I am sharing this first blog post on the First of March from a good friend. She has a keen eye and sharp intellect and is a woman of strong faith, too. I do hope you will follow her – and look forward to the next post!
COAL INSTEAD OF CORALS
This week brought the shocking news that the proposed mega-port logistics hub to be build by Chinese company CHEC will include a coal-fired electricity generating plant. If the news of the total destruction of the land, fish sanctuaries and coral reefs is not enough, Jamaican citizens will experience the smoke, ash and waste products from the world’s worst fossil fuel. With all the sunshine and land available, I wonder whether China could not have been persuaded to use some of its millions of surplus solar panels to construct a solar power plant for the controversial project. I wonder too if the proposed ‘Chinatown” city for the project’s Chinese staff will also be powered by this plant.
The smoke rising from the coal furnaces will either blow east to Kingston, west to St. Catherine or directly up to the Sligoville hills, and Pinnacle. It all…
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Petchary's Blog 
Yes, but underdeveloped. You’re very welcome.
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Yes, an offshore wind farm is a better option. Frictional force would be a lot less, the only limitation would be storm force winds.
I agree with you, there is no such thing as clean coal or clean fossil fuels. But modern coal plants can be better than fuel oil, especially if done properly. Nearshore nat gas could be another option, but probs with sourcing gas a Trinidad.
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Oh yes, I had wondered about natural gas, too. Doesn’t Venezuela have lots of it? (I think I need to do more research, that’s for sure!) Thanks so much for your input.
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Take a look at what is happening in Chinese cities right now to see the benefits of coal power – the densest smog ever seen.
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Exactly! What further proof is there than what they are doing to themselves? The smog is so bad that it is even affecting agricultural areas outside the cities I understand – blotting out the sun so crops are not growing properly! Can you imagine…
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Hi Emma, this Nigel from twitter. I want to join the discussion, it’s is possible that we may differ on a few points. I agree that GOJ should provide a lot more info as it relates to the goat islands project.
In terms of the power plant, it is quite quite tricky. Wind is probaly the least feasible (for the goatislands proposal). A large commercial wind turbine will need wind speeds in excess of 7 meter/second (m/s) or about 15miles/hour (mph) to turn. Only a few areas are best suited for commericial wind turbines.
You can have a look on the recent article. http://m.jamaicaobserver.com/mobile/business/Jamaica-can-triple-wind-energy-output_14929755 Sea breeze (convective currents will occur when solar radiation heats up the land faster than the ocean, this will lead to rising air over land. Cooler offshore air will rush to replace the ascending air. Hence we get sea breeze. The opposite occurs during the night.) will flow onshore during the day, but the winds are generally weak. Winds can also be generated over higher elevations, but not the case with southern St catherine. So wind energy would be very unlikely.
Solar maybe a better option, but there are major limiting factors. The biggest in this case is most likely land. About 25 acres is needed for 5MW, it’s likely that the Chinese will need in excess of 100MW. Therefore, at least 500 acres would be needed to supply only the power.
In terms of coal, if older tech is used, coal would obviously be the worst in terms of health issues. But modern coal fired plants are cleaner (relatively) than older heavy fuel oil plants(currently our dominant source of fuel.)
Just my take on the issue, enjoy the rest of your weekend.
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Hi Nigel, so nice of you to comment. I want to do some more research and write a post shortly on coal-fired power plants. Having grown up with them in England – chimneys belching out smoke, and actual London SMOG (not fog) – the thought fills me with horror but of course that’s my gut feeling… I realize wind power isn’t always reliable and solar takes up space. What about an offshore wind farm though? Did you know that the World Bank has decided not to fund any more coal-fired power plants anywhere in the world, except under extremely unusual circumstances? Whatever the alternatives, we cannot continue to pollute our air in this way, and it WILL be pollution. Modern plants yes, I am sure they are “cleaner” but there is no such thing as “clean coal”… Have you visited Wigton Wind Farm by the way? They have expanded recently. I visited a few years ago and was in awe! We MUST find alternatives or we will kill ourselves.
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