Jamaica: Tackling Fuel Poverty in the Blue Mountains

Scientists have predicted that the earth’s inhabitants have thirty years to change carbon emission habits before the environment hits a point of no return. The President of the UK Royal Society said, “We must act now. Because of time-lags in the climate system we are setting in motion today a series of potentially very serious consequences that will be played out at a future time, when there will be little that can be done to prevent them.”

This will be a challenge for first world nations that have ample access to non-renewable resources, but what about places like Hagley Gap, Jamaica, where fuel poverty is a way of life?

The Blue Mountain Project and Gordon Foat’s Future Energies have recently teamed up to tackle fuel poverty and water purification problems through exploring the use of solar, wind, hydropower and other future energy technologies in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica. In a region were the roads, power lines and water systems are destroyed every year by hurricanes, it makes perfect sense to switch the community from unstable water and power lines to renewable sources; sources which produce energy from within the community rather then importing it. Foat plans on making Hagley Gap a testing area for new technologies that work with the environment to provide people with the energy that they need to live healthy and productive lives.

The biggest challenges the group faces are purifying the water, having a reliable source of electrical power for the clinic and establishing reliable communication systems. The river that runs through Hagley Gap is used for bathing, laundry and drinking water. Preliminary testing has established the presence of at least one parasite, Blastocystis Homonesis. Many of the skin and stomach issues that are seen in the Blue Mountain Project Health Clinic can be attributed to unclean drinking and bathing water. More testing of the water must happen before the exact issues can be pinpointed.

The electricity currently is wired up the steep mountain road. It is not unusual for the mountain’s power to switch off several times a day and remain off for a month or more during the hurricane season.

Internet access would provide a vital link to the outside world. The Blue Mountain Project administration conducts much of its business via the internet, but in order to communicate with U.S. business partners and the board of directors, they have to travel over mountains and unpaved roads. Access to the good quality power and internet will provide many new learning opportunities in a community that has a 75% unemployment rate.

UK based Future Energies has the know-how and skills to solve these issues in a sustainable fashion. Ideas that have been discussed include using micro generation power produced by the river using small water turbines. This power will be used to pump water through a purification system and provide much needed refrigeration facilities for the clinic for medical uses. A range of alternative energies have been discussed including wind, Micro Hydro Power Systems, electrical solar power and bio gas facilities, all to be used with telecommunications, such as wireless networks for the internet.

Foat’s team has spent many hours of research to begin to formulate a plan that will provide cost effective alternative resources that will meet the community’s needs. It is his plan to make Hagley Gap a model of what can be accomplished with renewable and environmentally sound energy choices.

More information can be found concerning the Blue Mountain Project and renewable technologies at www.bluemountainproject.org & www.futureenergies.co.uk