Despite global oil prices falling for basically the past year, renewable energy has continued to make strides to overtake regular gas and oil, especially in many parts of the Caribbean.
Buyers in the Caribbean are particularly vulnerable to sudden global market fluctuations in gas and oil. Foreign suppliers are often the only source of gas and oil for these Caribbean nations, meaning buyers and suppliers alike know that no matter what the price, they will have to purchase. This means suppliers can easily increase the price per barrel whenever they please without much risk.
It’s easy to see why when prices are high, these nations would push heavily for alternative energy sources. But with prices so low, many questioned whether areas like the Caribbean would feel compelled to continue to push for more clean energy. While there may have been a slight deceleration due to the lessened monetary incentive, Caribbean nations understand the importance of moving towards more renewable and cleaner sources of energy from both a local and global perspective. Not only will these renewable sources of energy be priced more reliably, as they are not at the whim of the geopolitics of the global oil market, but this move will also allow Caribbean nations more authority in the global conversation about global warming.
The Caribbean has been exploring biodiesel, wind power, solar power, and many other forms of alternative energy in order to diversify their energy dependence and move towards cleaner alternatives.