Wild Tobago

Imagine! Our emerald isles, green and serene. Tobago – unspoilt, undiscovered, untouched - remains the beacon of what our two islands can become again. So what lies beyond Petrotrin, beyond the stink of oil and gas? What is on the blue horizon for Tobago and Trinidad? Dr Anjani Ganase, marine scientist, explores the way to our future with information taken from the IPCC assessment report 5. It is clear, according to the last report from the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC), we need to make changes as quickly as possible. As our lifestyles continue to advance, our energy consumption is expected to more than double from 2010 in 2050 unless we drastically reduce greenhouse gas emission. Climate change has already resulted in scorched landscapes.  Island nations are drowning, adding climate refugees to the caravans. Coral reefs are decimated worldwide. We cannot imagine what life would be like in 2050 if we continue business as usual. Fortunately, scientists have...

Ruben Smith of SM Solar, continues his discussion about how the villages of tiny Tobago could set solar power in motion, by asserting characteristic solidarity and co-operative approaches. TTEC has the power to facilitate the process while helping itself to new future business.   “The only true and sustainable prosperity is shared prosperity.” ― Joseph E. Stiglitz Why should Tobago turn on solar power? Because it can, and if it did, would be in the vanguard of sustainable small islands. If we were to look at how a small Tobago village, say a Castara or a Charlotteville or even a Cove Estate, would migrate to using solar power, it might be less difficult to envisage an empowered future. One of the keys to optimum benefit from an alternative energy source (such as solar or wind) is the co-operative. Villages and residential developments able to foster a strong and effective community ethos are the most likely to succeed. Some of the new...

The sun is on for everyone, in Tobago. A small village, like Charlotteville, could take advantage of solar energy. Photo Pat Ganase “The only true and sustainable prosperity is shared prosperity.” ― Joseph E. Stiglitz, 2001 Nobel Prize for Economics Climate change is real. The challenge for all the nations of the world is to keep the rise in average global temperatures under 2 degrees Celsius (1.5 degrees is the acceptable limit). The means by which we achieve the global target includes a menu of strategies and measures, including reduction in plastic waste and its removal from the oceans, reducing and removing atmospheric carbon, limiting fossil fuel use and finding sustainable renewable sources of energy. Scientists acknowledge that no one measure is going to be the magic solution to the warming world. We must all do what we can, and do it urgently.  This week, Ruben Smith of SM Solar, continues his discussion about how the villages of tiny Tobago could set solar power in...