Georgetown: As the country moves towards more energy efficient practices, students from various secondary schools were urged to do the same. This message was extended to them at a CARICOM energy forum, which was recently held at the Guyana International Conference Center (GICC), Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara.
The forum which was scheduled to be held in November last, in observance of CARICOM Energy Week, was rescheduled because of heavy rainfall, which resulted in flooding. However, due to its importance, it was hosted by the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA).
Delivering brief remarks at the ceremony was Dr. Mahender Sharma, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the GEA, who acknowledged that the focus of the activity was to educate the students and encourage them to adopt energy efficient practices. “We have a mandate to keep people informed….we want to create awareness and we hope that that awareness creates some consciousness in you and that’s that essence of today’s forum,”he said.
He also urged the students to learn as much as they can from the presentations by the various speakers and participants, and to put them into practice, as much as possible. He said that this is “…so that you can know what are the topical issues, what are the things that you can do, but more importantly do them, we can do all the research and create those nice brochures that you have there, but if you don’t read them, then do the things, then we really haven’t done much.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Samuel Hinds, who was also present at the ceremony said that “with the response to climate change problems, “I think requires most of all a change in lifestyle, a change in the assumptions which have been prevailing for maybe the last 100-200 years.”
He added that “for you students, I think there is much that you would have to learn to really grasp what is being considered, I would like to encourage you to pay additional attention, to sense additional motivation, to learn many of the things that are relevant to this question of climate change, and the challenges that it pose to all of us.”
He added that with civilisation came more needs and “by burning more carbon-based fuel, we have been putting more CO2 (carbon dioxide) in the atmosphere….and we have been having more and more heat from the sun, trapped in the atmosphere, and our temperatures have been rising.”
Further the PM said, “the scientists tell me that if the atmospheric temperatures rises over 3, 4, 5 degrees Centigrade, then we can see huge dramatic long-to-reverse, if not irreversible changes, so they say there is a threat to life.”
He then pointed out that at the government level, there has been great emphasis on renewable energy, alternative energy, which do not add to the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
This is so, through using energy sources that are not carbon-based, such as the sunlight, and wind. Other possible non-carbon sources include volcanic activities (for the Caribbean).
The forum was also used to reward the winners of the GEA essay and art competitions. A Student from Queen’s College copped the first place, while one from St. Joseph’s High School came in second, and another from Abrams Zuil (Essequibo) came in third, in the essay competition.
Meanwhile, two students from School of the Nations secured second and third, while the first place was secured by the Bishops’ High School in the art competition.
The teachers representing the wining schools were also presented with certificates of recognition for participating.
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