by Peter Barrat
In the Bahamas there is a great opportunity to adopt environmentally friendly vehicles. Since we may be the recipient of the worst effects of global warming it would surely be sound public policy to adopt state-of-the-art, environment-friendly solutions.
Indeed, because of its archipelagic nature, with short trip lengths and few climatic or topographical impediments (like mountainous terrain), these islands would make a perfect location for electric and other non-fossil fuel-burning vehicles.
Unhappily, there are currently few incentives and a paucity of legislation to encourage such systems. In a small, vulnerable country like The Bahamas there are still no restrictions as to engine or vehicle size (as in Bermuda), yet the average trip length for passenger cars is seldom over 15 miles. Interestingly, Abaco is the only island in the Commonwealth on which it is possible to have a trip length of 100 miles!
A national energy policy is urgently needed to encourage entrepreneurs to look at the possibilities for marine research, fish farming, wind farms, generation of hydro power, ocean thermal energy conversion and so on.
A road link between Grand Bahama and Abaco has been discussed since the early 1960s when I first came on the scene as an architect for the Port Authority. This could also carry a high voltage power line, and the possibility of a chain of wind turbines following the line of the bridges might be studied.
The installation of wind turbines could make the northern Bahamas self-sufficient in electrical power. The inter-island link, though only about 14-18 miles long, might be hailed as one of the great scenic journeys of the world.
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