REQUEST FOR EMBASSY SCIENCE FELLOWS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRIDGETOWN 000153 SIPDIS DEPT FOR WHA/CAR - JONATHAN MITCHELL DPET ALSO FOR OES/STC - EILEEN KANE TAGS: SENV TSPL TBIO EAGR ENRG ECON AMGT APER XL SUBJECT: REQUEST FOR EMBASSY SCIENCE FELLOWS REF: SECSTATE 010843 ¶1. (U) Summary: In response to reftel, Embassy Bridgetown submits the following requests for Embassy Science Fellows to work in Dominica, St Lucia and Barbados. Point of contact for these proposals is ESTH Officer, Jake Aller, allerjc2@state.gov, 246-227-4274. End Summary. -------------- - St. Lucia: Alternative Energy Technical Review -------------- - ¶2. (U) Background: The government of St. Lucia is moving ahead with proposals to develop alternative energy sources. St. Lucia has confirmed geothermal, wind power, and solar power potential. St. Lucia currently uses diesel power for most of its electrical power generation needs, consuming 54 megawatts of power per year. The government has committed to developing a wind farm along the southwest coast. Geothermal potential is hampered by the fact that the land suitable for development is in a UNESCO World Heritage Site and needs special permission for development. UNEC, a Canadian firm, has the rights for development. ¶3. (U) Proposed Work Program: The Science Fellow will be charged with looking at the potential for alternative energy projects in St. Lucia and advising the government and Lucelec, the electric utility company as to the commercial and technical feasibility of alternative energy projects. The fellow should provide technical assistance to government officials from the Ministry of Commerce, Foreign Trade, Energy and Public works, and other agencies as needed, in their efforts to evaluate, coordinate, and make decisions about alternative energy plans. Special emphasis will need to be given to ways to minimize negative environmental impacts. Finally, the fellow must work to facilitate dialogue among scientists, government officials, and civil society members within St Lucia, the Organization of Eastern Carribean States, which is headquartered in St Lucia, and with relevant experts in the United States. ¶4. (U) Area of expertise: Experience planning and/or evaluating alternative energy projects, particularly wind power and geothermal power projects. Experience in working with a variety of stakeholders on large civil projects would be helpful. ¶5. (U) Timeframe: Up to three months. The government of St. Lucia is setting up a new interagency alternative energy review panel and the fellow would be welcomed to work with them as they begin their high level review. ¶6. Housing and office space: The St. Lucia government has agreed to provide housing in Castries and office space, including computer terminals and phones, probably in the Ministry of Energy. The Embassy will meet with the Fellow at the beginning of his assignment for briefings and at the end of his assignment for an out-brief, as well as mid-way through the program, depending upon availability of Embassy travel funds. -------------- -------------- Alternative energy proposal from UWI Barbados Campus -------------- -------------- ¶7. (U) Background: The University of the West Indies, Barbados campus, is one of the three campuses that make up the University of the West Indies system. It is the premier public research university in the region. UWI has set up a new renewable energy institute to look at ways to commercialize alternative energy products and systems. They have a particular interest in solar power systems, Nano-technological innovations in PV, Wind Energy, Geothermal Energy, OTEC, and Hydrogen. The institute will focus on the following areas: Building a state-of-the-art research laboratory for development of new photoelectric cell technology at the Cave Hill Campus to use the experience and expertise of regional and international partners to create economically viable products from technological breakthroughs, building new industries to provide new means of income generation for the region. Establishing a facility for the testing of new and existing RE technologies and evaluation of their performance in the prevailing environments of Barbados and the Caribbean, especially those which seem to applicable to the future of our region. Making Cave Hill Campus a demonstration site for RE in Barbados and the Caribbean region by installing the most up-to-date but tried and tested photovoltaic panels on all available roof spaces throughout the campus. Encouraging the campus architects and planners to integrate photovoltaic panels into the roof structures of new buildings wherever feasible. BRIDGETOWN 00000153 002 OF 002 Maintaining direct contact with regional and international centres in which research and development of new RE technologies are carried out so as to identify and bring to the attention of regional public and private sectors the opportunities presented by any relevant developments. Expanding and continually upgrading the teaching of RE/AE in the undergraduate programme and in the postgraduate training and research of the Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences at Cave Hill. The Institute will explore RE/AE in an interdisciplinary approach involving social scientists and policy-makers as well as physicists, chemists, biological and environmental scientists. The former will help to ensure that market distortions, financial and other disincentives for the expansion of RE/AE in the region, are minimised while the latter group will, by active participation in state-of-the-art research, keep our teaching, training and implementation efforts up to date. ¶8. (U) Proposed Work Program: The Science Fellow will be charged with three principal tasks: First, working with the new institute to develop a comprehensive review of alternative energy projects and proposals for the region, including looking at projects that UWI can undertake at its campuses throughout the region. Second, working with the institute's staff at ways to implement alternative energy programs into the UWI educational mission, educating the future generation of engineers and technical staff. Third, working with the institute staff on outreach programs geared at educating the general public and the corporate sector on alternative energy projects and proposals. ¶9. (U) Area of expertise: Experience planning and/or evaluating alternative energy projects, particularly wind power and geothermal power projects, and nano technological innovations in PV, Wind Energy, Geothermal Energy, OTEC, and Hydrogen. Experience in working with a variety of stakeholders on large civil projects would be helpful. ¶10. (U) Timeframe: Up to three months. ¶11. (U) Housing and office space: Depending upon when the fellow will arrive, the Embassy may be able to provide transitional housing for part of the fellowship, UWI will provide additional housing as needed. UWI will provide office space, computer access and local transportation costs. Embassy staff will meet with the fellow at the beginning of his assignment in Barbados for briefings and at the end of his assignment for an out brief, and mid-way through the program, if needed. The Embassy can also provide cashier assistance and teleconference facility upon request. -------------- -------------- Dominica: Evaluating Disaster Management Programs -------------- -------------- ¶12. (U) Background: In addition to extreme weather events, volcanic and seismic hazards affect much of the region. An ESF could better enable government and non-government organizations to strengthen their capabilities to plan for and respond to natural disasters. In particular, Dominica has experienced devastating hurricanes the last few hurricane seasons. Dominica is also an active seismic activity zone, with the potential for a large volcanic eruption. The government and private sector is ill prepared to cope with large scale natural disasters. ¶13. (U) Proposed Work Program: The Science Fellow will work with officials from the Ministry of National Security, the Coast Guard, and other government agencies to design and implement comprehensive disaster preparedness and recover plan, covering hurricanes, and volcanic risks. The fellow will work with the government on public outreach and training programs relating to natural disaster preparation. ¶14. (U) Area of expertise: Disaster planning, mitigation and disaster recovery operations. ¶15. (U) Timeframe: Up to three months. The hurricane season runs from late June to Mid November and that might be a good time for the fellow to be in country to gain first hand exposure to how Dominica currently copes with such disasters. ¶16. (U) Housing and office space: The Government of Dominica has agreed to provide housing, local transportation and office space including computer access. The Embassy will meet with the fellow at the beginning of his assignment in Barbados for briefings and at the end of his assignment for an out brief, and mid-way through the program, depending upon Embassy travel funds. HARDT