THE EDITOR, Sir:OREN O. COUSINS' letter of February 6, 2005 was a welcome follow-up to his former and other associated contributions. But I see a few problems:
Marine-based wind farms have a high ratio of maintenance costs to productivity. Given Jamaica's terrain, it does make more sense to establish a wind farm offshore than on land to harness winds which are more stable and directionally consistent than those bouncing off hills and eddying through gullies on land-based sites.
Thermal ocean-generated electricity is a nice idea. This is when electricity is captured at the interface between warm and cold ocean currents. Again, maintenance of submersibles can be costly, while training, paying and equipping crews is often a hidden overhead.
Solar power has become reliable, affordable, efficient and combined with metal-hydride technology, produces 24 hours a day. Billions of gallons of water falls annually wasted. It washes out roads, housing foundations, is easily polluted before it reaches the ocean and causes erosion which can never be repaired.
Jamaica's terrain is more suitable for multiple micro-hydro projects. Easily installable and maintainable, these are reliable, can dump electricity into the national grid, and if operating in a dammed structure, also control run-off, thereby minimising local structural damage and erosion.
Not the least important is public education as to the value of electricity. The average Jamaican simply wants to turn on a tap and get water, flick a light switch and get electricity. If this doesn't happen, the first thing is to blame government or utility services -- not to say either are blameless but conservation and sensible use take place from the ground up.
A blanket, persistent, hard-nosed PR campaign needs to be imposed on the Jamaican public to change attitudes towards consumption of Jamaican utilities.
I am, etc.,
MARTIN HARLEY
mharle6450@aol.com
