T&T's dependence on the energy industry has created a distorted and inefficient economy both in terms of energy use and fuel prices, Dr Thackwray Driver, president of the Energy Chamber said yesterday.
Driver, who delivered the feature address at the launch of the second phase of the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School's Sustainable and Renewable Energy Project Incubator at Mount Hope, said the country is inefficient in it use of energy, on a per capita basis and in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) said: "At present almost all of our energy comes from fossil fuel, mainly oil and particularly natural gas. Our hydrocarbon dominated economy has traditionally provided the state with significant levels of revenue. at least when the prices of oil are high.
"This has allowed highly subsidised energy prices both for electricity and for transport fuels. Those subsidised prices have created the environment in which energy is wasted."
Driver said the Energy Chamber was encouraged by Finance Minster Colm Imbert's announcement in his budget presentation of the removal of the fuel subsidy incrementally. He said although fuel might seem more expensive, the prices in T&T are much cheaper than in developed countries.
"For the past decade the Energy Chamber has lobbied the Government to phase out the transport fuel subsidy as it creates a burden on the state, encourages waste in the use of private vehicles and has significantly contributed to the horrendous traffic situation that we suffer from every single day.
"The subsidy on diesel, which is the most polluted of the transport fuels, is higher than the subsidy on super and premium gasoline," he said.
Responding to critics who argue that the Energy Chamber, whose members are energy companies that derive their income form oil and gas, would have no interest in renewable energy, Driver said: "Some of you might think that the Energy Chamber is not really interested in anything to do with renewable energy. I am here to tell you that is not the case and we are very much interested in incubators for sustainable energy."
The Sustainable and Renewable Energy Project Incubator, the first of its kind on the region, is designed to foster projects aimed at diversifying the economy. The targetted sectors are oil and gas, petrochemicals, power generation and transportation.