Wind energy may also be good for tourism, but nobody told the MTA that. Environmentalist George D. Debono talks to Raphael Vassallo about the challenges posed by renewable energy, and also the hidden advantages
You recently authored a report on behalf of Today Public Policy Institute entitled ‘Towards a Low Carbon Society’. What are your conclusions and recommendations to government regarding alternative energy? We have a lot of catching up to do. Malta remains practically 100% dependent on oil, with a mere 0.1 per cent of our energy generated from renewable sources. Other countries started to establish renewable energy generation, largely based on wind energy, quite some time ago.
Denmark, for instance, started soon after the shock of the 1970s oil crisis, and now derives over 20% of its energy from wind. Other countries are fortunate in that they have other sources of renewable energy to fall back on, such as hydro from rivers, which puts them in a good position. France has gone largely nuclear.
Having said this, there is no dispute that Malta faces a number of problems. We have plentiful sunshine, but photovoltaic energy generation comes expensive. Our flat roofs are ideal for the installation of domestic rooftop photovoltaic panels, but proliferation of apartment blocks with overlying penthouses is starting to create difficulties. The potential of exploiting roof space nevertheless remains considerable, especially if one includes government buildings. The only constraint, therefore, is funding. People are becoming more energy-conscious and many are prepared to invest in subsidised photovoltaic panels. Unfortunately, the painfully cumbersome and slow bureaucratic process discourages many. This must be corrected.
Though Malta is quite windy, wind energy will never be the bonanza it is in other countries which are favoured by excellent wind conditions: for instance, Scotland and the North Sea.
With the exception of a few reefs, our seas are deep. An offshore wind farm like the one proposed on Sikka l-Bajda will also be expensive. If Malta is lucky a company might opt to build this wind farm and sell the energy to Malta. Limited wind data suggest that this wind farm will deliver, but a clearer answer will have to wait until wind testing is completed.
Deep sea offshore wind energy is currently in its early stages of development and it will remain enormously expensive for the foreseeable future – especially if wind conditions determine the sustainability of such an expensive option.
Land-based wind energy remains the only option – and by far the best choice – because energy from such a wind farm will be much cheaper than offshore wind. We are a small country and this is really our only choice if we are not to remain excessively dependent on oil. We simply have to learn to live with wind farms. Part of this process should be based on an extensive education process so as to make people accept wind energy.
What are the most pressing reasons to prioritise energy reform?
Three main reasons come to mind, but there are many more. My chief worry right now is pollution. Pollution has serious negative impacts on health and this needs urgent action. Fortunately, reducing pollution also results in reduction of carbon emissions. This makes it all the more important to reduce our pollution as it will help nudge our carbon emissions downwards and us help reach our target.
The second main reason is energy security. It is also to consider that oil and coal supplies are finite and will gradually become less abundant. The current downward blip in oil prices is temporary; sooner or later, oil will soar to become virtually unaffordable. The writing is on the wall has been there for a long time; finding alternatives is no longer a matter of choice. It has been a matter of absolute and urgent necessity for some years.
The third main issue is climate change itself. Climate change will ultimately affect Malta extremely seriously – more than most other countries. The more immediately urgent climate change issue is the EU deadline. Malta must reduce her carbon emissions and derive 10% of her energy from renewable sources by 2020 or face heavy fines for non-compliance.
While clean energy generation must be implemented by progressively introducing renewable energy systems and starting as soon as possible, energy conservation is an absolutely essential part of the equation – conservation includes holistic measures across the board all the way from decreasing excessive car use to making our making our buildings more energy efficient).
How feasible, in your opinion, are the EU’s current carbon reduction targets for Malta?
Any recommendation must be based on the all-important concept of security in diversity. Relying on only one, or on a limited number of options will diminish our prospects of making an impact on oil dependence – and consequently reduce pollution and carbon emissions.
If the deadlines are to be met, Malta must immediately embark on major, feasible renewable energy options such as photovoltaic energy, land-based and offshore wind energy and a cable connection to the European grid.
At the same time other alternative technologies, such as sustainable non-polluting waste to energy systems, must be followed up. Other options like sea currents, sun collectors, wind energy complexes, biofuels (including novel approaches such as extraction of energy from algae) and other emerging possibilities must be studied and options exploited as they become available.
If all the feasible possibilities are implemented as quickly as possible it should be possible to reach our target. At the same time energy conservation measures must also be must be launched.
In your report you maintain ‘there is no evidence to suggest that wind farms deter tourists’. And yet the chief objection to wind energy appears to have come from the Malta Tourism Authority. Are you suggesting that wind farms might actually boost tourism? If so, how?
Yes, absolutely. Wind power installations have even been used to promote a country’s image as a green, environmentally friendly country and wind farm-based eco-tourism has become an industry in its own right. You also have to remember that practically all our tourists come from sophisticated countries, and regard evidence of renewable energy as normal.
But Malta’s is a long and sad story. There seems to have been, all along, a misplaced prejudice against wind farms. Five years ago, an application by a private company to build a large-scale wind-farm on Marfa Ridge could have paved the way to Malta’s renewable energy era, but this was not to be.
The project was summarily turned down. My suspicion is that MTA may have been largely responsible, owing to a negative attitude based on ignorance about the true situation in respect of tourist attitudes to wind energy. The MTA simple didn’t do their homework. It is a pity that these invalid objections were not rejected, considering the urgency of Malta’s energy situation.
It is sad to reflect that, had this project not been turned down, it would by now have been into its fifth year of electricity generation. It would have given us a realistic estimate of the potential of wind energy in Malta, and whether such a land-based wind farm was aesthetically acceptable to the Maltese public.
Malta would also have benefited in other ways. A wind farm would also have provided a valuable opportunity for our technicians to gain some hands-on experience in the servicing and maintenance of wind energy generators, and to test the logistics of adding a major source of intermittent electricity to our grid.
And we must not forget that renewable energy provides employment opportunities.
The question of public perception of wind farms and its effect on tourism has been quite widely studied. Numerous public attitude surveys indicate quite consistently general that about 75% of people are in favour of wind farms, 20% or so are neutral with around 5% are against. A major study on “landscape tourism” areas in Scotland (where one would expect tourists to be rather sensitive to visual impacts on the scenery) indicated that wind farms do not have a negative impact on tourism.
The results of some surveys even suggested that tourists are in favour of wind energy in the countries they visit.
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We have a lot of catching up to do. Malta remains practically 100% dependent on oil, with a mere 0.1 per cent of our energy generated from renewable sources. Other countries started to establish renewable energy generation, largely based on wind energy, quite some time ago. 
