Company perspectives from Trinidad and Tobago on renewable energy management systems and energy efficiencies
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Published:
Dec 30, 2021
Keywords:
renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy costs, energy training packages
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Abstract
The global energy market is currently undergoing a transformation at all levels within their supply chains as there is a gradual shift from the fossil fuel paradigm towards sustainable renewable energy (RE) sources and energy efficiencies (EEs). This research study examines this issue by employing an empirical research process. A survey was undertaken with fifty companies operating in Trinidad and Tobago and investigated their interest in adopting RE management systems and EEs. The research revealed that most of the companies have a low level of interest in RE management systems primarily because of current low energy costs for their operations and limited knowledge about current public sector energy incentives. To ameliorate this situation, educational campaigns, training package development, and complementary energy workshops are suggested to motivate and encourage business enterprises to consider the EE pathway.
Article Details
How to Cite
Ramkissoon-Babwah, N., & Astuti, S. P. (2021). Company perspectives from Trinidad and Tobago on renewable energy management systems and energy efficiencies. Sustinere: Journal of Environment and Sustainability, 5(3), 166–183. https://doi.org/10.22515/sustinere.jes.v5i3.105
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References
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Panwar, N. L., Kaushik, S. C., & Kothari, S. (2011). Role of renewable energy sources in environmental protection: A review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 15(3), 1513–1524. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2010.11.037
Patihk, J., Warner-Lall, D., Alexander, D., Maharaj, R., & Boodlal, D. (2021). The optimization of a potential geothermal reservoir using abandoned wells: a case study for the forest reserve field in Trinidad. Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13202-021-01322-y
Rambarath-Parasram, V., Singh, S., & Aiken, D. (2018). Overcoming the Challenges to Maritime Energy Efficiency in the Caribbean. In Trends and challenges in maritime energy management (pp. 65–82). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74576-3_6
Rohdin, P., & Thollander, P. (2006). Barriers to and driving forces for energy efficiency in the non-energy intensive manufacturing industry in Sweden. Energy, 31(12), 1836–1844. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2005.10.010
Samuel, H. A. (2013). A Review of the Status of the Interconnection of Distributed Renewables to the Grid in CARICOM Countries. https://cleanenergysolutions.org/resources/review-status-interconnection-distributed-renewables-grid-caricom-countries
Sharma, C., & Aiyejina, A. (2010). The Requirements and Effects of a RE Portfolio Standard on the Economies of the Caribbean Island Chain: A Case Study of Trinidad and Tobago. IEEE Green Technologies Conference, 1–7.
Solnørdal, M. T., & Thyholdt, S. B. (2019). Absorptive capacity and energy efficiency in manufacturing firms – An empirical analysis in Norway. Energy Policy, 132(July), 978–990. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2019.06.069
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The Energy Chamber of Trinidan and Tobago. (2020). Caribbean’s Energy Future 2019-2020.
Trianni, A., & Cagno, E. (2012). Dealing with barriers to energy efficiency and SMEs: Some empirical evidences. Energy, 37(1), 494–504. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2011.11.005
Turner, J. A. (1999). A realizable renewable energy future. Science, 285(5428), 687–689. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.285.5428.687
Vine, E., Mills, E., & Chen, A. (2000). Energy-efficiency and renewable energy options for risk management and insurance loss reduction. Energy, 25(2), 131–147. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0360-5442(99)00068-7
Winston, A., & Favaloro, G. (2017). Energy Strategy for the C-Suite. Harvard Business Review, 138–146. https://hbr.org/webinar/2017/04/energy-strategy-for-the-c-suite
Altomonte, H., Coviello, M., & Lutz, W. F. (2003). Renewable energy and energy efficiency in Latin America and the Caribbean: constraints and prospects (Issue October). Division of Natural Resources and Infrastructure.
Asci, S., & Williams, L. (2020). Potential of Solar Energy in Agricultural Production in Caribbean Countries. The JOurnal of the Caribbean Agro-Economic Society, 1, 2–20.
Boretti, A., & Al-Zubaidy, S. (2019). A case study on combined cycle power plant integrated with solar energy in Trinidad and Tobago. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, 32(December 2018), 100–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2019.02.006
Cazaubon, A. (2019). The Energy Efficiency Landscape in Trinidad & Tobago: Sharing Perspectives from Super ESCO Study. Energy Efficiency and Renewables COnfeerence 2019.
Chadee, X. T., & Clarke, R. M. (2018). Wind resources and the levelized cost of wind generated electricity in the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 81(2), 2526–2540. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2017.06.059
ECLAC. (2014). Energy Efficiency in Latin America and the Caribbean: Progress and challenges of the past five years. https://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/36637/1/S2014080_en.pdf
El-Ashram, A. (2017). Public Investment Scaling-up and Debt Sustainability: The Case of Energy Sector Investments in the Caribbean. IMF Working Papers, 17(138), 1. https://doi.org/10.5089/9781484302453.001
Firestone, W. A. (1987). Meaning in Method: The Rhetoric of Quantitative and Qualitative Research. Educational Researcher, 16(7), 16–21. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X016007016
Freris, L., & Infield, D. (2008). Renewable Energy in Power Systems. https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Renewable+Energy+in+Power+Systems-p-9780470988947
Guerra, S. (2016). Energy efficiency policies in the Caribbean: A manual to guide the discussion.
Harrison, C., & Popke, J. (2018). Geographies of renewable energy transition in the Caribbean: Reshaping the island energy metabolism. Energy Research and Social Science, 36(November), 165–174. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2017.11.008
Indar, D. (2019). National energy efficiency monitoring report of Trinidad and Tobago.
Johansson, M. T., & Thollander, P. (2018). A review of barriers to and driving forces for improved energy efficiency in Swedish industry– Recommendations for successful in-house energy management. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 82(September 2017), 618–628. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2017.09.052
Johnson, R. B., Onwuegbuzie, A. J., & Turner, L. A. (2007). Toward a definition of mixed methods research. Journal of Mixes Methods Research, 1(2), 112–133. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315740447-13
Khan, Z., & Khan, A. A. (2019, March). The challenge of renewable energy in Trinidad & Tobago | Contact Magazine. MEP Publishers. https://www.meppublishers.com/the-challenge-of-renewable-energy-in-trinidad-tobago/#axzz79irdmSDU
Lapillone, B. (2019). Study on trends in energy efficiency in selected Caribbean countries Thank you for your interest in this ECLAC publication. United Nations Publication.
Lawrence, A., Karlsson, M., & Thollander, P. (2018). Effects of firm characteristics and energy management for improving energy efficiency in the pulp and paper industry. Energy, 153, 825–835. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2018.04.092
Llorca, M., Baños, J., Somoza, J., & Arbués, P. (2017). A stochastic frontier analysis approach for estimating energy demand and efficiency in the transport sector of Latin America and the Caribbean. Energy Journal, 38(5), 153–174. https://doi.org/10.5547/01956574.38.5.mllo
Luca, G., & Park, E. (2018). Catalogue of best practices enhancing energy efficiency Work package title: Barriers mapping and best practices.
Lund, H. (2007). Renewable energy strategies for sustainable development. Energy, 32(6), 912–919. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2006.10.017
Manickchand, N. M. T. (2011). Renewable energy development in Trinidad and Tobago. Exploring scenarios for the deployment of solar photovoltaic systems (Issue June).
Martin, A. (2015). Country Profile: Trinidad and Tobago (Vol. 2, Issue 1). https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203780930
McGuire, G. (2016). Barriers to identification and implementation of energy efficiency mechanisms and enhancing renewable energy technologies in the Caribbean.
Ministry of Energy & Energy Industries The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. (2020, February). The Heroes of Energy Youth Forum 2020. The Future of Energy is in great hands. Energy Matters 08 Edition. https://www.energy.gov.tt/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Energy-Matters-Issue-8.pdf
Neyeloff, J. L., Fuchs, S. C., & Moreira, L. B. (2012). Meta-analyses and Forest plots using a microsoft excel spreadsheet: Step-by-step guide focusing on descriptive data analysis. BMC Research Notes, 5(52), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1186/1756-0500-5-52
Pablo-Romero, M. D. P., & De Jesús, J. (2016). Economic growth and energy consumption: The Energy-Environmental Kuznets Curve for Latin America and the Caribbean. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 60, 1343–1350. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.03.029
Panwar, N. L., Kaushik, S. C., & Kothari, S. (2011). Role of renewable energy sources in environmental protection: A review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 15(3), 1513–1524. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2010.11.037
Patihk, J., Warner-Lall, D., Alexander, D., Maharaj, R., & Boodlal, D. (2021). The optimization of a potential geothermal reservoir using abandoned wells: a case study for the forest reserve field in Trinidad. Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13202-021-01322-y
Rambarath-Parasram, V., Singh, S., & Aiken, D. (2018). Overcoming the Challenges to Maritime Energy Efficiency in the Caribbean. In Trends and challenges in maritime energy management (pp. 65–82). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74576-3_6
Rohdin, P., & Thollander, P. (2006). Barriers to and driving forces for energy efficiency in the non-energy intensive manufacturing industry in Sweden. Energy, 31(12), 1836–1844. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2005.10.010
Samuel, H. A. (2013). A Review of the Status of the Interconnection of Distributed Renewables to the Grid in CARICOM Countries. https://cleanenergysolutions.org/resources/review-status-interconnection-distributed-renewables-grid-caricom-countries
Sharma, C., & Aiyejina, A. (2010). The Requirements and Effects of a RE Portfolio Standard on the Economies of the Caribbean Island Chain: A Case Study of Trinidad and Tobago. IEEE Green Technologies Conference, 1–7.
Solnørdal, M. T., & Thyholdt, S. B. (2019). Absorptive capacity and energy efficiency in manufacturing firms – An empirical analysis in Norway. Energy Policy, 132(July), 978–990. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2019.06.069
Sorrell, S., Scleich, J., Scott, S., O’Malley, E., Trace, F., Boede, U., Koewener, D., Mannsbart, W., Ostertag, K., & Radgen, P. (2000). Reducing Barriers to Energy Efficiency in Public and Private Organisations (Issue February 1998).
The Energy Chamber of Trinidan and Tobago. (2020). Caribbean’s Energy Future 2019-2020.
Trianni, A., & Cagno, E. (2012). Dealing with barriers to energy efficiency and SMEs: Some empirical evidences. Energy, 37(1), 494–504. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2011.11.005
Turner, J. A. (1999). A realizable renewable energy future. Science, 285(5428), 687–689. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.285.5428.687
Vine, E., Mills, E., & Chen, A. (2000). Energy-efficiency and renewable energy options for risk management and insurance loss reduction. Energy, 25(2), 131–147. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0360-5442(99)00068-7
Winston, A., & Favaloro, G. (2017). Energy Strategy for the C-Suite. Harvard Business Review, 138–146. https://hbr.org/webinar/2017/04/energy-strategy-for-the-c-suite