WASHINGTON, DC – Jamaica’s Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States (OAS), Ambassador Gordon Shirley, has called on international financial institutions to give assistance to researchers engaged in energy sustainability within the Caribbean region.
Addressing the recent 37th Regular Session of the OAS General Assembly on ‘Energy for Sustainable Development’, in Panama City, Ambassador Shirley said that, “we believe that the investments in research and development, sharing of best practices, innovations, technological breakthroughs and regional policy initiatives must form the basis for strengthening of the energy sector and the allocation of resources accordingly to meet our national goals.”
“Jamaica is happy to report that there are a number of initiatives that are currently taking place to explore alternative energy source. The University of Technology has recently begun to conduct its own research in solar biomass and conversion of waste to energy.
There is also a new initiative being undertaken with the co-operation of the Belize Government in the area of bio-fuels, in which the Jamaican private sector has partnered,” he added.
Professor Shirley, who is also Ambassador to the United States, pointed out that Jamaica has started to examine liquefied natural gas (LNG) in a very serious way.
“We continue to explore hydro power to harness our natural resources, and we have also established wind farms in one of the central parishes of the island. A pilot project involving the use of ethanol in fuels is underway and based on the findings, Jamaica intends to take all these new developments in energy even further,” he said.
Ambassador Shirley encouraged financial institutions to look at identifying financial resources and innovative mechanisms to finance these new developments and undertakings.
