Energy Unit

OUR MISSION:

“To plan, promote and effectively manage the production, delivery and use of energy through Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy, and Cleaner Production interventions for the sustainable development of Belize.”

FOCAL AREAS:

Renewable Energy

The Energy Unit is working for a rapid expansion in the use of renewable energy in Belize over the next few years. However, to measure whether our efforts are having an impact, we need baseline an estimate of how much renewable energy is already installed in Belize.

If you own a solar panel or small hydroelectric plant we would love to hear from you. Any information you can provide us with about the size, type and location of your device would be greatly appreciated. We are also interested in hearing about your experiences with the device, how successful it has been, and any challenges you have encountered.

This information will be de-identified and used to compile statistics for the Ministry. Specific information about you, or your energy source, will not be released to the public.

Energy Efficiency

Energy efficiency means using less energy, to do the same amount of work. Energy prices in Belize are particularly high because we have a high demand for energy, but produce only a small amount ourselves. Increasing energy efficiency addresses the demand side of this equation, allowing our economy to continue to grow, whilst using less energy to facilitate that growth.

Using energy efficient products not only reduces the energy demand for Belize as a whole, it can also have a big impact on your energy bill. Whilst most energy efficient products have a slightly higher purchase price than inefficient products, they will save you money in the long term.

Encouraging energy efficiency is a core focus of the Energy Unit. We are currently planning a number of interventions to promote energy efficiency in Belize. These include:

• - Developing financial mechanisms to encourage energy efficiency;
• - Developing minimum energy performance standards to prevent products with poor performance from being sold in Belize;
• - Training and up-skilling energy professionals so that they can deliver energy efficient solutions;
• - Running pilot and demonstration projects to show the effectiveness of Energy Efficiency.

The Ministry is currently looking for case studies that can be used to promote the energy efficiency. If you or your organization have undertaken an energy efficiency project and would be happy to have your experiences shared on the Ministry’s webpage, please contact us here.

Clean Energy Production

Clean Production focuses on getting the most out of businesses and industry whilst minimizing the environmental impact. This is done by looking at the whole process so that raw materials and energy used for the process is kept to a minimum; waste is also kept to a minimum and used for a secondary purpose whenever possible; and by reducing the toxicity of wastes from the industry. These processes reduce the operating costs, and maximize the benefits for industry. They also benefit Belize as a whole by placing less strain on our natural resources and having a lower impact on our environment, whilst allowing the economy to grow.

Improvements in clean production are a core focus of the Ministry. As we are currently focused on a number of other initiatives in the areas of renewable energy and energy efficiency, we anticipate that our first projects in clean production will start in 2015/2016.