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

Florida's Fabulous Everglades. Simply incredible.

 The following photos were taken over the years in Florida's Everglades.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

 Click on each image for a closer look.

 

Native Stew: Still one of the best sites for things cultural in The Bahamas

Tom Waits - Song of the week - January 16, 2012 - Tom Traubert's Blues

Rick Lowe

I just love this tune.

Tom Trauberts Blues (Four Sheets To The Wind In Copenhagen)

Please visit Tom Waits web site here… and buy some of his material.

Tom Waits also has a new CD out, Bad As Me, you might buy as well. I just did.

Hope you enjoy the video of Satisfied, the 10th song from this most interesting work as only Tom Waits can produce.

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…

Milton Friedman's Century - Free or Equal Documentary Preview

Join the Nassau Institute for their inaugural event of the year on Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 6:30pm at their offices on East Bay Street.

See below for more details:

"The Nassau Institute has joined the Free To Choose Network in a worldwide celebration of the winning ideas of freedom.

"2012 is the centennial of Milton Friedman’s birth and the 50th anniversary of the publication of his first book on public policy: Capitalism and Freedom. Free To Choose Network is spearheading the effort that involved think tanks from around the world.

"Please join us in The Milton Friedman Room at The Nassau Institute office on Thursday, Janaury 26, 2012 at 6:30pm for the showing of Johan Norberg's new documentary, Free or Equal. The one-hour film "examines the contemporary relevance of (Dr. Milton) Friedman’s ideas..."

"Admission is free. Donations welcome.

"Refreshments and popcorn will be served.

"Sign up online here…

The Abaco Scientist - A Great New Site

Started in September 2011, The Abaco Scientist gives us an interesting glimpse into the natural wonders of The Bahamas.

Hope you can take some time to poke around the site, it's very interesting.

Here's how they introduce themselves at the site:

Abaco, just like all of the Bahamian Islands, hosts a wealth of natural wonders. From parrots to whales to blue holes to mangrove wetlands, it is no wonder that scientific research is thriving on the island. The Abaco Scientist is intended as your one-stop source for all things science on Abaco and throughout The Bahamas.

The site is administered by Craig Layman, a faculty member at Florida International University (http://www2.fiu.edu/~laymanc/).  A small number of people currently are authorized to make posts, a diversity of individuals involved with science at different levels on Abaco and throughout The Bahamas.  But everyone is  encouraged to comment - just use the red  ”comment” link in the header of each post.  If you have suggestions, or would like to become a contributor, let me know in any of the comment boxes on any post.

From basic natural history to cutting edge scientific findings, we hope this site inspires you to learn more about the scientific underpinnings of the natural world. Science will play a critical role in addressing the fundamental environmental challenges The Bahamas faces, and everyone’s input is critical.

We hope this site helps you become more involved. So dive right in!!!

Politicians want to "invest" in people?

Rick Lowe

I was accused recently of being negative and opposing ideas from the political class.

Well, I am negative about politicians that talk about investing in people to be sure, simply because it's rhetoric. Nothing more, nothing less.

Taking tax dollars from Bahamians to "invest" in people has a nice ring to it I must admit, but taking tax dollars that are to be used for the good of all Bahamians to give to one group over another is no less Constitutional than it is wrong.

As you will see in the video below, there is no such thing as public money.

The burden future generations of Bahamians will have to bear because of bad policies like this only continues to grow and I honestly think many of our political class, while their intentions might be good, misunderstand the role of government.

Margaret Thatcher: a figure of history and legend

Rick Lowe

One of my favourite blogs - The Coffee House - posted a neat little blog about the the new feature film about Lady Margaret Thatcher. Read it here...

As Charles Moore noted in his review for The Telegraph about the film:

"One of the benign effects of the passage of time is that hatred comes to seem an irrelevant emotion. One does not feel that one has to loathe Julius Caesar for capturing Britain, or even Napoleon for threatening our shores. One is simply interested in what these great men did and what they were like. A comparable process is now benefiting Margaret Thatcher. You have to be over 40 to hate her. Young people, I find – whether instinctively pro or anti or, most commonly, not sure – find her extremely interesting."

Watch the movie trailer below.

Enjoy.