Natural gas being used as transition fuel from bunker to renewables
─ Vice President
Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo MP has said, investments in renewable energy sources around the world are not enough to meet the global demand for energy, hence natural gas is being used as a transitional fuel.
The Vice President made this point recently during an interview with journalist, Neil Marks on News Room’s Insider.
“Globally, although gas is still a polluting energy, they see it as a transitional energy, from the very polluting bunker diesel to full renewable energy, because the global demand for power, for energy, will far outstrip the investments being made in renewables.”
The Vice President said the global demand for fossil fuel will remain or even increase because enough is not being done to meet demand. He said when the pandemic began, as oil prices began to plummet, it was thought that the world had already reached peak fossil fuel demand.
However, he pointed out that demand is climbing again, and if demand outstrips investment, as is the case, fossil fuel has to play a part.
The Vice President was responding to statements published by private media houses, which criticise the Government’s decision to operationalise the US$900 million gas-to-energy project, as opposed to renewable energy projects alone.
“Everything now is practically fossil fuel but heavy bunkersee, which is very polluting.”
To remedy this, the Government has promised to institute a diverse energy mix of natural gas and renewable energy sources by 2025, which will vastly reduce Guyana’s emissions.
Former President, David Granger, had made a promise that his administration would work towards 100 per cent renewable energy sources by 2025.
Yet, as Dr. Jagdeo pointed out, the previous administration had no plan to achieve this.
The Vice President said the PPP/C Government cannot be unrealistic, as the previous government.
“We cannot get to 100 per cent renewable by 2025. It was unrealistic, totally unrealistic. They had no project to do such a thing.”
However, with the PPP/C Government, the Vice President said, “we’ve laid out a plan and started working on the projects.”
His Excellency, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali said earlier this month that the Government will implement a series of projects, meant to supply 500 megawatts (MW) of new power by 2025.
This includes the 250 MW gas-to-energy project, the 160 MW Amaila Falls Hydropower project, at least 30 MW of solar power, and other standalone projects. These projects are intended to reduce the cost of electricity to consumers, by at least 50 per cent. A resultant benefit is that the ease of doing business in Guyana will vastly improve, as the cost of electricity has been criticised as prohibitive.