The hunt for cheaper energy for Jamaica: How about biomass briquettes? - Part 1

Alvin Brown, Contributor

Jamaica is experiencing four main challenges at this time: food security, an economic downturn, high crime rate, and high energy costs. These challenges are closely related. According to the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN), Jamaica imported J$54.8 billion worth of food items between January and July 2013, in comparison to J$48 billion for the corresponding period in 2012.

There have been many calls by successive governments for individuals to "grow what they eat and eat what they grow". If this campaign were truly successful, Jamaica's import bill would be significantly reduced. A reduced import bill means, among other things, less demand for foreign exchange, and a better value of the Jamaican dollar.

Crime has an impact on the other three challenging areas as evidenced by white-collar crimes, praedial larceny, and electricity theft. Last December, the Government passed its second International Monetary Fund (IMF) review for progress made under the latest agreement with the agency.

TIGHT FISCAL SPACE

The Government will undertake drastic economic measures in an attempt to satisfy the requirements of the IMF. These measures will not have economic growth as their primary objective, but rather the reduction of government expense. If its plans for the future are limited by these measures, to what extent can the Government facilitate economic growth?

According to STATIN, Jamaica spent US$1.46 billion on fuel imports between January and August 2013. The continued use of imported fuel, particularly diesel, has put Jamaica at a disadvantage.

It would be unfair not to acknowledge the moves to diversify the Jamaica's fuel usage. The options currently being investigated and/or implemented include coal, natural gas, wind and solar energy. However, coal is particularly controversial.

While it is significantly cheaper than oil, there have been many documented negative effects of using coal for fuel, including extremely high quantities of air pollution and a drastic increase in the incidence of respiratory illnesses leading to death. The pollution levels of natural gas are much less than coal and oil, and the cost of natural gas has decreased due to increased availability of this fuel source within the United States due to hydraulic fracking.

Hydraulic fracking is the process of fracturing rock by using a pressurised liquid to get to hard-to-reach gas deposits. One of the main disadvantages of using natural gas is that Jamaica does not have deposits of natural gas. This means Jamaica is held ransom to changes in prices due to speculation, wars, and natural disasters. While the continued large-scale use of imported fuels may be necessary in the short term, Jamaica needs to look outside the proverbial box for energy options.

JAMAICA AND ENERGY

According to The Jamaica Energy Policy Green Paper 2006-2020,some of the main characteristics of energy and its relationship with the Jamaican economy are:

1. Excessive dependence on imported primary energy sources;

2. Low energy supply self-sufficiency due to a lack of indigenous energy resources, and low utilisation of available sources - wind, hydro, solar, and biomass;

3. Rising share of oil products in the import energy supply mix relative to crude oil (the latter share has fallen from 42.5 per cent in 1990 to 23.5 per cent in 2004);

When bio-waste (i.e. leaves, wood, paper, grass, etc) are burnt, heat is given off, as well as ash and smoke. If the bio-waste is in a compressed form when burnt, a much larger quantity of heat and less smoke and ash is emitted.

COMPRESSED FORM

The biomass briquette is the compressed form of bio-waste. There are two types of biomass briquettes - those formed by low compression with starch used as a binding agent and those formed by high compression. The method of compression and the type of material used (otherwise called feedstock) to create briquettes dictate their characteristics.

The low-density biomass briquettes can be used for cooking and heating purposes. High-density briquettes are used for industrial purposes, including electricity generation. In this case, the briquettes are used to boil water, which, when converted into steam, turn steam turbines that generate electricity. These biomass briquettes are used in many countries including Sweden, Canada and Brazil. One option for Jamaica to achieve sustainable economic growth with the use of a cheap renewable energy source is the use of biomass briquettes.

Alvin Brown works in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine campus. He is doing research in the use of biomass briquettes to solve Jamaica's energy problem.