The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) of India presented an audit of Guyana’s potential for energy efficiency to stakeholders from participating agencies, at a ceremony held on Monday at the Guyana International Conference Centre.
Over the past few months the institute has been spearheading a two-phase project which gives technical support to the Guyana Government in the areas of climate change and energy. This second phase of the project was aimed at improving the output of the rice, sugar and manufacturing sectors, a report from the Government Information Agency (GINA) said.
Associate Director of TERI, Dr Rudra Narsimha Rao, who handed over the report, said that the studies were conducted with rice mills, sugar estates, sawmills and manufacturing agencies to promote energy management and conservation and increase outputs. He said that energy efficiency is the main method of fighting climate change and its global impact since unclean energy is the main contributor.
Dr Rao said that a three-year plan had been completed for the sugar industry and recommendations are expected to be adopted in its daily operations. He explained that some of the recommendations can be categorised as short, medium and long-term, in order to prioritise efforts to improve energy efficiency. Already other rice millers have expressed interest in being a part of the pilot project.
Head of the Office of Climate Change, Shyam Nokta said some of the recommendations have already been adopted in various agencies and improvements have already been recorded. He lauded the institute’s efforts and commitment to the project. Nokta also announced that the project will be extended to a third phase, which will see the expansion of the focus on energy efficiency in social and productive sectors of society.
Meanwhile, Minister of Agriculture Dr Leslie Ramsammy said it would be reckless to ignore the role of energy conservation and efficiency. He referred to the Low Carbon Development Strategy, noting that Guyana is focused on moving beyond the category of “underdeveloped” to become a high-middle income country; an advance that can be supported by increased focus on energy efficiency.
The minister underscored the fact that agriculture is the largest manufacturing sector in the country and noted that, when it was being developed, the focus was on food security.
GMSA President Clinton Williams also lauded the project. He noted that focus must be placed on improving energy efficiency and the involvement of additional stakeholders.
According to GINA, the institute’s energy auditing was part of the second phase of its work in Guyana, under a MoU with the government signed in 2012 which has seen it providing technical support to help Guyana improve its energy efficiency in the productive sectors. The agencies which participated in the project are the Guyana Sugar Corporation, the Guyana Rice Development Board, Guyana Forestry Commission and the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA).
