Learning more about energy efficiency |24 March 2016

The government of Seychelles, UNDP and GEF in collaboration with the University of Seychelles (UniSey) has run a free four-day workshop on energy efficiency.

Present at the official launch of the workshop on Monday were the Australian high commissioner to Seychelles Susan Coles, principal secretary for Energy and Climate Change Wills Agricole, UniSey management and staff as well as the workshop delegates.

Speaking at the launch ceremony, Mr Agricole said he considers this workshop “as relevant and timely, as just recently the Seychelles Energy Commission (Sec) and the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change launched the Seychelles Energy Education Strategy as part of the government’s plan to raise the level of awareness on ways and means to educate the public on energy efficiency and energy cost savings”.

Mr Agricole explained how “climate change is happening” and this is because human activities are producing increasing quantities of greenhouse gas emissions especially from the burning of fossil fuel for energy.

“Energy efficiency is a key tool in the fight against climate change as it can reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels,” he said.

Thus, the key is to use energy wisely and this will help individuals, governments and businesses to lower household energy bills, improve business competitiveness, increase comfort and reduce local air pollutants.

To conclude, Mr Agricole thanked UniSey and the Sec for organising this workshop, the delegates for their commitment to move this initiative forward and the knowledge and skills they acquire will be beneficial for our country.

In her address, Ms Coles, mentioned that there is a need for countries to use energy more efficiently. This will reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emissions thus reducing global warming over the next 25 years. When energy is efficiently used, the resources will last longer and this will enable countries to save money, she continued.

Ms Coles highlighted the different initiatives that Australia has introduced to improve national energy efficiency levels. For instance, the Commercial Building Disclosure (CBD) programme aimed at improving the energy efficiency of Australia’s large office buildings and ensure prospective buyers and tenants are informed. The CBD Programme is an initiative of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) established by the Building Energy Efficiency Disclosure Act 2010 and is managed by the Australian government’s department of industry, innovation and science. Another initiative is the Australian government’s better cities commitment that has received a new $250 million programme which will help provide affordable energy efficient housing to low income earners. The new programme will help drive the construction of market-leading energy efficient community housing in 2016 thus contributing to the greening of Australia’s cities and built environment.

The Seychelles government has also been looking for ways to improve energy efficiency such as the renewable energy democratisation scheme that was launched in early 2016 to help reduce the cost of electricity to consumers. In addition to this, there is the project by the Sec to install solar panels for water heating.

“Energy efficiency is a challenge for all of us and we need to work together to find solutions that are innovative and sustainable for our countries,” Ms Coles said.

In the past Australia has collaborated with Seychelles in promoting energy efficiency. In 2014, the Australian high commission provided funding to a local NGO, Sustainability for Seychelles, to carry out a green project involving water harvesting, organic farming, recycling of waste and energy efficiency at the Montagne Posée prison. Late last year, a memorandum of understanding was signed between an Australian energy company, Carnegie Wave Energy Ltd, and the Sec during the 1st Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Ministerial Conference on the Blue Economy in Mauritius.

To conclude Ms Coles thanked the delegates for joining the workshop and encouraged them to make the most of the lessons and discussions that will cover topics such as buildings as energy systems; sustainable buildings and construction - modular training in green buildings rating systems; maintenance management of buildings; and energy management systems.