UTech, Ja Annual Report 2017-18

University of Technology, Jamaica “Pioneering Past; Bright Future ” ANNUAL REPORT 2017-2018 63 Training in Maritime Energy Efficiency At the invitation of the Maritime Authority of Jamaica and the International Maritime Organization, two engineering lecturers were nominated by the Institute to represent UTech Ja at a five-day workshop in Panama City. The objective of the workshop was to capacitate national training institutions to deliver the IMO Model Course 4.05 on Energy Efficient Operation of Ships. Although the workshop was focused on maritime training/education institutions, UTech Ja’s participation served to increase the Institution’s awareness of the efforts at the global level to reduce the emissions of GHG gases from international shipping. Caribbean Renewable Energy Forum (CREF) The Caribbean Renewable Energy Forum (CREF) was held on October 17-20, 2017 in Miami, Florida. This is the premier annual renewable energy event focusing on the Caribbean Representatives from UTech, Jamaica attended with sponsorship from CARICOM. The team included Dr. Ruth Potopsingh and Mrs. Gena Williams from CSEII and Dr. Garfield Young, Dean, FOBE. The Forum was used to network with international development agencies, global players in the renewable energy business and to promote the MSSECC course of study. Several offers were made to partner with UTech, Jamaica in training renewable energy, storage and grid management without any financial outlay by the institution. While we have benefited from some webinars, other offers are to be taken up. Bio-Based Industries Workshop The CSEII with sponsorship from the German Cooperation and Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) on October 18-19, 2017 hosted a workshop on Bio-Based Industries. In the two half-day sessions, participants from the University Community were introduced to BEFS Approach and the BEFS Rapid Appraisal tool from FAO, Eco-innovation management, and Sustainable Business Innovation. The facilitator for the workshop was GIZ Consultant, Mr. Henrik Beermann. Sustainable Community Development Workshop The CSEII hosted a three-hour workshop on Sustainable Community Development (SCD) on November 22, 2017. The workshop addressed development, advocacy, and implementation of fundamental changes/interventions in the communities’ access to basic services like energy supply to promote sustainable development. The theory and practice of SCD were also discussed, focusing on social enterprises and development of community schemes for service provision. Energy Conservation and Energy Management Projects The management of energy consumption continued to be an area of focus as electricity remained the highest utility cost to the budget. During the period consumption was contained at 7847146 kWh through behavioral appeals, public education and very low investment approaches. This 5.6% increase compared with the previous period could be viewed as positive in light of the expansion of new facilities with high electricity demand under the recently concluded CDB/GOJ project. The JPS/ UTech 100 kW Solar Photovoltaic system which was developed under a partial grant agreement in 2014 has been performing well and producing meaningful savings. The total energy produced June 2014 to March 2018 was approximately 339.76 MWh., see Figure 2 for production trend. The total savings from the