Plan unveiled: 20% by 2020 for sustainable future

by Krystal Paco

Guam - It was back in 2010 Governor Eddie Calvo established the Guam Energy Task Force. And the team unveiled their strategic energy plan for a sustainable future today. It's not just about saving the planet or a couple of bucks on the household power bill - it's about sustaining the island for future generations. And as the Guam Energy Task Force announced today, the goal is to diversify Guam's fuel sources to reduce fossil energy consumption by 20% by the year 2020.

Task force co-chair and Guam Energy Office director Pete Calvo said, "It needs the complete buy in of the community and I think with this strategic energy plan 20 by 2020 is not only reachable but I think it's going to make the quality of life a lot more pleasant."

And efforts are more than just switching to energy efficient light bulbs. Task force co-chair Dr. Robert Underwood says it's about changing our way of life. "Right now while we think we know how we live we're not sure about that so there's a lot of studies to be done about that. A good example is probably 10% of our wastes goes into items that are recyclable, but almost 90% of our waste are green waste and are food wastes so what are we doing about green wastes and food wastes?"

Aside from waste-to-energy, the task force is looking into energy literacy. National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Misty Conrad said, "Looking at education outreach for instance making sure that everybody understands where our energy comes from. This idea of energy literacy how can we practice conservation, so that's one such example. Looking at our transportation sector and what are the different policy options to be able to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels on Guam."

Transportation is 30% of the equation as Calvo reports there are over 97,000 vehicles on Guam's roads on top of over 7,000 heavy and medium density vehicles and over 800 busses. The task force will also focus on policies and ways to finance a revolving loan fund so those who invest in energy efficient equipment may use their savings to pay down their loans.