PACIFIC: Delegates address impact of rising fuel costs

Pacific Beat - ABC Radio Australia
Thursday, June 8, 2006

More than 30 Pacific Island lawmakers have gathered for the meeting of the Association of Pacific Island Legislatures in the Northern Marianas this week, with the rising cost of fuel high on the agenda. The delegates say the continuing rises in costs are leaving island states vulnerable because of isolation and heavy reliance on oil for electricity generation.

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Presenter/Interviewer: Megan Flamer

Speakers: Senator Kalani English, Hawaii delegate and Vice President of APIL. Dr Terry Surles, Director of the Pacific International Centre for High Technology Research. Helene Hail, Hawaii delegate. Okada Techitong, Vice Speaker, Palau.

FLAMER: The theme of the APIL meeting this year is alternative and renewable energy sources for the Pacific Islands. It's a particularly pertinent topic, as some Pacific Island nations report oil costing them almost 100 dollars US a barrel, and others citing difficulties in providing basic needs for their residents. Delegates at the meeting say swift action is necessary before the situation worsens.

Hawaiian senator, Kalani English, is the newly elected vice-president of the APIL.

ENGLISH: The rising fuel cost in the Pacific is a major concern to the island nations here. I was told we're in the Commonwealth of the Mariannas Islands, and I was told that they just paid 98 dollars a barrel for base fuel and they have a rolling blackouts on the island now and they're not producing enough power for the basic consumption.

The Federated States of Micronesia are likewise is facing some fuel shortages. They have some in reserve, but they're starting to use their reserve. And I'm told that in the remote islands, such as Sadwal, or Ulupian in Yap that they've actually stopped using the motor boats and they are going back to building canoes, because they can't find or afford the fuel. So it's become an acute crisis for the islands.

The major part of it of course is transportation, is actually getting it to the islands.

FLAMER: So what's happening in terms of trying to find alternative fuel sources?

ENGLISH: You know I think necessity is the mother of all invention, and we have been advising and working with Pacific Island governments to take a very serious look at alternative energy, especially solar and wave and wind energy.

FLAMER: Helene Hail is another of the Hawaiian representatives at the meeting. She says there's been a number of bills passed in Hawaii to encourage natural energy as a viable alternative.

HALE: The one thing we gave a lot of more power to our Public Utilities Commission and they're supposed to hire somebody that will try to do more research and we're pushing for research, for various kinds of wind, solar, wave energy.

FLAMER: Palau vice speaker, Okada Techitong says financial aid could provide immediate help, but in the long term it'll be better for the Pacific's independence and environmental health to look for alternative power supplies.

TONG: In the meantime, I think the only means left for us to do is to get the people to conserve.

FLAMER: Dr Terry Surles, has been called in to talk at the APIL meeting about energy efficient technologies that could replace the petrol currently being used.

Dr Surles in the Director of the non profit group, Pacific International Centre for High Technology Research, and he says each country needs to be evaluated individually.

SURLES: The indigenous resources are going to vary from country-to-country. For example, in some regions, you'll be able to use some type of new or solar thermal technology because of the sunlight that's available.

In other locations, you might be able to use winds. The biggest problem with those is that you do need some type of either backup generation or storage technology to use when obviously the sun's not shining or the winds not blowing.

The problem with a lot of these new renewable energy systems is that to install them there more expensive on the front end, but the life cycle compared to the price of petroleum in the longer run is there cheaper.

FLAMER: And in the meantime, Dr Surles, says conserving power is the key.

SURLES: Anything you can do to save electricity by having more efficient products in homes and in commercial establishments, that's the best and quickest way to reducing cost at this point.

Original article URL: http://www.abc.net.au/ra/pacbeat/stories/s1658589.htm

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