The tiny South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu has become the first country in the Asia Pacific region to attempt to base its entire economy on renewable energy. Late last month, the Vanuatu government of President John Bani appealed to international donors, renewable energy technology experts, and regional organizations to help prepare a feasibility study for a hydrogen based renewable energy economy.

Hydrogen is the simplest, most plentiful element, but it does not occur naturally as a gas on Earth. It is always combined with other elements, such as water. It is high in energy and produces almost no pollution when burned. NASA has used liquid hydrogen since the 1970s to propel the space shuttle and other rockets into orbit. Hydrogen fuel cells power the shuttle's electrical systems, producing the byproduct of pure water, which the crew drinks. Some scientists think that hydrogen could form the basic energy infrastructure that will power future societies, replacing today's natural gas, oil, coal, and electricity infrastructures.

Energy generated from burning fossil fuels such as coal and crude oil has produced high concentrations of harmful gases in the atmosphere, leading to ozone depletion and global warming. The rises in sea level forecast as the planet warms will be especially devastating for small low lying Pacific island nations such as Vanuatu. Earlier last month, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific created a global research and development program to assist small island developing countries in achieving 100 percent renewable energy economies.

Vanuatu wants to reach that goal by 2020 and is the first nation to respond to the UN's program. The country is determined to develop its geothermal potential to produce electricity for local use and to manufacture hydrogen based fuels, such as methanol, for home use and for export. Geothermal energy is derived from hot dry rocks, magma, hot water springs and natural geysers. Combined with hydrogen based fuels manufactured from water using renewable energies, such as hydroelectric energy, wind and solar power, Vanuatu could be free of its current oil dependency and might instead become a fuel producing nation.

Vanuatu is one of the least developed nations on Earth. Made up of 83 islands in the southwest Pacific, northeast of New Caledonia and northwest of Fiji, Vanuatu gained independence in 1980 after 74 years of joint rule by the United Kingdom and France. The islands were then known as the New Hebrides. About 190,000 people live in the Republic of Vanuatu today. The economy is based on 29 airports bringing in tourists from around the world, fish, meat and wood processing, copra, coconuts, coffee and cocoa.

The cost of importing petroleum based products for basic energy needs nearly exceeds the value of Vanuatu's exports from all other products, making it difficult to supply basic energy needs to the country's rural population. In 1997, the latest year for which data is available, Vanuatu produced and used 32 megawatts of electricity. The government hopes that under the UN body's global research and development program, it will be able to work in partnership with industrial nations and leading industries that manufacture renewable energy and hydrogen equipment to develop the country's geothermal and hydroelectric potential.

It will mean obtaining the latest technology including new cars, trucks, public transport buses, farm machinery, boat engines and electricity generators powered by hydrogen and other renewable energy sources. This is likely to attract new industry, private investment and technology as well as creating new jobs. Vanuatu hopes to eventually eliminate its need to import expensive foreign fuels like cooking gas, gasoline, and diesel. "As part of the hydrogen power and renewable energy initiative we will strive to provide electricity to every village in Vanuatu," said a government statement. "For the first time, electricity and fuels will become available to everyone in rural areas of Vanuatu at affordable rates."

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