Turn off that air conditioning! Fiji needs to mitigate

Another approach to combating the effects of climate change is mitigation. Whilst adaptation is dealing with the problems that have or will become apparent, mitigation deals with the causes of climate change.

          Energy is a major cost but a necessity for tourism. The cost of this energy is not just financial but also environmental, and is contributing to the global issue of climate change. There have been poor efforts to change on the island, which is why mitigation needs to be seriously considered.

‘Nine out of the 25 businesses in the survey did not name any measures in place for reducing energy consumption’ (Becken 2005 page 388).

Other measures are not doing enough. Unfortunately some can be costly, changing from one generator to a smaller one at night is more energy efficient but too expensive for most businesses, so they choose to waste energy instead (Becken2005). Two major energy uses were noted:

-         Air conditioning and

-         Laundry

Air conditioning can be cut down by only being operational at night, as well as planting more trees for shade (Becken2005).

The main focus on reducing energy costs of laundry is reducing water temperature, some budget accommodation only supply cold showers (Becken 2005). A number of businesses operate solar heating systems, however not many use photovoltaic systems which are far more efficient (Becken2005).

Many islanders believe such technologies are expensive as they are imported but this is incorrect. According to The Department of Energy, solar radiation is more cost effective than diesel generators (Department of Energy, 2003). Photovoltaic systems have the advantage that they are silent (as opposed to diesel generators), reliable, require little maintenance, have low operating costs and are easy to install, as well as being environmentally friendly (United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), 2003). There is often a misconception that solar panels use more energy than they make, the carbon footprint of solar panels is one-tenth that of plants burning fossil fuels (Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology 2006). The efficiency of the panel also depends on the types of materials used, even so most solar panels will pay back 9 -17 times the energy cost (TenBruggencate 2012)

However, they may be vulnerable to storm damage and salt deposit (Becken 2005).

          There are lots of options for reducing the amount of energy used for lighting. Energy efficient light bulbs, sensor garden lighting, solar panel lighting, and room keys activating lights in rooms (Becken 2005).

          Hotel owners and tourist businesses don’t like to educate tourists in energy efficiency as they want them to be relaxing and enjoying their holiday, one resort manager said:

‘Tourists are not here to worry about air conditioning’ (Becken 2005: page 388.).

Relating back to the adaptation Fiji blog post; coconut oil can be used for a biofuel, which will decrease importation and be more environmentally friendly (Becken2005). Importation is essential on the island as it’s too small to produce everything it needs and wants, other ways in which they have tried to reduce the amount of shipments is to combine passenger vessels with food and other commodities (Becken 2005).     

          I have found while researching mitigation strategies for Pacific Islands the actions taken place have not been so extensive as they have been for adaption. I suppose adaptive strategies are far more appealing because they alleviate direct problems, while mitigation is helping the global issue of climate change rather than the local problems. There is a higher level of uncertainty with mitigation, which makes it unattractive for governments to invest in mitigation schemes (Montz and Gruntfest 2002). This attitude will need to be changed in order to combat climate change, and Fiji have made some efforts but more is needed.