Climate Change poses an undeniable threat to Bermuda. Last week, in a six-day series, Senior Reporter Glenn Jones examined the nature of the threat and a slew of potential solutions. We also asked readers to participate in the conversation with comments and environmental challenges for their neighbours and Government leaders. Today we share some of the responses.

I am currently studying a MSc in Renewable Energy at the university of Newcastle in the UK. Although I?ve spent much of my life in the UK, I am Bermudian and have lived and worked in Bermuda throughout my life. In my opinion, climate change should perhaps be one of Bermuda?s most important political agendas, especially considering how low most of the Island is to the sea and how vulnerable it is to both erosion and flooding.

I would like to congratulate you on increasing awareness of the issue with your recent articles. As I?m sure you are aware, the recent Intergovernmental Panel on climate Change (IPCC) report states that sea levels are rising by 3.1cm per decade (twice the rate of the early 1990s).

This may not sound much, but it is based on current climate models that assume the ice sheets contributing to this rise will melt slowly. Many glaciologists agree that there is growing evidence this may not be the case and that they may be melting faster than predicted.

Most people on the Island should be able to imagine the effects of even a half metre rise in sea levels, especially when combined with a storm surge and hurricane force winds.

While there?s no sense in scare mongering, it is now widely accepted that climate change caused by human activity related carbon dioxide emissions is happening. Although Bermuda?s contribution to carbon dioxide emissions is small in comparison to the rest of the world, I would argue that this is perhaps not a responsible view to take on the subject.

If we look at the problem of carbon dioxide emissions on a basis of how much each person could emit every year to have a sustainable climate, it allows fair comparison between people all over the world.

Otherwise, where do you set the limits? If everyone took the approach (as many currently do) that their impact is small and will not make a difference then the world could reach a point where islands like Bermuda pay the consequences.

I believe that islands such as Bermuda should be leading the way and setting an example for the rest of the world. Saying ?look, we know this is a problem, we?re doing all we can, so why aren?t you??

I cannot think of many places in the world that are better placed than Bermuda to do so:

With the highest GDP in the world, the money could be made available for many capital intensive renewable energy schemes. They are economically viable so the government would get its money back. The problem is that many are not yet cheap enough to win over fossil fuels in a free market.

On such a small island, with many people using bikes, the contribution to emissions from transport could be very small. Many other countries have huge problems with their transport emissions and there?s no easy way out for them. Bermudians do fly a lot as a consequence of living on a small island, but people could try to fly less if they wanted.

Small changes to policy could have a noticeable effect ? there?s a lot of progress that could be made for very little cost in terms of energy efficiency.

There?s no great demand for power to heat the Island in the winter compared to many other countries.

Having more renewable energy on the Island would decrease its dependence on the imported fuels currently used by BELCO.

A clean, energy efficient, renewable energy powered society is a dream that most countries may never be able to reach, but that Bermuda may be able to and if it did, it would certainly be a sight tourists would want to see and business?s would want to be a part of.

But before everyone rushes out and puts a wind turbine on their house for the next hurricane to rip off and plant in the roof of their car, maybe we should look at energy efficiency. The first step to reducing emissions is reducing the amount of energy we use in the first place. There?s no need to be a scrooge, just buy energy saving light bulbs, don?t leave appliances on when you?re not using them and try leaving the AC off if you can.

In most cases you will actually save money by increasing your energy efficiency.

Once you feel that you?ve done all you can to reduce your energy use, then is the time to think about renewables. There?s economies of scale though. A commercial wind farm could generate power for maybe a third of the cost of a small domestic wind turbine. A company would invest the money in selecting an appropriate site, building the turbines and maintaining them.

The homeowner could then just buy the power off them. Micro-renewables have their place as shown by the Fosters, with solar being a good example, but there are many financial and technical factors that need careful consideration before people invest in such technologies.

The government, BELCO and outside advisors would have to carefully work out what was possible with the islands supply network and then encourage appropriate technologies. When the ocean current turbine is installed by BELCO, maybe they could offer the choice to buy ?power? from regular generation or from renewable generation.

They would be creating a new market and with businesses such as HSBC who are very aware of climate change on the Island, I?m sure they would have a lot of customers.

How many Bermudians are aware of the kilowatt hours of power they use a year, or that with the Island?s diesel generator based power generation system, each kilowatt hour generates around 0.71kg of carbon dioxide (not including getting the fuel oil imported)? 0.71kg per kilowatt may not sound like a lot, but the Island used 616.7 million kilowatt hours of electricity in 2005. That?s about 437,000 tons of carbon dioxide, or 6.6 tons per person.

This is not entirely fair as some of the power goes to international business, but it is a good representation.

Is it even the average Bermudians responsibility to know all of this, or should the government be aware and taking appropriate steps on behalf of the people? Perhaps both should be taking action, if the government knows people want to do something about it, they will be more likely to change policy.

How about a poll on how many people have energy-saving light bulbs installed in their entire house? Using 20 watts instead of 100 watts may not sound a lot, but it adds up. Think of how many bulbs you have in your house, how many hours they run over a year.

Also, all that extra energy you put into those old inefficient light bulbs ends up as heat, so you have to run your air conditioning more, using even more energy. Are energy efficient bulbs taxed at the regular rate? If so, reducing or removing this tax could be a good first step.

Perhaps an Island-wide effort with the goal of setting an example for the rest of the world might unite those who disagree on other issues facing Bermuda.

Feel free to reproduce any part of this e-mail if you feel it may be of use. Please remember that it is of course, just my opinions on this subject.

I agree with your report that Bermudians do use an excessive amount of energy per capita. The big cars just seem to be an over indulgence but the use of dryers seem an easier option than drying clothes on a line. Beside freshly air dried clothes feel and smell so much better than those done in the dryers.

Travel is something I myself could not be without and as you stated the Island is pretty remote. I urge Bermudians to start making a contribution to saving our beautiful planet by being more energy efficient. We need to consider our actions today for our children and grand children?s future.

I would rate this Government?s performance at protecting the environment as F MINUS. In my opinion the Government is more interested in puffing up their self importance and lining their pockets than protecting our environment.

Southlands should be purchased and made into a Public Park. Sidewalks would allow people to walk to public transport (especially Harbour Road) in relative safety and able to leave their cars at home.

Please leave me unsigned as I do not need to be harassed by some Government official even though I am a Bermudian.

From Stuart:

In the book ?Bermuda?s Delicate Balance?, first published in 1981, the chapter on Energy, researched and written by Dr. Archie Hollis-Hallett, presented evidence that Bermudians used more energy per capita than the USA, or Europe, or Third World nations and used more than six times the world average. While this analysis hasn?t been updated, it is doubtful that our level of energy use has diminished, either in quantity or relative to the rest of the planet.

I was thinking that Government, Barritt?s (Crystal Clear Water bottles) and Pure Water could, between them, offer a five cent rebate on their plastic bottles. Barritt?s is getting the original bottles from somewhere and that place will most likely refine plastic. The expense of shipping the bottles out to be refined or recycled is where Government, together with the companies, can assist and with maybe a special deal with a shipping company. All this plastic is just getting burned up into our air. With a little given money from the ones who can afford it, this is the type of thing we need in our Bermuda. This is also a great way to start kids out with a little movie money or bubble gum, and think about and help their environment.

Ethanol is better than petroleum but we need something that doesn?t produce CO2 like the extraction of the energy from the vacuum ? (Possibly the missing dark energy everyone is talking about?) ? that people like Tom Beardan have been talking about and researching for more than the last decade.

Have you read ?Apocalypse 2012?? Suggest you have a look ? touches on global warming as just one of a number of issues heading into the 2012 debate. I believe Al Gore was a consultant on the book. The author (Lawrence E. Joseph) is quite witty and the book is written in an entertaining, non-technical way, although it is chock full of carefully researched scientific data, spelled out plainly for the average reader.

Aside from touching on the usual religious zealotry, the scientifically proven realities (and a few non-scientific theories) explained in the book provide a frightening wake-up call with respect to a number of issues, including global warming.