Permit me to expand a little on the letter in the T&T Guardian yesterday, by Mary K King, headlined Petroleum–the modern day Stone Age? The world's scientific community in general supports the thesis of global warming, hence climate change, is a direct result of increased carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere predominantly by the burning of fossil fuels, ie human action. This thesis is rejected in particular by the business community involved in the exploitation of petroleum and as a result the politicians in their keep.
The Internet is a vast information store of the various arguments of both sides, while national consensus is gaining ground as to the damage to the planet caused by burning fossil fuels.
Besides damage to the climate, burning fossil fuels adds to the pollution of the atmosphere, particularly the burning of coal where the best of the scrubbers in smoke stack plants eliminate at most 35 per cent of the sulphur dioxide (causes acid rain), carbon and particles. The environment in Beijing, China testifies to the damage of burning coal and the exhaust of motor vehicles.
It is reported that electricity plant, Trinidad Generation Unlimited, (TGU), intends to introduce the use of wind turbines which would be cheaper to run than the present gas turbines, so releasing gas for the petrochemical sector, enough to run two chemical plants. This suggests that the use of renewables, wind in this case, is approaching the cost of gas turbines if not cheaper.
An article by the EIA of the US gives this comparison of the cost of renewables vis a vis that of conventional fossil fuel etc, plants: Coal 9.5-15 cents /kWh, gas 7-14 cents, nuclear 9.5 cents, wind 7-20 cents, solar 12.5 cents, geothermal 24 cents, biomass 8 cents.
The Netherlands uses wind generated electricity to power its electric trains and with one day of high-wind activity Denmark generated some 140 per cent of its local demand for electricity, exporting what it did not use locally. Normally Denmark produces some 50 per cent of its electricity demand by wind.
However, wind/solar cannot be completely relied upon and have to be supported by conventional plant, as our TGU intends to do. The world awaits the improvement in storage systems (eg batteries) to make wind and solar energy systems stand alone and reliable suppliers of electricity.
Victor Darceuil,
St James