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News from America

Mauritius joins other nations in push toward cleaner electricity

At a conference in Washington, D.C. from March 5-6, ministers from Mauritius and 150 other countries gathered to learn about policies that promote renewable forms of energy for electricity, and made pledges to adopt renewables in a global effort to combat global warming.

The two-day Washington International Renewable Energy Conference, organized by the U.S. government, also included a trade show that gave participants the chance to see the latest technologies in energy generation using renewables.

"This was a very, very productive conference," Abu Twalib Kasenally, Minister of Public Utilities, said in an interview with Weekend after the conference ended. "We've been exposed to the best brains here on these issues, and I'm impressed by the amount of effort that has already gone into research and development of new technologies (using renewable energy) and perfecting old ones." President Bush also addressed the conference.

The minister said that discussions in various workshops and the sharing of ideas "has broadened my outlook considerably and given us food for thought for energy development as we work to reshape our energy policy in Mauritius."

Kasenally said that a national conference on renewable energy might be organized in Mauritius that would bring together all the stakeholders, as well as experts from abroad, to discuss the potential for further developing renewable energy on the island.

As the world begins to see the benefits of renewable energy from sources like solar, wind and biofuels, Kasenally said that Mauritius has already made a commitment to reduce its dependence on traditional coal and oil for electric generation. The Outline Energy Policy, adopted in April 2007, he said, makes renewable energy a priority.

"It must be said that whereas developed countries are now looking to diversify their energy supply and increase their share of renewable energy to 20 percent by year 2020, Mauritius is already at 20 percent," the minister said in a speech to the conference. "Since the time when electricity has been generated in Mauritius in the 1950's, renewables have always been one of the cornerstones of our power production strategy. "

He noted that the first power station in Mauritius was a hydropower plant and from the 1950s, biomass has been used by the sugar industry to produce sugar and electricity. The Bagasse Energy Development Programme in the 1990s gave biomass a prominent role in energy generation. Today, 15 percent of the country's total electricity requirements is produced from biomass, and during the crop season, that figure doubles.

At one time Mauritius was 100 percent dependent on fossil fuels, mostly imported oil and coal, for its energy needs. But the country has taken steps to reduce fossil fuels and diversify into other energy sources, he said. Today, oil accounts produces 45 percent of the island's electricity, coal produces 35 percent, bagasse from sugar cane 15 percent and hydropower, 5 percent. The goal, he said, is to reduce oil to 20 percent and increase bagasse to 25 percent, while also increasing the use of renewable sources like wind and solar power.

"We won't be able to completely eliminate fossil fuels, but we can cut it down. This is important due to the high volatility of prices of oil," he said. "And we can increase the efficiency of bagasse."

Diversifying the country's energy supply is essential to meet the demands of a growing economy, he said. As Mauritius expands into new industries, especially with the growth of tourism, demand for electricity will increase.

Renewable energy - in technologies like wind farms, biofuels and solar - holds much promise for Mauritius, he said. "They not only help us reduce fossil fuels (oil and coal), but cut down on the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming," he said. A national recycling plan for waste should also be part of the plan, and he noted a project is now underway by a private company to burn waste to produce electricity.

Implementing new energy technologies is costly, however, especially for small island nations like Mauritius. In a speech before the conference on Tuesday, the minister noted the need for richer countries and international lending organizations to provide low-cost financing that would encourage developing countries to switch to renewables.

While in Washington, Kasenally said that he also met with energy experts at the World Bank to discuss possible schemes to finance renewable energy technologies in Mauritius. He said the government wants to set up a wind farm of 25 megawatts and also move more aggressively into solar technologies, "We're looking to the World Bank for technical assistance on these projects," he said.

There is also the plan to sell CFLs, Compact Fluorescent Lamps, which are energy-saving light bulbs, at a discounted price to consumers in Mauritius. These spiral-type bulbs use less power than incandescent lights. "We did a pilot program, and there were significant savings," he said. And the government is working with school children to educate them about energy conservation.

The minister said that the government has asked hotels on the island to adopt wind or solar power to generate electricity. The hotels could then advertise this as green or eco-tourism.

French movie profiles female spies during World War II

A new movie just released in France profiles the work and lives of five women who took enormous personal risks as members of the French Resistance during World War II. Inspiration for one of the characters, Louise Desfontaine, came from Mauritian-born Lise de Baissac, who served as an agent in the Special Operations Executive (SOE).

"Louise Desfontaine m'a été inspirée par une femme ayant existé, Lise de Baissac, espouse Villameur. Dans le film, elle est une femme blessée qui se réfugie dans une certaine froideur.," dit Jean-Paul Salomé sur le website du film. Sophie Marceau joue le role.

Salomé, impressed that Lise's brother, Claude de Baissac, was an important player in the Resistance, decided to create the character of Pierre Desfontaine, Louise's brother. This role is played by Julien Boisselieur.

"Si j'ai choisi de donner un frère à Louise, c'est parceque Lise de Baissace, qui m'ai inspiré cette historie, était partie rejoindre son frère au SOE, à Londres," dit Salomé.

The film is a pschological thriller that follows the secret work of five SOE agents that were parachuted into Normandy. Their mission was to gather intelligence on the Nazis and report it back to London. The information was crucial in helping the Allies plan the invasion in Normandy. The agents are eventually caught and sentenced to death.

The film is not a documentary, but a fictionalized story that draws very loosely on the real experiences of SOE agents. Although inspired by the work of Lise de Baissac, none of the film's story actually follows her life as an agent.

Lise was one of the first two female agents to be parachuted into France during the war. Her misson was to provide a secure place for agents that needed help and information. Operating under the name of Mme. Irene Brisse, she assumed the role of a widow and an amateur archeologist and bicycled through the countryside looking for possible landing and dropping areas. It was, by all accounts, a lonely assignment. She later acted as a liaison officer between three Resistance networks.

When the networks were discovered by the Nazis, she escaped to London with her brother, Claude. While helping to train new agents in parachuting, she broke a leg. Once well enough, she returned to France. She joined her brother in Normandy and their intelligence work, under highly dangerous circumstances, helped set the ground for the invasion of Normandy.

After the war, she was appointed MBE in 1945, made a Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur and was awarded the Croix de Guerre avec palme.

Born Lise de Boucherville Baissac, she married Gustave Villameur, a French artist and interior decorator in 1950. She lived in an apartment overlooking the old port of Marseille until her death at age 98 in 2004.

Mauritian chef shares recipes on US TV

Mauritian chef Dominique Macaque shared his culinary talents with a national audience in the United States recently when he appeared on a popular Saturday morning show on CBS television.

Winner of several U.S. culinary awards and author of two cookbooks, Dominique showed the television audience how to prepare a 3-course meal for four people for less than $40. The segment on the CBS Early Morning Show is called "Chef on a Shoestring."

In introducing Dominique, co-anchor Chris Wraggle said that "New Orleans Chef Dominique Macquet blends the flavors of his island childhood with classic French cooking." The segment was billed as "a winter taste of the tropics." On the menu: Roma tomato salad with watercress, Jerk Pork Loin and an Ile Flottante with caramel.

Dominique, who has two restaurants in New Orleans, often combines the culinary traditions and spices of Mauritius in his cooking. This tropical influence is at the heart of many of the recipes that appear in his cookbooks and on the menus at his restaurants. Dominique explains that island cuisines evolve from a mix of original native people using only those ingredients found on the island, adapting their diet to the foods they have on hand, and later adding flavors and spices from other areas through colonization.

Dominique is working with SunRich International, an online gourmet food company based in Chicago, to import to the United States jams made by Labourdonnais and sea salt from Mauritius.

"Having these products available in the U.S. sheds light on the unknown quality that has been hand-perfected for generations within these remote destinations. I am looking forward to sharing my cooking secrets and recipes with consumers," Dominique said in a recent news release from Sun Rich.

Ile aux Aigrettes

An article on an online publication by Drexel University in the United States profiles efforts to conserve rare species of birds and trees on Ile aux Aigrettes. The online magazine covers culture, ideas, arts and sciences, as well as global and national affairs. (www.thesmartset.com)

The author, Mark Daffey, visited the island late last year and observed that despite the history of the Dodo bird going extinct, there is hope for a better fate for an array of other unusual species that are being overseen by an important conservation projects on the island.

Daffey observed four rare Olive White-eye birds (there are only six of these sparrow-sized birds on the island), an 81-year-old, 660-pound Aldabra tortoise named Big Daddy which is the oldest and largest of 27 giant Aldabra tortoises on the island, and ebony trees that "are part of the last remaining virgin ebony forest" on Mauritius.

Declared a nature reserve in 1965, the nature on Ile aux Aigrettes has been enjoying a renaissance, the author said. Conservation efforts have helped revive populations of the Pink Pigeon. A captive breeding program has allowed the Pink Pigeon population to grow from just name remaining in the wild in 1990 to about 94 today on Ile aux Aigrettes. There are about 380 throughout Mauritius and most of them can be found in the protected Black River Gorges National Park.

The two botanists and their staff on Ile aux Aigrettes are actively trying to revegate the island by planting seeds. Today, he notes, the ebony tree -which is the favored habitat for the Pink Pigeon but was cut down for use in limekins - accounts for 15 percent of the island's total vegetation. Its seeds have also been planted on Round Island and in the Black River Gorges.

He also notes that the Aldabra tortoises have been introduced on the island because since they are similar to the now extinct Rodrigues Giant Tortoise, whose population once numbered 400,000 before being killed off for food and oil at the end of the 19th century. Since 2003, 340 Aladbra eggs have been collected there, of which 250 have hatched and been transferred to part of the Black River Gorges park.

Conservation efforts, however, have come too late for other species, such as the scops owl, Lesser Mascarene fruit bat, Roddrigues Giant Gecko and the Mauritius Blue Pigeon. "These were all casualties, either directly or indirectly, of man discovering this smattering o paradise in the Indian Ocean," Daffey wrote.

Instead, the staff of 30 working on the island concentrate on preserving the Mauritius Fody, Echo Parakeet, Telfair's Skink and the Mauritius Kestrel. They are also working to preserve the Oeniella Aphrodite, a rate type of orchid that grows in the ebony's tree cavities.

a m e r i c a n   s c e n e

WEEK-END --- dimanche 16 mars 2008