Secure & Sustainable Energy Future

Lying beneath a coconut tree tilted perfectly upon a sandy beach on a cool breezy day might someday be just a dream. En route to the beach we cover our skins in sunscreen for fear of sunburn due to the scorching sun. These days the sun seems to bear no mercy as it pelts down on us during the dry season, clearly temperatures are rising. This phenomenon is called global warming and it is as a result of our indiscriminate treatment of mother earth. Although the Caribbean islands minimally contribute to the causes of global climate change, they will endure much of the brunt of the impacts. These islands which make up the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) are Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Renewable energy and energy efficiency are two definite strategies that work hand in hand and may be employed to accomplish a secure and sustainable future in the Caribbean. Sustainability is based on a simple principle; everything that we need for our survival and well-being depends on our natural environment. Sustainability creates and maintains the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic and other requirements for not only now but in the future. We must therefore learn to not only cope with but quarantine and fix climatic issues. One of the techniques with seems to be the most popular one advocated is the use of renewable energy. This is any energy resource that is naturally regenerated over a short time scale and derived directly from the sun (such as thermal, photochemical, and photoelectric), indirectly from the sun (such as wind, hydropower, and photosynthetic energy stored in biomass), or from other natural movements and mechanisms of the environment (such as geothermal and tidal energy). Non-renewable energy includes energy resources derived from fossil fuels, waste products from fossil sources, or waste products from inorganic sources. Trinidad and Tobago is no exception and will also