GREEN POWER

Sep 13, 2009 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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In a defence offered by the government for a high-cost project in the drainage and irrigation sector, one official explained that the benefits of the expenditure would flow in the future. This column replied by saying that in project management there is a way of tabulating the present cost of future benefits.
The building of a railway to link Linden to Lethem and consequently to Brazil may seem to the President of Guyana like an expensive proposition. At least this is what he implied in response to a contribution from the floor during one of the consultations held for his Low Carbon Development Strategy.
An interior resident had raised this suggestion but it was quickly shot down by the President on the basis of its cost. Perhaps the President is not aware of how the west was opened up: it was through the railways.
Throughout history, railways have proved critical to the development of countries and the expansion of settlements and commerce. Cargo is moved far cheaper by railway than it is by roads, and railways have allowed for new settlements to develop and prosper.
Both the PPP and the PNC have admitted that the scrapping of the railway was a mistake, and therefore it becomes extremely surprising that with the desire of the government to link to Brazil that greater consideration is not being given to using the existing trail for a railway rather than an all-weather road.
The cost may be comparative between the two but in the final analysis, a railway would allow for the movement of large amounts of cargo from the ports of Georgetown to the northern States of Brazil and would also allow for the movement of refrigerated, containerized cargo from Lethem to the city, something that would boost the local cattle industry in Lethem, especially now that the Ministry of Agriculture is threatening to take away unutilized lands in that area.
A railway rather than a road link is the way to go. The long-term benefits can be calculated. It would also reduce the number of fossil-burning trucks and pick-ups on that treacherous trail. There are trains now that run on a percentage of biofuels and thus the development of a railway can be done in a manner that will add some useful practical initiatives to the Low Carbon Development Strategy.
This strategy which is being developed in conjunction with a powerful environmental lobby, one of the prime beneficiaries of any carbon trading deal that will emerge in Copenhagen in December, needs to dedicate at least a portion of itself toward small practical ideas that would see Guyana reducing its own carbon emission levels. It matters not that we may be a net producer of carbon; the very credibility of the strategy must include practical suggestions that would see Guyana reduce its importation and emission of greenhouse gases.
Right now there is a serious garbage disposal problem along the Coast. This problem is not confined to the City. In certain sections of the East Coast, persons are dumping their garbage into the Atlantic. The debris that is washing up along the seawall is evidence of this reckless and wanton disposal of garbage. In most areas of Guyana there is no garbage disposal system and thus households have to find ways of disposing of their garbage.
In the old days this was not a problem. There was not the range of consumer goods or the purchasing power to make this a problem. Household waste for most country folks were incinerated or buried at the back of their lots. This cannot be done today without a serious problem.
More than fifty per cent of household waste today is kitchen waste which has to be dumped somewhere. And yet a serious attempt can be made to reduce this kitchen waste through the use of low cost bio-digesters which break down kitchen waste to a nutrient-rich fertilizer.
The technology is quite simple and is now readily available in countries such as China. It utilizes what is commonly called a green cone in which the waste is placed and heated through energy provided by a small solar panel. The waste is broken down into sediment and in larger bio-digesters, methane gas is also released. This gas can then be collected in liquid form and used as fuel. For many interior locations, this would be an alternative to the use of kerosene and firewood as a source of energy for cooking.
Instead of therefore seeking to put a computer in very home in Guyana, the government should launch a few pilot projects, in areas where there is no refuse disposal service and in rural areas. This would make a small but nonetheless important dent in the use of fossil fuels while allowing for household savings and improved environmental practices.

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