WeblogBahamas.com

A cleaner, renewable Bahamas for sure. But it’s not going to happen overnight

Michael Reiach

I am about to graduate with a degree in electrical engineering and am planning to specialize in sustainable and renewable sources of energy. Admittedly, I haven’t quite got to the professional engineer status yet but most days I try and relate my studies to The Bahamas. I must give BEC and the Bahamian government credit. Running a power generation and distribution system is not easy. It is even more difficult when you consider the geographic make up of The Bahamas.

I would rather make a comparison of our electrical grid to that in North America, specifically Canada, since we derive our electrical code from them and not the UK or Europe. The grids are based on a 100-year-old mindset. The old idea was that there would be a few large generation stations to power a distribution network for a region. Now the industry is trying to evolve that idea into multiple, smaller generation sites that can alleviate the dependency and demand on central power generators and possibly even feed excess energy into the grid. The Bahamas has taken the old grid approach by developing an independent power system on each island rather than trying to share resources. This has resulted in 29 power stations on over 25 islands.

It’s easier said than done. A large portion - 55% - of the energy in Ontario is generated by nuclear power. Nuclear power plants cannot be turned off in an instant – look at what happened in Japan. Nuclear gets a bad rap, which is too bad. It is very efficient and keeps the fuel surcharge low. Unfortunately, nuclear plants generate far more than the population of The Bahamas could ever demand so I will not be saying anymore about them.

Now onto what Mr Humes was talking about in The Nassau Guardian recently. He said:

“I know the high cost of energy is a major factor when doing business in the country. We have to look at ways of reducing energy costs. We need to introduce renewable energy sources like solar, hydro and wind that all can be used to bring down the cost of doing business,”

You cannot just say that so simply since there are other costs to consider than just generation, but I’ll go with the flow.

So Mr Humes could suggest that we throw lots of money into wind power and then we should have really cheap rates? Some of the highest energy prices are in Europe. Denmark is known as the wind power capital of the world. They cannot cope with the demand and their average price for energy is ~$0.40 per kWh [1] with the majority of energy being supplied by fossil fuels. Last time I checked, BEC was at $0.15 per kWh with a fluctuating fuel surcharge that was below $0.40 per kWh.

Continuing

Lessons in Freedom: A Small Pleasure of Book Production

Tibor R. Machan

One of my books is a collection of prominent essays by mostly contemporary libertarian political-economic thinkers.  Its title, The Libertarian Reader (1982), was so well chosen that years later someone quite prominent, David Boaz of the Cato Institute, also used it for a collection of essays he put together, The Libertarian Reader (1998). (Just in case you didn’t know, in the publishing world it is acceptable to make us of the titles of already published books.)

One of the hopes of authors and editors of books is of course that these will be bought and read, not to mention in huge numbers.  But unless one is a famous author or so dedicated to learning of the fate of one’s works, it is rare that one learns whether they have made the rounds. (In the academic world, of course, professors often assign books they have written or edited in their classes, although such self-dealing is widely frowned upon.)

I do know that another book of mine was at least considered for display in a movie or TV program because some years ago I received a form letter asking that I give permission for a producer to do just that with my The Pseudo-Science of B. F. Skinner, originally published by Arlington House of New Rochelle, NY (later reprinted by the University Press of America) and once reviewed very favorably in by Robert W. Proctor and Daniel J. Weeks in The American Journal Of Psychology (Summer 1990).  But I never learned if this ever came to pass.

On introducing renewable energy any time soon: A pipe dream?

 

From GridCarbon iPhone App

Rick Lowe

Mr. Mark Humes, chairman of the DNA, was recently quoted in The Nassau Guardian feature column, "My Ten Cents", as saying "We need to introduce renewable energy sources like solar, hydro and wind that can all be used to bring down the cost of doing business".  (http://bit.ly/A0fT4m)

Preserving the environment is one thing, and it might even be desirable for the political class to encourage us to be more conscious of this, but even a country the size of the United Kingdom relies on coal, gas and nuclear for over 90% of its energy requirements. So is it even feasible at this point in time for an investment in these so called "green" technologies for The Bahamas?

Using an iPhone App that measures the UK Grid Carbon Intensity, developed by the University of Southampton called GridCarbon, only 3.9% of the UK's power was from Wind and .9% from Hydro. Coal accounted for 54.8%, Gas 20.6% and Nuclear 20% (as at 1:45am GMT on February 4, 2012). See image at left.

What is the cost of a wind farm or hydro plant? Where would they have to be placed to work? How about solar panels large enough to run a power grid for an average New Providence neighbourhood? In other words, has a cost benefit analysis been done or are these cute, throw away lines at election time?

Sure, why not dream of a cleaner and cheaper way of producing electricity. But to suggest this technology or even our ability to use it in a practical manner is available and at prices we can afford any time soon, so the price of business will be reduced, is little more than a pipe dream.

Lets protect the environment of course, but we also have to be practical about it.

Some sensible talk on economic inequality

Rick Lowe

Hope you enjoy the following video from Economic Freedom and Professor Robert Lawson.

Poke around their web site for a bit. I bet you'll enjoy it.

Burmese pythons thought to be wrecking Florida's Everglades

 

Click on image for more information from www.naturephoto-cz.com

Rick Lowe

I posted those photos of the Everglades yesterday as a result of this article in The International Business Times and other newspapers.

Here's a heartbreaking snippet from the article by Amir Khan:

"The Burmese python is wrecking the Florida Everglades ecosystem and have devastated small mammal populations in the area, according to a recent study. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the number raccoon and possums spotted in the Everglades has dropped more than 98 percent, bobcat sightings are down 87 percent, and rabbits and foxes have not been seen at all in years.

"Burmese pythons are not native to the Everglades. They were spotted since the 1980s, but were established as an invasive species in 2000. It is not known how they originated, but some believe that pet owners abandoned snakes once they reach an unmanageable size (Burmese pythons can grow up to 12 feet). Another theory on how Burmese pythons came to the Everglades is that a holding warehouse filled with imported Burmese pythons was destroyed by Hurricane Andrew, releasing the snakes en masse in a single area.

Milton Friedman's Century - Free or Equal Documentary preview

Rick Lowe

There are only a couple spots left to watch the new documentary on Dr. Milton Friedman by Johan Norberg.

Click here… to sign up for this Nassau Institute event scheduled for Thursday, January 26, 2012.

Beyond Politics: The Roots of Government Failure by Randy T. Simmons

Rick Lowe

The Independent Institute first published this work on Public Choice Theory by William Mitchell and Randy T. Simmons back in 1994 (I think I bought it in the late 1990's) and while it remains relevant, Dr. Simmons has Revised and updated it.

The brief introduction says:

"In the updated and revised edition of his ground-breaking work, Randy Simmons challenges the traditional theories surrounding “market failures” and demonstrates that “government failures” are far more common and harmful to society."

Hope you enjoy the brief interview of Dr. Simmons by Dr. William Shughart below.

Order your copy of the book here…

Lessons in Freedom: Ayn Rand & Murray Rothbard: Diverse Champions of Liberty

By Tibor R. Machan*

No one should attempt to treat Ayn Rand and Murray N. Rothbard as uncomplicated and rather similar defenders of the free society although they have more in common than many believe. As just one example, neither was a hawk when it comes to deploying military power abroad. There is evidence, too, that both considered it imprudent for the US government to be entangled in international affairs, such as fighting dictators who were no threat to America. Even their lack of enthusiasm for entering WW II could be seen as quite similar.

And so far as their underlying philosophical positions are concerned, they both can be regarded as Aristotelians. In matters of economics they were unwavering supporters of the fully free market capitalist system, although while Rand didn’t find corporations per se objectionable, arguably Rothbard had some problems with corporate commerce, especially as it manifest itself in the 20th century. One sphere in which they took very different positions, at least at first glance, is whether government is a bona fide feature of a genuinely free country. Rand thought it is, Rothbard thought it wasn’t. Yet the reason Rothbard opposed government was that it depended on taxation, something Rand also opposed, so even here where the difference between them appears to be quite stark, they were closer than one might think.

ARKive: Images of Life on Earth

A friend sent a link to ARKive recently and I've poked around it a bit, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Click on the image or link above and explore the many videos and images of "Life on Earth".

Following is a sample of the many types of images that are available for your enjoyment. Click on it to go to the ARKive site.

Rolling Harbour. Another neat blog from Abaco

Describing themselves as an  "...Abaco wildlife blog that covers a wide range of fauna (inc cetaceans), flora, and a great deal else besides…" it's certainly a fun site.

Their "Profile" is a must read. A great sense of humour obviously.

Take a poke around…