The Editor, Sir:

Alternative energy is an important strategic concern for Jamaica. According to the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica, we import close to 30 million barrels of petroleum products per year at substantial expense. With current oil price trends, this expense will rise.

Renewable local energy may stem this outward flow of money. Energy independence, a smaller trade deficit and potentially lower fuel prices would have positive spin-offs for the economy, businesses, agriculture and the man in the street. It was with mixed feelings, then, that I read about the negotiations between the Jamaican Government and Infinity BioEnergy of Brazil.

Unfortunate

Advances in local bioenergy production are obviously welcome, and it is good that we are attempting to revitalise our moribund sugar industry. But it is unfortunate that a local entity did not seize the opportunity. My concern is that we might make the transition from sending our money abroad for petroleum products to sending our money to Brazil for Jamaican-grown ethanol. In other words, we might still not be independent of foreign energy.

I ask the negotiating team, and the public at large, to bear those issues in mind as these important negotiations go forward:

1. Will the energy be supplied to the local market, or are the facilities intended to produce energy to export, as are current Jamaican ethanol facilities?

2. Will there be technology transfer? Will local capital, local engineers and local agronomists be an integral part of the venture so that Jamaica will eventually be in a position to control its own energy production?

3. Will our local universities be collaborating - in a concrete, structured way - in researching the issues surrounding bioenergy production and supplying the human resources?

I trust that the eminently competent Mr Aubyn Hill and his team will not only help to get us out of the expensive, uncompetitive mess that our sugar industry is in, but also help define the future of Jamaican energy.

I am, etc.,

GERALD LINDO

gerry.lindo@gmail.com

University of Georgia

Athens, GA

Via Go-Jamaica