To anyone who knows Bonaire, this move should come as no surprise. Forward-looking conservation has been a hallmark of the island, which banned spearfishing and protected its coral reefs in the 1970s, turning all of its surrounding waters into a protected marine park by the end of that decade. In this case, an accident at the island's electrical plant in 2004, which knocked out half of Bonaire's energy production, provided the impetus for a major change in approach.
"We want to be the first to be completely green. We want to promote a clean, green-oriented island," said Richard Hart, director of Bonaire Holding Maatschappij, which controls the islands utilities. "We don't want polluting industries. That's not for us."
In addition to the wind farm, Bonaire has plans to renovate its sewage-treatment and waste-disposal facilities, encourage the use of home photovoltaics, and within the next three years provide the other 50 percent of its energy through biodiesel generated from the algae which incubates in Bonaire's salt flats.
"Islands like Curacao and Aruba, who have these old fossil industries, it is hard for them to change what's been there for forty or fifty years," Hart said. "Historically, Bonaire's economic development stayed behind ... but now we're coming up in the new age."
