIDS DOCK/CCCCCNow I ask my Swedish Colleague. Marie.

Marie Karlberg, Swedish Energy Agency

Thank you and good afternoon colleagues. I would like to follow up on Andreas' remarks. I would like to thank you all for a very successful conference and Expo and it’s been my pleasure to exchange views with you over the last couple of days. And on behalf of myself and the Swedish government and my colleagues, I would like to extend a great thanks to all of you. And as Andreas also mentioned, this is not a starting point indeed, we've come a long way and we have definitely lessons learned and we definitely have projects on the way, and on the ground so we can build on. From the Swedish side we would like to further engage with you, both on how to develop projects but also on how to share expertise and lessons learned from our side. What I learned, and also what I take with me is that, even though you have your own national circumstances, you also have many commonalities.

And I think also what I take with me is that you can start small and you build on as you go ahead. And also what we discussed about having an integrated approach, you are really looking at what are the benefits to waste to energy and waste management. The case as we said, it’s not just a problem, it’s actually a resource. And so from the Swedish side we will very much continue to have these discussions with the pilot countries that we have in our 'building resilience to climate change impacts through the energy sector' work, further engage with countries here, how we can follow up, how we can work together and we look forward to continue coming back and to continue having these conferences, as I think it’s not just one step on the way and there are several more to go so. With that I thank you very much.

Dr. Al Binger, SIDS DOCK/CCCCCAnd now our colleague from WIPO, Anatole.

Anatole Krattiger, WIPO


Thank you very much. What I take home with me, besides of course a suitcase full of nutmeg. Wonderful memories of Grenada. Many new friends and a few lessons. Of course I have learned a lot. I had no idea how complex, how actually fascinating and how especially important the work you are doing really is. I think it became very clear with Tom's presentation this morning. I have three messages that I want to share with you. One is, I've been asked by quite a number of you what is WIPO doing here. Are you stressing we should patent more? No. WIPO's mission is to promulgate a balanced intellectual property system, that encourages innovation, technology transfer, adaptation and diffusion. We have no opinion as to whether open source, to open science, to patents, to trade secrets, that any of those are better or worse than the other. It always depends on what you want to achieve. They all have their role, their different approaches. They are all very important in different circumstances.

Sometimes you have a choice to make as to which one best suits the objective that you want to reach. And that’s the second reason why we are here, with WIPO Green. We are, we see ourselves, WIPO Green, certainly my division is here to be a facilitator, to facilitate the choice, the decisions that you have to make as to which strategies and approaches are in the interests of the projects that you are implementing. And there I hope that WIPO Green will become an increasingly useful resource for you, in order to make better connections, in order to know, to find information, relevant information, and to get better assistance, help to deal with the specific IP related issues that may come up in your projects.

The third conclusion I think I was inspired this morning over breakfast. I was at the table with some colleagues and there was a fourth place that had no napkin no nothing. And then Al came, and I said 'why don’t you join us?' and he said no there is no napkin, no plate no nothing. And I said 'well let’s ask'. So we asked a lady, she had a coffee pot in her hand, 'would you mind bringing us some things?' She said sure, she turned around and asked another lady who also held a coffee pot in her hand, 'could you please put the things on that table?' Some time passed, Al was still waiting for his omelettes, I was looking around, I think it was completely forgotten. And then the manager came, you know the guy with the greenish shirt? And he asked, 'is everything alright?' and I said 'no, we would like a set here for a colleague to join us' and immediately he put it there and it was done. My point is the following, don’t delegate, if you want to get something done, get it done yourself. And I think with that note I will go home and think on the flight very carefully how I can make WIPO Green more relevant to some of the deals that are in the making here. That's at least my pledge of what I will do.

The second thing I do is talk to my boss and say we need to change this and this and I need some resources to make it happen. So I invite you also to think what is it you will be doing differently when you get home and what will you tell your boss that he or she should be doing as a result of what you have learnt here. So thank you very much and thank you to all of the people who have been in the back there invisible, I think there has been a lot of work that went into our success, everything was smooth and we certainly owe them a great thank you from the bottom of our heart. Those who actually did before we even had to ask to put something on the table. Thank you very much.

Dr. Al Binger, SIDS DOCK/CCCCCAnd a few comments from our colleague Martin. I know you are tight on time but you have to share a few closing comments.


Martin Lugmayr, UNIDO Only very short, thank you very much. I really appreciate it to be here. And particularly that now, I also will be working on the program together, on the project together and this project will be something like a first project of the Caribbean Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE). I think this is very important for us, and I will like to thank all the partners GIZ, SIDSDOCK, CCCCC and CARICOM Secretariat for working closely together, and I am looking forward to working closely with you the next months on this regional GEF project on waste to energy. Thank you very much.

Dr. Al Binger, SIDS DOCK/CCCCCNow I ask Devon to give his closing comments but also to tell us about the next steps as we go forward. Thanks.

Dr. Devon Gardner, CARICOM Secretariat Thank you very much Chair, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen. The past three and a half days have been in my opinion a huge success. We leave here with tangibles on how we are going to approach this matter that has been coming up from time to time but which we have not addressed in the way which we should have addressed it before. There are somethings which came out quite clearly, and some of them are things we had thought about before, some are things we had never thought about before, some are things we understand better now than we did before.

The one I want to flag as the highest issue is the one of the data and how it is that we can get the kind of data that gives us confidence to build the type of projects that in a sense are realistic, because if we are starting with the wrong data, we may end up building the wrong projects. So in a sense, there are some very clear things which we think we can do in order to lead us to the next steps, that can frame the progress that we make from here. Number one is the creation of a regional network. [The] fact is that getting good quantity and quality data is progress, it is something that is progressive, it’s not something that you get up today and say you are going to do and you end up with results tomorrow. It is something that is going to take time and it is going to happen progressively.

And we are, and we believe that in terms of next steps, the establishment of a regional network is a first step, because that network can be established immediately, and facilitate some of the knowledge exchange, some of the information sharing that could provide some orientation in some instances, on where we can get increasing the amounts of data or where we can already get those data from those of you who may participate in such a platform. So this is consistent too with the knowledge management drive of the CARICOM Secretariat and in particular the energy program, which has started the process of establishing communities of practice with partners. Already one community of practice has been established for utilities with CARILEC and I see a similar community of practice being established as that regional network for waste practitioners, potential waste to energy practitioners, meaning, integrating producers, waste producers that is, waste managers, energy planners and energy producers so that we get the full spectrum of stakeholders, so that we know where the different pieces of information are going to come from as we require them because different sectors have different pieces of information that will help us to be able to fit the puzzle together, and over the next couple of months , the next two to three months, you will see coming out, information regarding how this could be designed and you will


be given a chance to comment on that, but that is one of the things we are proposing as a next step.

The second item that I think is a tangible next step that I think that we can pursue is the issue of a regional waste assessment scoping exercise based on the model of Grenada. That is something that has already been discussed with one of our partners that is the GIZ and already with the designated internal director of the CCREEE, we intend to set this up as one of the CCREEE activities supported by the CARICOM Secretariat wherein we will go country by country, sector by sector, looking first of course at those countries that would be prioritized based on their participation in the GEF project. And those sectors which are considered to be priority sectors, and we start the process of collecting the, the scoping exercise by collecting the kind of data, doing a gap analysis obviously, back filling data collection so that we end up over time, not in one shot but over time, having the kind of comprehensive data that will facilitate us getting to the stage of beginning to talk about a regional data base. There is no point in starting with a database when there is no data to really make the database useful. We believe that therefore that regional scoping assessment and exercise will be useful towards getting us to a stage of having a good project document.

So the next item after that would be issue of project development. So under the regional assessment and scoping exercise we will begin to establish the ownership, quantity and quality of resources that are available in the respective countries, and then we will use that as the basis to develop projects, starting with the regional GEF project. And we will work together with UNIDO very closely, and the CCREEE, and the GIZ to develop that GEF portfolio of projects. Also the EU has agreed that it will provide us with support there so we are not short on partners with whom we can work to get to the development of the regional project pipeline including, as the priority project pipeline, that to be financed under the GEF.

And the fourth piece under the next steps is that we will then of course utilize what comes out of those three steps, meaning there is expected to be a consistent set of dialogue through the regional network. The information that comes out of the scoping exercise, and indeed what comes out of the project as we develop it, to design and develop the strategy and the policy for waste to energy in the region. We intend it as a subgame to get to this stage where we can have a strategy and policy which would speak towards issues like the management aspect of the waste resources, what are the dos what are the don’ts, who owns what , and who is responsible for what, and what are the regulations that we can put in place to ensure that the kinds of protections that are necessary, to support the waste to energy activities do happen, and what are the strategic partnerships and strategic actions that we can deploy to ensure that when we go to our respective development partners, these things are framed within the regional strategy, and development strategy, so that it is consistent with what we ask the development partners. Because in many instances, when you seek development assistance, development partners will provide development assistance to reflect what is in the strategic actions that we have, so we have to ensure that these things find themselves in the strategic actions so we are consistent with whatever it is we are doing when we work together with our development partners.

In terms of reporting, just to wrap up, in terms of reporting there is an opportunity to bring together the same community in November 2016 in Nassau Bahamas when we have the 5th Caribbean Sustainable Energy Forum and I believe we could have a side event there dedicated to


carry on some of this discussion. By then we would imagine that we would have certainly done the PIF and submitted that to the GEF and we'd have something to report. By then we may have completed a couple of scoping exercises and by then we would have started our community of practice and there would have some advances that we could tangibly speak towards and report on at that meeting. That CSEF is usually the policy and decision makers forum for the CARICOM Energy Program. It usually engages ministers and senior technical officers within the energy sector. We believe that we could certainly invite stakeholders who are here with us today to participate in a side meeting, in that meeting which is supposed to be a four-day meeting.

In terms of sustainability, we will of course obviously ensure that the waste to energy issues are mainstreamed in the CCREEE work program and the CARICOM Energy work program, as well as we are developing the Caribbean Regional Indicative program under the EDF which is the European Development Fund, and we will ensure that a waste to energy component that reflects to a large extent some of what comes out of this meeting and some of what will eventually also come out of the scoping exercise are reflected in that so that some amount of mainstreaming, recognizing that the mainstreaming is important for us to in a sense bring about the kind of synergies and partnerships that we require for making waste to energy deliver the kind of transformative benefits that we need in the islands.

Lastly is that some of the outcomes that we will work towards are those outcomes related to technology support so that there is a tech assessment and matching process in place. I don’t know what that will look like yet, but it is something that we are committed to working through and perhaps it is an area that the platform when it is established, the knowledge management platform when it is established, will provide some contribution towards us being able to understand and setup. Of course recognizing that there [are] options and opportunities to learn from what has been done elsewhere and not reinvent the wheel.

We also would want to look at how we can support project development so some of these things are things which have been done for other sectors within the energy sector, project development support, so that we can take project from concept to bankability, and we would ensure that the waste to energy options are given priority within this framework, so the issue of concept to implementation takes center stage.

And of course within the financing model including the REETA+ program that is now bringing 3 million euros, additional monies to provide financing under a new component of the REETA project, will be something that will have aspects dedicated towards waste to energy. The bottom line is synergies and partnerships are critical, synergies and partnerships especially in an environment where we are talking about a myriad of actors and complexity in the linkages between waste and multiple sectors as well as energy and the multiple sectors they support. So at the end of the day, my closing line is that we must do things that ensure that action is taken on the ground and the days of CARICOM simply working in the policy space and only the policy space are done. The bottom line is - we do by learning the things that we must learn by doing. Thank you very much. Dr. Al Binger, SIDS DOCK/CCCCCAll that’s left for me to do is to do the big thank you, and Anatole mentioned the invisible people, I just want to...who the names are so you can also add your thanks. But let me start with


our exhibiters, I want to thank Ms. Carol Lue from CaribShare Biogas, Ralf Sigrist from Bekon, Thomas Jaud from GE, I have a feeling we're going to see Thomas a lot in the region, Ron Baily for PRM Energy, Dirk Uber [?] from Viking heat Engines and Monserrat and Kristof from Okobit-Biogas.

I also want to thank, profound thanks to our partners, starting with the Government of Grenada, and the Prime Minister for getting us off to what I consider a very important start, by emphasizing just how important the issue of climate change, and the whole process of building resilience is. I want to also thank Minister Oliver Joseph, the Minister of Economic Development, Trade, Planning, Cooperatives and International Business, colleagues from the Ministry of Finance and Energy, Mr. Fitzroy James, Yolanda Newton and our colleague, other colleagues from the Ministry, I don’t see 'Big John' Auguste? 'Big John'? Ok…Thank you.

And then I want to thank my colleague from CARICOM. Good Meeting Devon, I know you learned a lot, in a lot of different things and I look forward to our continued working relationship.

I want to thank Andreas, Andreas its absolutely been a pleasure working with you, I know you leave us sometime in the Summer, I still remember our first meeting in Jamaica when we said we should try to get at least five or six project done. I think you have now seen that we have the potential to go way beyond five or six and that is probably a low threshold bar and thank you, we could not have had such an ambitious dream without the support of GIZ and your colleague Dieter, who has really been an inspiration here in Grenada and other places, I'm sure he will have impact felt. I want to thank those two colleagues who just left Manuel, well Manuel is still here right? But just Martin and Manuel from UNIDO. All the work they've done in helping us to prepare the plans to have the regional GEF project. And my colleague from the Austrian Development Agency, the Swedish Energy Agency, Marie and Eric, and of course Joe, Al W. and Anatole from the World Intellectual Property Organization. Henrik is my colleague I don’t really want to thank him yet, I'll buy him a beer later and we'll be in good shape.

Anatole made the comment that things have run very smoothly, and that is all due to our logistic colleagues, the Grenada Trade Centre, the Grenada Rex Resort, the Flamboyant Hotel, Mandoo Bus, Elvis Bus, the Presentation Brothers College school choir, for Ms. Lisa McDonald who did the wonderful rendition of the anthem. Also, a couple of other colleagues, Martin Bideau, who you never saw much, Micha, Carla, Alison, Teran, Arnold, Jenny, Angus, Keyol, Daniel, Elan, Ricole, Ashley, Christine and Jerome.

For the IT which has helped us have a very efficient meeting with our presentations and hooking up colleagues from abroad, I want to thank very much our colleagues at the IT, David, Blondell, Ritchie, Nicholas, Kirland, Alistair, Garwin and Terrance, who has been taking the pictures, some of which we will put on the website and you can see yourself in action. I want to thank the Annmarie Marecheau. She's been absolutely wonderful. She's made all the arrangements so you were properly greeted at the airport, and without her this would have been a very difficult situation. Our rapporteurs, Ms. Williams who is not here today, and Ms. Juliet Sutherland, thank you very much. And of course our colleagues from the CARICOM secretariat, Nigel Duncan and Nichelle Foo, who is probably so quiet and so effective you really never know but Nichelle, we appreciate all your efforts and you're a welcome colleague, we couldn’t have done this without


you. And of course, Ms. Chris Neves Duncan, my goodly colleague from the SIDS DOCK and the CCCCC, who, I never figure where she gets all the energy from, she probably has her own energy sector transformation already.

So, thanks, but most important thanks to you the colleagues and the delegates, because without you there would have been nothing, and without you there won’t be anything. So we are totally thankful to you being here but we look forward to your continued cooperation to make this a successful voyage. The Chinese have a great saying that the longest voyage begins with the first step. We made many steps, but, it is still a long voyage and we hope that we can help each other along the way as best we can. We have a lot of information to share. We'll put it all on the website for you. Information ranging from where there [are] resources available to do projects for those of you who want to be ahead of the game, to places where you can find information and capacity building opportunities.

So with that I want to close the meeting, I want to say thanks to two colleagues for presentations. I want to thank my old friend Alvaro, we've grown together, for more than 40 years we've been hanging together. And my other colleague, Tom, I won’t say how long I've been hanging with Tom, I don’t want anyone to make all the age numbers but we've as a group been very fortunate to be able to work with each other to reinforce the thinking of each other and to help educate one another and hopefully through that to help educate our young colleagues who unfortunately inherit all the mess that the generations before me didn’t fix, and my generation hasn’t completely fixed, so what is left over will be yours and as much as we can help you, please ask us. And with that Ladies and gentlemen, I want to close unless anybody from the floor [is] desirous of making any final comments before we finally bring the gavel down. Al right. That’s it.

SIDS DOCK Secretariat29 March 2016
