Colour of the future

MINISTER of Energy Franklin Khan on Monday did his best to put on a brave face in the wake of the shocking and unprecedented collapse of oil prices. It is true that futures trade by the month: the situation is inherently ephemeral. And the minister said TT oil is not pegged to the free-falling West Texas Intermediate (WTI) benchmark. But even the minister must recognise the symbolic importance of what has occurred. It is an omen of a changed world. It cannot be ignored.

Realisation of such was evident in Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s address, on the very same day, at the first sitting of the recovery team appointed by him to steer the way forward post-covid19.

“Life as we know it has changed,” Rowley said.

Signalling the need for more agile governance, a more resilient economy and less reliance on food imports, he asked the committee to come up with a plan. “What are the new industries that we should be promoting?” In many ways, the collapsed oil price that day provided an answer.

When it comes to economic restructuring, the natural inclination will be not to rock the boat. We have a wealth of experience, assets and trained workers in the petrochemical sector and it will only be natural to attempt to divert these resources into similar, related downstream or ancillary industries. Yet, rock the boat we must. Bold action must be taken to make this country a substantial producer of green energy.

To some extent, we’ve already started this transition. In 2015, Finance Minister Colm Imbert set a target of ten per cent power generation from renewables by 2021. Solar and wind energy were two technologies identified. But even back in 2015, that target seemed conservative. It will have to be dramatically revised upward now.

In some quarters there is the view that boosting this type of energy production could require just one mega-project. Such an approach has the advantage of being easy to implement, but it will require money. In this regard, changing the energy profile of this country will require the use of diplomatic nous.

Many international agencies have long set aside funding for green energy projects. It is possible that such funding may still be available, meaning these drastic changes might be within reach, assuming global powers and agencies will and are able to acknowledge the need to continue to line up behind clean energy.

Green energy could reduce the burden on the Treasury to the tune of billions. Jobs could be created by a new manufacturing sector focusing on items needed for sustainable energy, while the construction of new facilities will boost employment initially. To prevaricate now could place us at a disadvantage.

On Monday, Rowley made plain what is at stake for the country.

“If it goes down, we all will live in the ashes,” he said. We must go green.