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Cashing In On Waste

June 26, 2012

Hundreds of jobs to be created as Canadian firm heads to Jamaica to construct solar-powered recycling plant

Sheena Gayle, Sunday Gleaner Writer

Western Bureau:Canadian-based recycling company Panther Corporation will build the first solar-powered recycling centre in Jamaica, representing a multibillon-dollar investment and the prospect of thousands of jobs being created.

The company will invest US$26 million to construct and outfit a 30,000 square foot modular facility in Retirement, St James, in proximity to the Retirement Dump, something the company’s president and director, Michael Mosgrove, is excited about.

“It was a perfect fit for Jamaica and for us because of the sunlight. In addition, the demand for recycling in Jamaica is huge right now,” the Canadian investor told

JPS News

HOW TO SECURE JAMAICA’S ENERGY FUTURE

June 26, 2012

June 22, 2012

Dear Energy Partner:

Secure Your Energy Future with the IS0 50001 Energy Management Seminar

The Jamaica Public Service Company Limited in collaboration with the Bureau of Standards Jamaica doing business as National Certification Body of Jamaica (NCBJ) will be hosting the captioned seminar in Kingston on July 10, 2012 and in Montego Bay on July 1

The purpose of the seminar is to generate awareness and encourage applicability of the need to employ sustainable energy efficiency measures. This will not only alleviate the impact of the spiraling costs associated with the use of electricity, but will also help to improve your company

Energy Saving

Energy Star Rating Explained- How important is it?

June 21, 2012

ENERGY STAR is an international standard for energy efficient consumer products originated in the United States of America. It was created in 1992 by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy. Since then, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Taiwan and the European Union have adopted the program. Devices carrying the Energy Star service mark, such as computer products and peripherals, kitchen appliances, buildings and other products, generally use 20%

News Oil

Oil price rises on hopes Fed will boost US economy

June 20, 2012

The price of oil rose Tuesday on hopes that the Federal Reserve will announce new measures to stimulate the US economy.

West Texas Intermediate crude rose by 79 cents to US$84.06 per barrel by midday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent crude, which helps set the price for oil imported into the US, added 4 cents to US$96.09 in London.

The Fed holds a two-day meeting that ends today, and in the past it has taken action to encourage Americans to spend and borrow. Many analysts think the struggles of the US economy and Europe’s debt crisis will compel the Fed to say or unveil something to try to boost confidence.

Any sign that the Fed is willing to take action could lift oil prices, which have fallen sharply during the last six weeks over fears that growth in the global economy will stall.

“The market is building on a little optimism that they’ll do something,” said Peter Donovan, an oil broker with Vantage Trading in New York.

Concerns about Iran’s nuclear programme also are pushing oil prices higher, Donovan said. Negotiations between six world powers and Iran – a major oil producer – appear to have accomplished little this week in Moscow. That increases the likelihood of a European oil embargo in July. And some analysts are concerned the matter will only be settled by an armed conflict in the Middle East.

Either action – an embargo or an attack on Iran – could cut into the world’s supply of oil.

Even before its sudden drop, the price of oil had declined from a high this year of US$109.77 on February 24.

US gasolene prices continue to follow oil lower. yesterday, the national average fell below US$3.50 per gallon (92 cents a litre) for the first time since February 10, according to auto club AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service.

The average price of gasolene in the US has dropped 44 cents since peaking at US$3.94 in early April. Along with the impact of lower crude prices, there’s a greater supply of gasolene. Refineries tend to increase stockpiles of summer gasolene after Memorial Day.

In other futures trading, heating oil added 2.2 cents to US$2.64 per gallon while wholesale gasolene fell by 1.2 cents to US$2.649 per gallon. Natural gas lost 5.2 cents to US$2.583 per 1,000 cubic feet.

– AP

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20120620/business/business91.html

Case Study News

CARICOM countries score low in carbon energy study

June 20, 2012

Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries were rated in the lower half of a survey of 26 countries that examined their ability to foster low carbon energy growth.

Jamaica at number 16 topped the eight CARICOM countries included in the survey, undertaken by the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

The other CARICOM countries in order of rankings were Belize, Barbados, Bahamas, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Suriname.

According to the IDB, the top countries were headed by Brazil followed by Nicaragua and Panama.

Countries were ranked based on four parameters: enabling framework, clean energy investments and low-carbon financing, low-carbon business and clean energy value chains, and greenhouse gas- management activities.

The IDB said that while Latin America and the Caribbean boast extraordinary renewable energy resources, the local clean energy sector is just beginning to gain traction, last year attracting less than five per cent of an estimated US$280 billion invested worldwide.

“For clean energy entrepreneurs, developers, and manufacturers, massive opportunities appear to lie ahead – if they can identify them. Similarly, government leaders could trigger a flood of new clean energy investment – if they can craft appropriate policy frameworks,” the IDB said.

Climatescope release

It said in order to bridge these gaps, the MIF in partnership with Bloomberg New Energy Finance created the Climatescope, the first annual report, index, and interactive web tool focused on the clean energy market in Latin America and the Caribbean.

It said Climatescope will be released on Tuesday during the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development.

The Climatescope uses 30 indicators to measure the ability of each country to attract capital to build a greener economy, aggregated into scores from zero to five, with five representing the best investing environment. The highest ranked country was Brazil, but it only scored 2.6, indicating ample opportunity for improving conditions to attract more capital for low-carbon and renewable energy capacity.

“Climatescope is much more than a report,” said Nancy Lee, MIF’s general manager.

“It is an interactive and dynamic tool with rich data and in-depth country profiles that allow users to change the weights of each parameter to suit their needs. We hope that the Climatescope’s unique combination of information on finance, policy, and market opportunities will have real benefits for facilitating green investment in Latin America and the Caribbean,” she said.

Michael Liebreich, chief executive of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said that over the past three years equipment prices have dropped to the point where unsubsidised clean energy is on the verge of being competitive with fossil fuels.

“For the moment, however, the sector still needs intelligent support mechanisms, and it certainly needs a raft of unhelpful barriers to be swept away,” Liebreich said.

“What Climatescope does is measure progress on these fronts on a very granular level, measure by measure, country by country. It is the first time anyone has attempted to do this, and we think it will prove of enormous value as Latin American and Caribbean countries strive to attract funds to accelerate their green growth trajectories. We commend MIF and the IDB for backing this initiative,” Liebreich added.

The report documented US$90 billion of cumulative clean energy investment in Latin America and the Caribbean between 2006 and 2011, with Brazil attracting close to 80 per cent of the total funds committed.

It said that renewable energy capacity can be installed in some parts of the region without the need for subsidies due to a combination of falling clean energy technology prices, high electricity prices and rising electricity demand.

– CMC

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20120620/business/business8.html

JPS News

JPS ramps up conservation with SmartEnergy plan

June 20, 2012

The Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) has ramped up its energy-conservation campaign by launching a new plan to help customers take control of their usage, even as it is granted new powers to go after individuals and businesses engaged in illegally abstracting electricity to the tune of about US$50 million (J$4.43 billion) annually.

President and chief executive officer, JPS, Kelly Tomblin, launched the SmartEnergy programme as an interim conservation measure as the company prepares to invest US$600 million in a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Old Harbour, St Catherine, cognisant that, if goes as planned, it will result in customers paying some 30 per cent less for electricity.

Tomblin initiated the programme against the background of what the JPS said, in a release, was a question posed by customers as to what they should do to reduce their light bills while the plant, scheduled to be completed in late 2014, is constructed.

The JPS CEO said the focus should be on conservation and efficiency.

To that end, the release said, the JPS “is leading by example”, by rolling out the programme at its Ruthven Road, St Andrew, offices where the level of conservation will be measured over time to assess the gains.

“SmartEnergy includes several initiatives aimed at helping customers take control of their usage by making the right choices, from the point of purchasing to how equipment and appliances are used,” said the statement.

Speaking at the launch event recently, Tomblin told participants JPS has a responsibility to guide customers in their energy usage, and should practise the very things it is asking customers to do.

She pointed out that in 2011, an independent evaluation was conducted by the Washington-based Castalia Strategic Advisors on options to bring down energy costs in Jamaica.

The consultants listed energy efficiency among their recommendations, indicating that customers could reduce their bills by up to 16 per cent by increasing the use of more energy-efficient technologies, Tomblin added.

“This is supported by similar research in Barbados and other countries,” the president and CEO said, adding that “JPS has a responsibility to help our customers realise the gains of using energy efficiently”.

The SmartEnergy plan will include an office energy-efficiency programme, an energy audit-certification seminar, stakeholder-education meetings, and an energy management-training programme for business customers.

According to the JPS, the Ruthven Road office will be the pilot for the company’s office energy-efficiency programme, which involves conducting an initial review of usage at that location, and working with the staff to adjust its pattern over time, in order to cut down on consumption.

Separately, the JPS’s head of corporate communications, Winsome Callum, responding to queries from Wednesday Business, indicated that a new back-billing policy approved by the Office of Utilities Regulation regarding, among other things, the illegal abstraction of electricity, will likely affect all categories of customers – residential, small commercial, large commercial and industrial.

The policy will affect customers across the island and allows back-billing for up to six years in some specified cases of irregularities.

She said it would be difficult to say approximately how many customers could be immediately impacted by the new policy, which took effect on June 1, because “this depends on the number of customers audited, and the number found with irregularities”.

Asked to quantify outstanding sums to the JPS as a result of illegally abstracted electricity, irregularities or under-billing, which the company has been trying to recover through back-billing, Callum said: “JPS loses approximately US$50 million per year as a result of illegally abstracted electricity.”

mcpherse.thompson@gleanerjm.com

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20120620/business/business5.html

News

Energy down the Drain- the link between saving water and saving energy

June 15, 2012

It is impossible to separate our energy use from our water use. The transport of water requires the use of fuel for vehicles or electricity for pumping. Therefore if we can conserve on water and reduce the amount that we transport, pump and heat (whether for showers, watering plants or other such activities) we can make a dent in our energy bill and conserve there as well. If we can start thinking holistically about the systems we use in our daily lives

News Oil

Ethanol production remains dormant, but not imports

June 15, 2012

The Petrojam Ethanol Limited (PEL) processing plant will remain shuttered for this year and probably until 2014 because of ethanol shortages, but it will continue to import and distribute the fuel for cars.

PEL hopes that market conditions will eventually normalise allowing it to produce ethanol following the shutdown of its 40-million gallon hydrous or wet-alcohol processing plant in November 2009 after its partnership with Brazilian company Coimex ended and its supply source dried up.

The state-owned energy company does not expect the current “unfavourable market conditions” to change during this fiscal year, according to disclosures to Parliament.

“Specifically, the unpredictability of viable supplies of hydrous ethanol for processing is not anticipated to improve, hence the company will not pursue the production of anhydrous ethanol,” said the Jamaica Public Bodies report produced by the Ministry of Finance.

Operators of the energy plant did not return calls for comment.

The sale of sugar cane to ethanol producers carries an opportunity cost for sugar producers. But as sugar prices spike on the world market, it has been increasingly difficult for fuel processors to maintain secure supplies of raw material or feedstock.

Sugar commodity prices have doubled over five years to US$0.20 per pound in May 2012 compared with US$0.09 in May 2007.

These market changes resulted in eroding the profit margin for production and left PEL without cheap raw material.

“With the unfavourable price differential for Caribbean Basin Initiative producers, it is now expected that stability will only be realised in another one to two years,” said the Public Bodies report. Jamaica’s fuel enter the US market duty-free under the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act or CBERA.

PEL intends to capitalise on opportunities to process ethanol under toll processing arrange-ments if they arise in the current financial year.

Even without manufacturing fuel-grade ethanol, the plant expects to double its profit from ethanol sourced from the United States – projected at J$43 million net profit this fiscal year from J$22 million last year. The profit projection rests on hitting a target of J$4.01 billion or 30 per cent increase in revenue. But it is still below earlier profit levels nearly three years ago when the plant was pumping out fuel-grade ethanol for export.

PEL will mainly import denatured anhydrous ethanol from the US to satisfy the local demand for E87 and E90 gasolene processed and sold by oil refinery Petrojam Limited. Ethanol was added to the fuel mix in November 2008 to save on cost and replace a less eco-friendly additive to gasolene.

PEL was formerly owned directly by Petrojam but was restructured in 2008 as a subsidiary of Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica, which is now parent to both energy operations.

Steven Jackson, Business Reporter

steven.jackson@gleanerjm.com

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20120615/business/business2.html

News Oil

Oil closes below US$84

June 15, 2012

Hopes that the United States Federal Reserve will do more to support the US economy drove oil to its biggest gain in two months on Thursday. Meanwhile, natural gas rose the most since January 2010 on signs of increased use of the fuel by utilities.

Speculation that the Fed will announce new steps to boost the economy grew after government reports showed that hiring is still weak while inflation remains in check. Any boost to the economy should increase demand for oil, gasolene and diesel fuel.

Benchmark crude rose US$1.29 to finish at US$83.91 per barrel Thursday in New York, the largest increase since April 11.

Brent crude, which is used to price international varieties, gained 45 cents to US$97.17 per barrel in London.

In Vienna, ministers of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) decided to keep a production target of 30 million barrels a day.

The decision had been expected. Although some members of OPEC want to reverse a recent sharp decline in oil, others worry that higher oil prices could hurt global economic growth.

Oil has fallen 24 per cent from its peak in late February.

Natural gas futures soared 31 cents to finish at US$2.495 per 1,000 cubic feet, the sharpest gain since January 6, 2010. The Energy Department reported that natural gas in storage grew by 67 billion cubic feet to 2.944 trillion cubic feet for the week ended June 8. That increase was four billion cubic feet less than analysts expected.

Rusty Braziel, president of RBN Energy, a consulting company based in Houston, says the report relieved fears that the nation’s natural gas storage facilities would reach capacity and prices would plummet further.

He sees signs that natural gas drillers have curtailed the dramatic growth in production that sent prices near a 10-year low earlier this year.

At the same time, utilities are burning more natural gas in place of coal, helping to relieve the gas glut a bit. Total inventories are still 29 percent above the five-year average of 2.278 trillion cubic feet.

Heating oil rose 1.69 cents to end at US$2.6278 per gallon and gasolene futures gained 2.1 cents to US$2.6764 per gallon.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20120615/business/business93.html

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