Economic Development, Biorefineries And The Carbohydrate Economy

by Trevor Bogle

Change is scientific. Progress is ethical.
Bertrand Russell

Jamaica sits battered and hopeless at a crossroad at the beginning of the 21 century. Its current leaders tenaciously hold on to an economic model hopelessly mired in the paradigm of the last century .The ship of state meanwhile is relentlessly buffeted by geopolitical waves while narrowly avoiding the shoals of the unfurling energy crisis. This author has seen a glimpse of the future and like Prometheus the one who brings light, I seeks to bring the light of the new century to the people, a new paradigm and the beginning of a prosperous future for our nation. The nation’s leaders, fixated on the dying remnant of the 20 Th century; the hydrocarbon century are hardly recognizing the nascent birth of the Carbohydrate century and the promise it hold for the nation. The hydrocarbon century favored those nations who by luck of geography were endowed with the precious elixir, oil. The carbohydrate century favors all, for all are endowed with carbohydrate. All economies require an engine and fuel for growth. The preferred fuel that drove the worldwide engine and growth over the last century was inarguably oil, a hydrocarbon. Today it is consumed at an astounding and unsustainable rate of 1000 barrel per second, 80 million barrels per day, and 30 billion per year. Unsustainable in sheer quantity even without considering the deleterious environmental consequences now known as global warming and climate change. Jamaica, like all small island states, suffers all the physical , economic and social vulnerabilities, that severe climate change will and has wrought and must in its national interest as well as moral and ethical ones, move expeditiously and boldly into the carbohydrate century ; the carbohydrate economy.

What are carbohydrates and what is a carbohydrate economy? Plants takes carbon dioxide (CO2) from our atmosphere, water (H2O) from the soil and energy from the Sun and synthesize or bond them together in the presence of a cellular catalyst chlorophyll. The product CH2O is carbohydrate the cousin of hydrocarbons or CHn , Hydrocarbons are dead carriers of carbon and compact form of energy produced over millions of years in the earth’s crust, wherein the extreme heat and pressure have stripped the Oxygen away. Carbohydrates are living carbon and energy carriers. Carbohydrates are trees, plants, grasses, tubers, generically call biomass or living carriers of carbon and hence energy. While having much in common with their hydrocarbon cousin in that they can fuel our cars and trucks, our power plants and stoves, they are also feedstock for a chemical industry. They do so without significantly polluting our environment and most importantly are sustainable, renewable and indigenous. Carbohydrates democratize the world. All are endowed.

The key to the Carbohydrate Economy is the knowledge that every chemical and fuel produced from hydrocarbon can be produced from carbohydrates. Dow Chemical list at least 200 chemicals now produced from hydrocarbon that can be produced from carbohydrates. Fuels include Ethanol, Butanol, Methanol and Dimethyl- Ether or DME. DME and Butanol are touted as the fuels of the 21 century .DME, is a superior diesel fuel, cooking fuel and every manufacturer of gas turbines has endorsed its use in electricity generating power plants. Worldwide, current production is primarily from natural gas, a hydrocarbon. However, Sweden is pioneering the synthesis of DME from biomass, in particular from forest trees. Locally it can be produced from indigenous biomass sources such as sugar cane stalks, bagasse, guinea grass etc.http://www.vs.ag/ida/index_guete.htm via biomass gasification technologies being pioneered by Sweden. Butanol on the other hand is a superior fuel that can effectively replace gasoline. It has 1.5 times more energy per gal than ethanol. It is less volatile and thereby less hazardous to handle than either gasoline or ethanol. Moreover and most importantly it can be used in current automobile in high concentrations without costly engine modifications. While plant capital cost is significantly less than a similar capacity ethanol plant, in fact in the order of 35-50% cheaper.

In addition to fuels, carbohydrates are natural feedstock for plastics, polymers, paints, detergents, tinctures, gels and too numerous consumer products to mention all (including textiles and apparel; construction materials including hemp fiber reinforced limestone that is superior and cheaper than cement blocks and steel), pharmaceuticals and medicines, a virtually endless compendium of useful and exportable range of products made locally and from carbohydrate. Of the over 200 chemicals derived from sugars this author is recommending a pilot scale project to select a niche from which to launch a sugar based biotechnology industry in Jamaica. Foremost among these are the so called Polyol or sugar alcohols. Polyol can be recovered from molasses generated as a byproduct of sugar production. Polyols as non-nutritive sweeteners, find wide uses in low calories beverages, bake products and cosmetics. Polyols , although derived from sugars are not processed by the body like sugar and have many advantages such as reduced calories as compared to sugar; reduced insulin response; does not promote tooth decay and does not brown in bakery applications. Polyols can be produced from plant based sugars much more efficiently and cost effectively than from petroleum from which they are currently produced. Secondly furandicarbooxylic acid or FDCA from succinic acid derived from sugar cane to make biodegradable PET bottles a US$12 billion industry worldwide as container for beverages and juices. Thirdly, other sugar derived organic acids i.e. levulinic acid for deriving methyl tetra hydrofuran as fuel oxygenate and solvent and numerous other industrial and cosmetic products.

The carbohydrate economy represents the necessary paradigm shift to mobilize the entire Jamaican people and to revitalize the moribund Jamaican economy on a scale supplanting the 1950’s and 60’s, the period of greatest economic expansion in our history. It shifts focus from urban to rural; from primary production to value added; from low technology to high; from brawn to brain. The new economy conservatively has the potential to produce 200,000 direct, indirect and multiplier effect jobs. These are high skill and high value added enterprises. They will employ scientists of all disciplines (bio-physicist, bio-chemists, botanist, and agricultural sciences), engineers, technologist, technicians etc and last but by no means least farmers. The carbohydrate economy elevates our farmers and farming to a status unprecedented in their long service to humankind. The farm becomes the engine of growth and the hub around which biorefineries and biochemical laboratories revolve, regenerating rural economies and rural life, the bedrock of the Jamaica soul. These are not cottage industries in the common sense but advanced production units located close to their feedstock. The carbohydrate economy would usher in a revolutionary electric age in Jamaica wherein married to other indigenous electricity generating technologies such as photovoltaic, wind energy and ocean thermal energy conversion the cost of electricity generation can be reduced to US$0.06 per kw-hr instead of the currently prevailing US$0.23. With a cheap, renewable, sustainable and environmentally friendly energy base the Jamaican economy can at last provide for the well being of its entire people. The carbohydrate economy is not only scientific it is ethical. I humbly urge our decision makers to consider and dream.

WANTED IN JAMAICA: EMPATHY

By Diana McCaulay


One of the most frequent questions I get asked about my novel Dog-Heart is this: How did you, an uptown woman, put yourself in the mind of a 12-year-old inner city boy? (I often think the sub-text is – how dare you? And please add the word “white” before woman and the word “black” before boy, although they are never actually uttered…)

I always say in response that I went through a period of very focused observation of children on the streets of Kingston, and then I thought about what I had seen, tried to imagine what the lives of the children were like, tried to feel what they might feel. So no, I tell my questioners, I didn’t research Dog-Heart, I empathized it.

Since May of last year, following what is now being euphemistically called the “Tivoli Incursion” where between 70 and 120 Jamaicans died in circumstances that have never been fully explained, I have been struck by the lack of empathy in the way in which we regard our fellow Jamaicans. This is not a new revelation; of course, we Jamaicans have always been fierce individualists. But as I continue to think about possible solutions to the apparently intractable problems of our society, I wonder if the answer is to be found in that simple word – empathy. What if we could put down the baggage we all carry – racism, classism, a host of categories by which we identify “us” and “them,” our perfectly justified hurt, rage and fear – and just ask ourselves: how would I feel if that were me?

I look at one of the photos on line of recently-apprehended Christopher Linton – I refuse to call him Dog Paw – and I see a thin young man, sitting on the floor, wearing only his briefs, his hands obviously handcuffed or tied. This is Jamaica’s most wanted man, a boy I knew, a child with a sweet character and a bright future, had he been born into other circumstances. And I ask myself – how does he feel, there on that floor? How does his mother feel, seeing that picture? I ask myself about his victims too – assuming he did commit the crimes he is accused of – and I can all too easily imagine their anger and pain and their wish for revenge. But suppose they were to put themselves in the place of a fifteen year old boy, out of school, no real programme for him to join, no one to champion or guide his life, his much loved older brother beaten to death while in the custody of the police? Might we be able to understand the hardening of his heart? At a more day to day level, might we be able to appreciate the driving of taxi drivers, if we understood the economics of their lives, might we marvel at the smiling faces of market vendors if we had taken their journey to market the night before and slept for a few hours on a piece of cardboard on the ground, might we support the railing against authority that is now being defined as a “personality disorder” if we appreciated the arbitrariness and incompetence of that authority when directed against those without friends in high places?

This morning, having made a song and dance about the outstanding performance of the security forces in apprehending Christopher Linton and his “lieutenant” Nicholas Nesbeth, we learn that somehow or other Nesbeth has simply walked out of police custody due to a “processing error”. I want someone to explain to me why that sort of authority is due our respect and deference.

Perhaps the best thing we could do for each other is merely to listen with our whole attention, to hear the true stories of each other’s lives, to say to each other: I understand. I see you, sister, I hear you, brother. We don’t like to do this in Jamaica, we call it washing our dirty linen in public and our leaders complain about the effects on tourism. We think empathy equates to softness on crime and call those who express it bleeding hearts. But if we empathized, all of us, concerning big things and small, we would not play our music so loudly as to keep school children and old people awake, we would yield to taxi drivers and pedestrians, we would give our time and our money to those organizations that try to help the young people on our streets. Empathy might just bring us a country worth living in.

The Black Woman I Am

March is Woman History month


The Black Woman I Am


Written by Alicia Fleming www.ririjam.com




When they look at us black women,

They see the old-cotton-picking field hand, the old slave cook.

But that was a long time ago,

Now, the Black woman has arrived!

She has moved up from being a housewife to a

Business woman to a politician



She has taken charge!

Charge of her life, charge of her future

All the fears, all the reminiscing of the past,

The humiliation, are all behind her now.

When I look at the black woman of today, I see me.

I see my future, what I would like to be.



How I would like people to see me as a person, as a career woman

The black woman has combined fulfilling her role as a

mother and being a career woman

People look upon her and respect her.



The 80’s have brought new prospects for the black woman,

It has opened doors…

Open the outlook on careers and other opportunities

As a woman and …being Black

She has moved up from being an ordinary nurse to a

doctor, an engineer

People may try to put her down

They tell her that her place is in the kitchen!

Some even told her to go back to picking cotton

But, what does she care?

She is strong and determined to get ahead.

That’s the black woman I am.

A Brief Tirade On Insurgency And Government

Written by Carol Lawton

In the timeline of history one thing holds true in regards to governments, liberation movements and paramilitary groups and that is they wrestling for power within the state. These struggles between the factions may be covert, overt or collaborative. But the end result is always the same as the formal structure now has to deal with the dynamics which will always lead to social unrest.


In the development of dictatorships, it is the state failure to control and maintain society because of the compromise given to the factions. Democracy is a scaring concept if the parties involve are not willing to safe guard it. Theocracy in of itself cannot be avoided as in any society one religion will be dominant but with this dominance it must allow all to seek their own enlightenment in the belief of a higher being. Socialism is an artificial state because of the availability of limit resources yet unlimited wants and the difference in talents and ability between people. Capitalism in its pure state is by far the best but pure capitalism without safeguards to protect the weakest of society will lead to corruption and social unrest hence no system is superior.

What is striking is the balance needed between them all. The strong arm of the state while give the citizen the choice to choose which opportunity to purse to build wealth while protecting the weakest to allow them to have access to the capital that they need to survive. Such a system is the ideal but where does the system begin or end.

To have seen democracies where there is none. Socialism in Capitalism is a paradox. The ism of government is an illusion as good governance is about making decisions based upon the need of the state. Hence to allow covert or overt groups to develop system above the platform of government will lead to strife and the eventual take over of government. In war torn region, it is the warlord who governs not the state, in inner city fiefdom it is the don through the collection of gains from transaction (unofficial tax), in war, the military rules the ground while the insurgency rules the night, and then the terrorists who rule by fear due to their ability to strike without regards for damage ; human or material.

The state of government can only exist in peace. Hence peace is the objective of all government in the end regardless of the form. So when a state foster insurgency groups or terrorists with agenda against another state. They have entered into a formal war under the veil that they are in the country as unknown participants. Functionaries of the state will always have access to the information hence it will always move information up the chain of command and the objective is the survival of the state and information is key. So when a country like Lebanon allows for Hezbollah to organize, finance, set support social systems and military logistics system it should not be surprise that if Hezbollah can not destroy its enemy, it will turn against its host like a parasite as it has already undermined the state in that an entity can wage war against a sovereign nation and undermine the state ability to protect its borders and deploy diplomatic policy that leads to peace. Woe be unto a state that believe that it can exist in peace while pseudo governments exist within.

Revolution Evolution and Devolution of Jamaica

Written by Carol Lawton

Jamaica! What is it really to the people? We are in the time of Olympics and Independence where all eyes are glued to the track including myself and party out from last week. Have we evolved from the plantocracy or have we devolved into a mess of garbage that even we don’t know who we are, where we are going or where we are at. Many young speak of revolution but to what purpose whether it is social, economic or political what will it benefit us if we are unable to channel that energy to building a nation. All a revolution will due is adding more chaos to this volatile mix.

Here it is, bare face materialism with nothing tangible holding it together other than the fact that we are stuck on a rock in the sea. First world plans are just those plans, which will remain a myth to keep the population dreaming of a world to come when it is here. And while this may sound angry or aggressive, I would I would yes and no. I am not angry or am I aggressive in simple language I would say I am piss off has I am tired of this drawn out saga of words that lead to nothing. Why tell the youths about 2030 for First World. When up town or Mobay it’s at your fingertips. Why tell them 22 years for it when we can fly to it in less than a hour in Miami or Cayman? I will be 60 when that day arrives in Jamaica. I lived it, worked in it, and got educated by it as did many like myself. Why should we wait on this plan? This first world does not mean that you have to live abroad but the use of systems that make life easier. That’s first world!

But our system has failed us and is flatling on life support through loans for overseas and remittance. As a Trinidadian told me this week, do business in Jamaica is a foolish move just get a container of goods and market it, they will consume anything, that’s how you make money here. And he is right as even simple products are now imported into the country. Labor does not want to work because of the hustle paradigm of the black market and capital does not want to invest as the risks are too high. Our economy has evolved to nothingness as we have evolved to a nation of dependents live on remittances which is even figured into the GDP.

Public administration has failed us and that a fact as that is the only constant as government change but the civil administration remains the same. Its failure is placed at the feet of one man as a woman has not held that position has yet. Mr. Governor General it is you would is in charge of the Civil Service. You have the power to fire, hire and change. Get some political balls and do something as this figurehead deal is wearing thin on this generation. You don’t seem to be fulfilling the responsibilities that the constitution says. So either this guy works to help in the evolution and stop the devolution of the governing system so that aggressive elements do not respond with senseless revolution to leads to nothing as they have no common vision of what they want!

So to end this tirade by being brief, revolution in what, we are already killing each other as one just has to look at the murderer rate. We are killing each other by having so many functional illiterates in our mist. We are killing each other as there is no bond between country and self as symbols, folklore and history, constitution and rights are not known by masses. So where are we at in this process is the final question to you all that read this tirade as we have a 2030 plan that no one has ever seen, the masses don’t know where they fit into it, the middle class already living it and the rest want to fly a hour to it or live it through the cable TV. In order for Jamaica to evolve, devolve, or have a revolution, it has to have vision and our leaders can’t seem to relate that to us.

Tirade on Economies, Markets and Crime

Written By Carol Lawton

Crime blooms where there is a vacuum in law and order. This space is filled by the informal organizations known as gangs. These gangs do not exist because of poverty but as a power structure to control resources. Poverty does not cause crime but the lack or law and order coupled with poor management of economies. Markets it must be noted can not be controlled due to the many variables that encompass it both internally and externally hence government can fix economies not markets. Thus with strong economies the pressures of the market can be statically forecasted which will lead to complex derivatives and commodities futures. Derivatives are really just complex futures as well.

These futures markets becoming planning tools that can change the policy of any nation hence the market control the policies, the policies control the economy and the economy is controlled by private and public sector. If a gap develops in this, entire population will be disenfranchised as is the case in inner cities around the world and especially here in Jamaica . As the flight of capital retreats from areas because the policy for these areas are not realistic for the development growth of formal markets, public and private sectors will also retreat as any investment must show a return on investment (ROI). This ROI can be tangible or intangible return but a positive return none the less.

As our garrisons in Jamaica has become disenfranchised the government past and present has allowed the financial sector to black list these areas. This is not a unique anomaly for Jamaica but the norm around the world especially third world where informal settlement ie squatting communities exist. Crime exists because the people here are at the bottom of Maslow’s pyramid. The social and economic fabric of communities are gone hence a battle for scarce resource which most times are controlled by political and criminal forces.

The government has the ability to end this blacklisting and informal settlement by using the full force of the state to enforce law and order. It has the ability to ensure that a titled property in the inner city is considered an asset vs a liability by banks, insurance companies and the owners of property themselves. It has the power to define clearly land ownership whereby a person can not be force out of their capital because of criminal elements as this is duress. The rule of law and not politics or fear should apply. If land owners consider these properties as valuable assets which the capital market recognizes as assets then a move to destroy the garrisons can begin. But when a free for all is allowed to operate with this basic resource informal organizations are cultivated as a means of self preservation hence the ultimate pariah for a government to control is born and that is the informal economy which policy cannot control or direct thus giving power to the informal organization as a revenue generator is in place to fund their activities with no regard to law and order.

A BRIEF ON INSURGENCY AND GOVERNMENT

Written By Carol Lawton

In the timeline of history one thing holds true in regards to governments, liberation movements and paramilitary groups and that is they wrestling for power within the state. These struggles between the factions may be covert, overt or collaborative. But the end result is always the same as the formal structure now has to deal with the dynamics which will always lead to social unrest.

In the development of dictatorships, it is the state failure to control and maintain society because of the compromise given to the factions. Democracy is a scaring concept if the parties involve are not willing to safe guard it. Theocracy in of itself cannot be avoided as in any society one religion will be dominant but with this dominance it must allow all to seek their own enlightenment in the belief of a higher being. Socialism is an artificial state because of the availability of limit resources yet unlimited wants and the difference in talents and ability between people. Capitalism in its pure state is by far the best but pure capitalism without safeguards to protect the weakest of society will lead to corruption and social unrest hence no system is superior.

What is striking is the balance needed between them all. The strong arm of the state while give the citizen the choice to choose which opportunity to purse to build wealth while protecting the weakest to allow them to have access to the capital that they need to survive. Such a system is the ideal but where to the system begin or end.

To have seen democracies where there is none. Socialism in Capitalism is a paradox. The ism of government is an illusion as good governance is about making decisions based upon the need of the state. Hence to allow covert or overt groups to develop system above the platform of government will lead to strife and the eventual takeover of government. In war torn region, it is the warlord who governs not the state, in inner city fiefdom it is the don through the collection of gains from transaction (unofficial tax), in war, the military rules the ground while the insurgency rules the night, and then the terrorists who rule by fear due to their ability to strike without regards for damage human or material.

The state of government can only exist in peace. Hence peace is the objective of all government in the end regardless of the form. So when a state foster insurgency groups or terrorists with agenda against another state. They have entered into a formal war under the veil that they are in the country as unknown participants. Functionaries of the state will always have access to the information hence it will always move information up the chain of command and the objective is the survival of the state and information is key. So when a country like Lebanon allows for Hezbollah to organize, finance, set support social systems and military logistics system it should not be surprise that if Hezbollah cannot destroy its enemy, it will turn against its host like a parasite as it has already undermined the state in that an entity can wage war against sovereign nation and undermine the state ability to protect its borders and deploy diplomatic policy that leads to peace. Woe be unto a state that believe that it can exist in peace while pseudo governments exist within.