Electricity In Trinidad And Tobago Essay

FEASIBILITY OF HYDROELECTRICITY IN TRINDAD AND TOBAGO
According to a study conducted by Glendon Glasgow, Information Officer - Institute of Marine Affairs of Trinidad and Tobago titled “Can we harness ocean energy” he stated “Water covers approximately three quarters of the earth’s surface. The World Energy Council estimates that the energy that can be harvested from the world’s ocean is twice the amount of electricity that the world now produces. Trinidad and Tobago is still heavily dependent on non-renewable resources such as oil and gas for the generation of electricity. The largest percentage of electricity generated from oil and gas in Trinidad over the past 38 years was 99.81% in 2003, while the lowest value was 96.47% in 1971. Although the use of energy generated by the ocean is increasing across the globe, Trinidad and Tobago and other islands of

Due to the fact that these are located underwater the salt water erosion can become an issue and the physical collection of the energy once generated for transportation is also a problem. The ocean’s holds the single largest possibility for energy collection due to its function as a solar panel collecting an estimated eighty percent (80%) of the Earth’s energy which concurrently equates to about 250 billion barrels of oil production daily. One of the other interesting parts about the ocean is the fact that as the superficial layer of the ocean becomes heated the lower regions remain much colder, and with this a process called “Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC)” turns this temperature difference into energy.” The process begins when the warm surface water is used to boil a fluid producing steam. The steam turns a turbine and generates electricity; cold water in the ocean depths is used to condense the steam and turn it back into water thus completing the