US energy expert Robert Ebel tells Karl Schembri that Malta’s target of generating 10% of energy from alternative sources is unrealistic

For Robert Ebel, the Maltese government’s aim of producing 10% of the country’s energy from alternative sources such as wind and the sun by 2020 is overly optimistic.
“I don’t think it’s a realistic goal, and I don’t think the government thinks it can reach it,” he said.
“We have our own problem in the US, with alternative sources of energy. But Malta is starting from scratch, so it’s from 0 to 10%, that’s quite a jump in a relatively short period of time.”
Ebel was brought to Malta last week by the American Embassy, to hold meetings with government representatives and NGOs about energy security and alternative sources.
A senior adviser in the Centre for Strategic and International Studies Energy Program, where he offers views on world oil and energy issues, and a former CIA employee in the 60s, Ebel says that although the technology for offshore wind farms is still developing, the best way to go about them is to try them out.
“You have to experiment. There’s a problem with technology, there’s a problem of finding a shelf where you can put the windmills on, because you can’t put them in very deep waters. I think it’s an idea, and it should be explored. I’m not sure how much energy these wind mills will contribute to the country, but you have to explore these ideas and see whether they’re workable or not.
“You have to build a couple of windmills and see what happens; see what the public reaction to offshore windmills is. If you can demonstrate to the public that it’s a workable form of alterative energy, and it could mean reduction in imports of oil and oil prices… you have to try it out.”
With Malta being 100% dependent on imported oil, the authorities need at least to think of a contingency plan should the supply be cut for any reason.
“You wonder what would happen, should that supply be cut off, for whatever the reason, then what would you do? Here’s a country that is 100% dependent on foreign oil. So I asked government representatives, ‘Do you worry about energy security? Do you worry about oil being cut off at some point?’ I don’t think so.
“They don’t worry about security of supply. I think they should think about it. You should have a plan B in case that the oil supply should be disrupted for some reason. I don’t see a concern. I’d like to think that maybe I planted an idea or two as we spoke.”
As to global warming, there is little that individuals can do, he says, but government have to take the lead.
“What can we do individually? We are very limited about what we can do. We can buy a new car that pollutes less, we can keep our lights off in the house, we can keep our house cooler in the winter and warmer in the summer, but that’s about all we can do individually. Governments have to take the lead.”

kschembri@mediatoday.com.mt

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