By Agyeman Kofi

One hour of of sunlight hitting the earth can supply energy for one whole day for the entire earth. I was amazed that the government of Barbados as announced by Dr Denis Lowe, would be spending $400 million to set up a waste to energy plant. Who in their right mind could advise a government in a country where we receive sunshine  300 days a year to go the route of burning garbage?

Let me as a citizen of Barbados be bold enough to ask whose interest is the government of Barbados serving?

Who are the technical advisors advising the government of Barbados and what do they stand to gain?

Is it true that the government EPD is in the dark about this project.

What about possible environmental fallout?

At what point will the ash which will be generated from this burning of garbage and ploughed into our soil reach a saturation point?

Accused of promoting fear, what about a possible contamination of our water supply by this ash, did I read dioxin is a by-product?

Do we note that accidents  like oil spills and nuclear reactor accident are not suppose to happen just as the Titanic was not suppose to sink?

I ask again whose interest is being served?

Its further hoped that Barbadians will get off their lazy butts and say to the government this is unacceptable. The strongest message must be sent to our leaders that we hold them accountable for ill advised and stupid decisions. Currently the following are recycled and exported thus bringing foreign currency into Barbados.

Old Car Batteries

All Glass

All Cans

All Plastic

All Non Ferrous Metals

All Electronic Waste such as old stoves, televisions, computers etc.

Paper, Newspaper print and Cardboard

Plastic Bags within the next 90 days.

Old Cars

Tell me where will the garbage hungry Waste to Energy plant gets its material from if 90 % of household waste is recyclable.

Let me share the following:

Nanosolar is a developer of solar power technology. Based in San Jose, CA, Nanosolar has developed and commercialized a low-cost printable solar cellmanufacturing process. The company started selling panels mid-December 2007, and plans to sell them at around $1 per watt. When first announced that was just one fifth the price of the silicon cells, but in 2010 brand name silicon cells sell from around $1.70 reducing Nanosolar’s cost advantage significantly.

The company uses copper indium gallium diselenide—which achieves up to 19.9% efficiency in laboratory samples to build their thin film solar cells. Two advantages over earlier technologies is that a printing process is quick and also makes it easy to deposit a uniform layer of the ink, resulting in a layer with the correct ratio of elements everywhere on the substrate. Also, the ink is printed only where needed, so there is less waste of material. Last, the substrate material on which the ink is printed is much more conductive and less expensive than the stainless steelsubstrates that are often used in thin-film solar panels.

These solar cells successfully blend the needs for efficiency, low cost, and longevity and will be easy to install due to their flexibility and light weight. Estimates by Nanosolar of the cost of these cells fall roughly between 1/10 and 1/5 the industry standard per kilowatt.

The company implies that their solar cells can last more than 25 years by saying they “achieve a durability compatible with our 25-year warranty.”[26] They recently commissioned a study by Black and Veatch that finds their 25-year warranty to be compatible with their module design.

I have taken the courtesy of providing the below contact information to Minisiters of Government to help  make their own enquiries. We can ill afford another Greenland.

Nanosolar accepts new customer inquiries and information requests via email. Due to high inquiry volume, we cannot respond to all information and sales requests.

United States

Headquarters & Factory

Nanosolar, Inc.

5521 Hellyer Avenue

San Jose, CA 95138

Tel:  +1.408.365.5960

Fax: +1.408.365.5965

Email: info@nanosolar.com