UVI hopes new tech center helps territory go green
Published: April 12, 2011
Font size: [A] [A] [A]
ST. THOMAS - In an attempt to use research, development and education to help the territory wean itself from fossil fuels, the University of the Virgin Islands on Monday launched its Caribbean Green Technology Center.
"This can be a game-changer for the University of the Virgin Islands and the territory," UVI President Dr. David Hall said during Monday's symposium. "I am honored that we are playing a role in that."
The technology center's first year has been funded by a $200,000 appropriation from the central government, said the director, Dr. Wayne Archibald, the center's first, and currently only, staff member, said. A native of St. Kitts, Archibald recently returned to UVI, his undergraduate alma mater, to lead the center as an assistant professor of engineering in the College of Science and Math.
The center will nurture local talent, collaborate with other academic institutions, such as the University of California, Berkeley, and set up pilot renewable energy projects, Hall said.
It is likely the center will prompt the development of a new academic program or programs in the sustainability field, Hall said. It has not been decided whether the center will offer training certificates, undergraduate degrees or post-graduate options, and Hall said he is open to taking suggestions on the matter.
In the keynote lecture, Dr. Ken Kao, a lecturer of architecture at Harvard University, said the center should set up "living laboratories" in which students, teachers and local energy leaders could test renewable energy systems on a small scale.
"So we can measure their trials and tribulations, so we can improve upon them, and so we can make them affordable," Kao said.
Getting the energy-conservation message out to children is essential for meeting Gov. John deJongh Jr.'s goal of reducing the territory's dependence on fossil fuels by 60 percent in 2025, Kao said. Teaching children how to "live ecologically" in school can prompt systemic behavior changes, he said.
"They bring that home to their parents, and they begin to change the way that the family lives," Kao said.
Basil Ottley Jr., field officer for the U.S. Department of the Interior's Office of Insular Areas, said the territory is ahead of the curve when it comes to stated commitment to renewable energy.
"How do you get concrete moving and things built?" Ottley asked. "That's where a great deficit exists."
By helping close that gap, the center could become an important player in the territory's renewable energy work, Ottley and other officials said.
After the symposium, Archibald said the center's next steps will be finding more funding and following through with ongoing collaborative projects on topics such as biomass and carbon-footprint calculation. His students and the center also will help with the ongoing efficiency-minded renovations taking place at 11 schools in the territory, Archibald said.
- Contact reporter Karen Hollish at 774-8772 ext. 304 or email khollish@dailynews.vi
To comment you must first create a profile and sign-in with a verified DISQUS account or social network ID. Sign up here.
Comments in violation of the rules will be denied, and repeat violators will be banned. Please help police the community by flagging offensive comments for our moderators to review. By posting a comment, you agree to our full terms and conditions. Click here to read terms and conditions.
