Revenue from the Caribbean tourism industry in 2009 amounted to US$28.2 billion making it one of the largest industries in the Spanish, English, French and Dutch-speaking region, states Alex Sanguinetti, director general of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Industry. Even without data on what portion of the tourist spend goes to expenditure and what is cleared as profit, a recent study on Energy Efficiency in the Caribbean hotel industry reveals that use of alternative energy technology would transfer hundreds of millions now paid on electricity bills to the profit column. Bill Meade, director Tetra Tech, an American engineering and environment company that provides technical advice on achieving energy efficiency, made the revelation to the regional conference on Sustainable Tourism hosted recently in Bermuda by the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO). Green technology will not only realise dollar savings, it will dramatically reduce carbon emissions, states Meade. A shift to generating energy from natural sources, such as wind, solar and the use of other forms of energy for air-conditioning and lighting will significantly reduce the 4.23 million tonnes of CO2 emissions that the region releases into the environment.
Overall, hotels in the Caribbean annually consume some 5,660 gigawatt (gwh) hours of electricity at extremely high costs averaging US$0.50 per kwh compared to average costs of electricity in the United States at US$0.12 kwh cents. A further greening will also make the Caribbean tourism industry more attractive to at least the 20 per cent of international travellers now seeking-out destinations which are reducing their carbon emissions. Costas Christ, editor-at-large for the National Geographic Traveler, says the body of travellers opting for green destinations will increase as a portion of the total number of international visitors. An obvious benefit that could be derived from reducing operating costs and shrinking the region's global carbon footprint would be to make the Caribbean a more internationally competitive destination for travellers. Overall estimated savings from using alternative technology will result in a projected US$339 million return to the bottom line, 35 per cent to 50 per cent of what is now spent on purchasing electricity. The bonus in kilowatt hours will amount to an estimated 1.3 million kilowatt hours reduction, states Tetra Tech.
However, moving to green technology carries a cost which is not easily affordable, if at all, by the hotel industry in the Caribbean. Tetra Tech estimates the initial capital expenditure on transferring to alternative technology at US$695 million. "We hope that the money will come from sources outside of the Caribbean for the most part," states CTO secretary general, Hugh Riley in response to the question from the Business Guardian as to where the funding for alternative technology is to be sourced. At the moment the CTO is involved in the Caribbean Hotel Energy Efficiency Action (CHENACT) programme which is essentially an IDB funded venture. "There are similar programmes which are contributed to by the European Union, so we are on a quest to find the funding from around the world from large institutions to do the kinds of research and implement the kinds of programmes, so that the Caribbean tourism industry can find ways of reducing our costs and our dependency on traditional fossil fuels; this we know will increase our competitiveness," says Riley.
The hoteliers however acknowledge that all the funding for alternative energy-saving technology cannot come from external sources. "We have to work with the public sector and governments with regard to incentives for changing to energy saving technologies, because incentives need to be given to hotels to seek energy efficiencies to meet those costs," Sanguinetti told the BG. He says there is worrying news that in one Caribbean destination, the government is not allowing the use of alternative technology such as wind and solar. "We are trying to get that confirmed because if that is so that could be a serious disincentive," notes Sanguinetti. The National Geographic Traveler editor at large says there has to be an examination of using electricity generated from natural gas to transport people internally on islands. He revealed that Hawaii is experimenting with a deep-sea tidal wave programme to generate electricity for air conditioning. The expectation is that in two years 40 per cent of downtown Honolulu will be driven by power from this project. Tobago is in the unique position among Caribbean tourism destinations of having a cheap source of power at hand. But that's a problem, observes THA Chief Secretary Orville London as the financial savings do not act as an incentive.
Nonetheless, he says with natural gas coming directly into the island in the future "it can become the energy source of choice and be used in south west Tobago, the hotel sector, ten to 15 years down the road," states London. "Caribbean countries could give incentives to foreign companies which operate on the basis of reduced energy consumption and eventually alternative energy," says Christ. He notes such incentives are being given to companies by competing tourism destinations such as Tahiti.Nevis in the Eastern Caribbean, he says, is beginning to experiment with going geo-thermal in the hope of generating all its electricity needs from it. Solar and wind power has begun to be used in the Caribbean and needs to be expanded, says Christ. But saving energy does not only require turning to alternative and expensive technology. Using best practices in the international industry can result in five to 15 per cent of savings of expenditure on electricity. In many instances, such best practices are at very low cost or completely free, says Tetra Tech director Bill Meade.
Best practice savings include using clean coils on fridges and freezers, turning off pools and Jacuzzi pumps at nights. Retrofitting halogen and incandescent bulbs in hotels with fluorescent and light emitting diode bulbs, utilising modern and more efficient air conditioning systems are other low-cost measures to save on electricity costs. And on the big spend on air condition units, installing room and restaurant censors to monitor energy use and tinting of windows to keep rooms cooler and utilise less energy are other cost-saving measures which can be applied. The savings and the competitive benefits for a tourism industry that constantly faces challenges by going green are significant.