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.

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St. Lucia: Alternative Energy Technical Review
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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.

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Alternative energy proposal from UWI Barbados Campus
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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.


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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.

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Dominica: Evaluating Disaster Management Programs
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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