How Fidel Castro killed a sustainable ethanol industry

[protocol rv]

Cuba used to have a plan to develop a sustainable ethanol industry, similar to what Brazil has:

http://havanajournal.com/business/entry/state-of-cuban-oil-exploration-and-development-of-sugar-ethanol-industry/

Venezuela planned to develop its ethanol industry as well

http://www.conapri.org/english/ArticleDetailIV.asp?CategoryId=15049&ArticleId=244890

This included plans by PDVSA to manufacture ethanol, as seen in their website:

http://www.pdvsa.com/index.php?tpl=interface.en/design/salaprensa/readnew.tpl.html&newsid_obj_id=2328&newsid_temas=1

A few months after these articles were published, an octagenarian laying in a hospital bed read a half baked article by a Mexican communist called Atilio Boron, and decided to kill it:

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0429225220070404

Soon thereafter, President Chavez comes out against ethanol

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6560197.stm

Which makes sense because Venezuela is an OPEC member. Why would an OPEC member support development of a competing fuel?

What's really odd is how Cuba decided to kill its potential to manufacture ethanol, just because Castro got a burr under his saddle about it. Or is it odd, since Castro runs the country even if he no longer does? Or maybe Castro gave Chavez a hand, and used his influence over left wing groupies to oppose ethanol development as is practiced in Brazil? Think about it.

[naaman fletcher]

1. I've noticed there are not a lot of comments in this forum lately..

I wonder why.

[dipsydoodle]

2. We tend to ignor

halfwits. It's easier on occasions just to let rubbish sink.

On this subject the trade off is Cuba's sustainable general agrarian policy which was originally developed to help cope with oil shortage.

[protocol rv]

3. The subject is interesting, Castro killed a viable ethanol industry

And as far as I can tell, it was all done based on an editorial written by Castro while he was in the hospitals suffering from a serious case of missing half his digestive tract. He seems to have based it on an essay by Boron. Because there isn't a documented debate in the national assembly, nor are opponents or a free press free to discuss the issue, prior to or after the decision is made, I do lack a full understanding of what drove them in this direction.

I did find a very interesting timing sequence, which impressed me at the time because I am a supporter of the ethanol industry Brazilian style: Both Cuba and Venezuela had serious, well documented plans to copy what Brazil has been doing, but as soon as Fidel Castro published his essay, there was a turn around. Within months, the ethanol projects in Cuba and in Venezuela were dead. I would be very interested to hear from people who do live in Cuba or are very familiar with their inner workings, to see what they think - in a serous way, without being called a halfwit and so on. I'm very interested in sustainable development, and this is a very key issue, should we use the land to grow fuel in a sustainable way?

I do have a comment for Americans: the ethanol industry I'm discussing is the Brazilian model, not the US model. The US model is based on subsidies and isn't sustainable. The Brazilian model seems to be quite sustainable and very profitable. Lula da Silva is very smart to support it as much as he does. Thus I don't think the US model can be defended, based as it is on corn. But I do think I can make a reasonable point and prove Castro was, as you Americans say, peeing up the wind when he killed both the Cuban and Venezuelan ethanol industries.

[dipsydoodle]

5. The Brazilian model ?

Have you overlooked the fact that Brazil has been through this cycle in the past and also abandoned it ?

[protocol rv]

8. Brazil has a thriving ethanol industry

I would like to see what you see about Brazil's ethanol industry. It's thriving, growing, and now the Brazilians are moving it outside Brazil, that is, Brazilian expertise and funds are being used to develop the ethanol industry elsewhere. Now, what exactly did I overlook?

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_25/b4039079.htm

http://sugarcaneblog.com/2010/03/04/brazilian-ethanol-industry-could-see-new-wave-of-consolidation/

http://domesticfuel.com/2009/11/25/19516/

http://earth2tech.com/2008/05/07/primer-brazilian-biofuels/

The last one has a good clip regarding the poor working conditions sugar cane field workers suffer in Brazil. What it leaves out is that as the ethanol industry has grown, there has been a huge surge in the demand for labor, and this has increased wages, and reduced poverty. In other words, if those workers weren't cutting the sugar cane for ethanol, they would be in worse conditions. The trick is to grow the industry so much, they won't have enough workers. Then wages will go up, and sugar harvesting should mechanize. In 20 years, it'll look very different. And it'll be much more sustainable than the oil dependency we see the Cubans developing after Castro killed their ethanol industry.

[Bacchus39]

14. uuuy you got some catchin up to do n/t

s

[protocol rv]

22. There's confusion about biofuels in general

The confusion arises because the biofuels industry, as practiced in large scale now, is a new development, spurred on by high oil prices. The key for Americans is to understand their corn-based biofuels are a waste of resources, because they are corn based, and highly subsidized. The money spent subsidizing corn would be better spent subsidizing wind power and solar power - and this would help reduce food prices as well.

On the other hand, the biofuels industry developed in Brazil, India and Colombia is based on sugarcane, and is highly efficient.

A third biofuel industry, used in SE Asia is manufacturing biodiesel using palm oil and other plants. This is fairly efficient, but has a negative CO2 load on the atmosphere because the land used for cultivation is obtained by cutting forested land.

Thus the key for biofuels is to use land that's already cleared, and increase the intensity of cultivation on such land. This may create a future conflict with cattle raising, because beef is becoming a very attractive competitor as the Chinese become wealthier and start eating more meat.

Long term, biofuels are only a subsidiary solution to a larger problem. We have too many people on earth.

[protocol rv]

29. it's understandabale

Did you notice they don't realize ethanol can be made in several ways?

[naaman fletcher]

4. You tend to ignore anything but worshipful praise of murderous tryants who wear red. nt

[dipsydoodle]

6. We don't have quite the same deranged and paranoid view

of "Communism" over here in Europe.

[naaman fletcher]

7. really?

Then how come the people who lived under it in Europe wanted nothing to do with it? How come their were revolts in Hungary and Cz? It's because people want to be free, including those who live in the police state known as Cuba.

[protocol rv]

10. It's communism, not "communism"

Miss Doodle, I believe many of our dear friends and opponents in this blog are bona fide communists - not "communists". This means they're marxists who believe the value of things comes from the amount of labor one puts into them, and are opposed to profits - I assume they read Marx and Engels doctrine before they decided to become communists.

Now I'd like to address your comment about some of us being deranged and paranoid. Given the results communists achieved in the Soviet Union, China, Eastern Europe, and Cuba, we happen to think communism is a failure. I don't consider myself "paranoid". I happen to be opposed to the ideas proposed by Marx, Engels, Lenin, Castro, et al.

Furthermore, I'd like to remind you some of the most rabid anti-communists around happen to be Eastern Europeans, Cubans who escaped from Cuba, and others who had the real experience of living in the "workers' paradise".

Finally, I can also point out that not only is communism as advocated by Castro and friends an economic failure, it also tends to degenerate into rule by a group of oligarchs dressed in red. This happens because excessive concentration of power invariably leads to abuses of power. There have been very very few exceptions. Which makes one conclude that communism is undesirable, and should be avoided. It may be possible to have a discussion to see if we can orchestrate something which avoids the pitfalls I mentioned, but I don't think your side is too willing to discuss the subject calmly. I am.

I will wait for your response, and I hope it's not another set of insults. Try to reason your position, and maybe we can educate each other. But I assure you, if you insult those who think differently, it's very unlikely they'll ever change their minds and agree with you.

[protocol rv]

27. So where in Europe don't they have a paranoid view of communism?

Remember Us

http://www.gulagletters.com/

Charter 77

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_77

Solidarity Rebellion in Poland

http://www.euroheritage.net/polishresistancetocommunism.shtml

The Hungarian Rebellion

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/hungarian_uprising_1956.htm

Uprising in East Germany, 1953

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB50/

The fall of East Germany

http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=96245950

The Timiosara Massacre and the Fall of Communism in Romania

http://www.euranet.eu/eng/Dossier/The-fall-of-Communism/The-Romanian-revolution-and-the-price-of-freedom

[protocol rv]

28. No comment?

I thought you would have a comment about my list of countries criticizing communism

[Mika]

9. Concern about global food policy and hunger = 'burr under saddle'.

Let them eat cake.

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[protocol rv]

11. Misguided ill-considered decision dictated by an old man

I have a few points to discuss:

One, there were plans laid out by the Cuban government to implement a biofuels industry, these were openly discussed in late 2006. There were parallel plans in Venezuela, as shown in the PDVSA website, also in late 2006. I've also shown the Brazilian bio-fuel industry is thriving, profitable, and is sustainable. This implies the plans laid out by both Cuban and Venezuelan government officials were reasonable, and could have led to sustainable development of a fuel alternative to oil. This was good in particular for Cuba, which survives thanks to the oil handouts from Venezuela.

Two, in early 2007, without any discussion whatsoever in the Cuban national assembly, nor any mention of a debate, Castro writes a simple essay coming out (wrongly) against the biofuels industry in general. At that point in time, both the Cuban and Venezuelan efforts are suspended. Killed off. The point, my friend, is that a decision appears to have been made because an old man, sick in bed, and suposedly no longer in power, read an article by Atilio Boron and decided the biofuels industry was "genocide". Which is, as they say in Texas, a crock of feces.

Three, there are two ethanol models, one is the Brazilian model, based on sugar cane, and the other is the US model, based on subsidized corn. Therefore the "let them eat cake" comment is thoroughly out of line. It is possible to develop a biofuels industry to satisfy some countries' needs. This may not be possible for Europe or the USA, but it's possible for Brazil, definitely possible for Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and other nations with the right soil and rain conditions for sugar cane.

Four, the failure to grow food in sufficient quantities is a structural failure unrelated to the growth of sugar cane for biofuels. There is sufficient soil, water, and fertilizer at this time to develop a biofuels industry in the countries I listed above. In Cuba's case, it's difficult to say, because the communist regime has ruined the agricultural sector, and today Cuba can't feed itself even though it does have the land, water, and other requirements.

Five, in most of Latin America, the rural sector is poorer than the urban sector. Therefore justice is served is the agricultural sector increases its earnings, and the urban sector has to pay more for food. Farmers have been screwed by urban intellectuals, the rich, and parasites who think food ought to be cheap while they sell their wares at a premium. Well, it seems biofuels help balance the odds in favor of the farmer, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Six, maybe what you need to do in Cuba is learn to grow your own food, and stop depending on imports from the yankees. This is the real reason Castro got upset, Cuba happens to import food from the USA, and when the Americans diverted their corn crop to biofuels (a dumb move dictated by special interests who receive subsidies), Cubans had to pay more for their food imports. So why not learn from everybody else, privatize the farms, let the people be free to grow what they want, let them earn a profit in farmers, and dump that marxist dogma which is the real reason why you go hungry?

[protocol rv]

12. More about the biofuels debate

Agricultural income growth in Brazil

http://economics.ucr.edu/papers/papers05/05-06.pdf

Brazil defends its biofuels industry in Copenhaguen:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/09/biofuels-brazil-copenhagen-summit

United Nations' Biofuels Presentation is found here - it's very balanced and a good introduction to the issues involved

http://www.unep.fr/scp/rpanel/pdf/Assessing_Biofuels_Presentation.pdf

[protocol rv]

13. Colombia's Biofuel Industry Grows

They don't listen to Castro

"Colombia’s sugarcane-based ethanol industry, after operating for only 3 years, is the second most developed in the Western Hemisphere. Most Colombian ethanol plants are energy self-suffi cient and even generate surplus power that is sold to the national electric grid. Colombia’s sugarcane-based ethanol production is increasing; proposed expansion projects have the potential to more than triple daily production from 277,000 gallons in 2007 to almost 1 million gallons in 2010. Most of the expansion is intended for exports, principally to the United States. However, it is unlikely that Colombia could export ethanol anytime soon because domestic production is insufficient to meet nationwide requirements that gasoline contain a 10-percent ethanol blend."

http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/ers/WRS//2000s/2009/WRS-01-26-2009_Special_Report.pdf

[protocol rv]

15. Ecuador, Peru, Argentina Join Nations developing Ethanol Industry

After months of delay, Ecuador’s government has launched a pilot program to sell gasoline containing a small amount of ethanol in the country’s largest city, Guayaquil. Ecuador thus joins a growing number of South American countries turning to ethanol for environmental and economic reasons. Earlier this month, neighboring Peru began requiring the addition ethanol to gasoline sold in the country. And as noted last week, Argentina has launched a 5% Ethanol blend in gasoline.

Ecuador’s Ecopais program, launched yesterday, involves the addition of a 5% ethanol blend to premium gasoline sold in the city for a period of two years. The ethanol will come from domestically grown sugarcane. According to the energy ministry, the pilot will allow Ecuador to import 320,000 fewer barrels of high-octane fuel per year, resulting in annual cost savings of $32 million.
The ministry estimates that the pilot will require 46,345 liters of ethanol each day, given that Guayaquil’s current demand for premium gasoline equals 5,830 barrels per day.

The use of ethanol will also help Ecuador lower its greenhouse gas emissions, reduce its output of toxic chemicals such as sulfur and benzene, and create rural jobs, the ministry adds. Ecuador had planned to begin ethanol sales in September, but the project was delayed because the blending infrastructure was not built in time. However, in recent months Petrocomercial, the retail arm of state-owned oil firm Petroecuador, has built a 40,000-barrel tank and two 5,000-barrel tanks at its Pascuales fuel terminal north of Guayaquil.

Meanwhile, on Jan. 1 neighboring Peru began requiring the addition of a 7.8% ethanol blend to all gasoline sold in the northern districts of Piura and Chiclayo. The plan is to roll the ethanol mandate out to most of the rest of the country by Jun. 11. Also last week, the Andean Development Corporation announced a $65 million loan to Maple Energy for the construction of an ethanol plant in northern Peru. The facility would produce up to 35 million gallons of ethanol per year from local sugarcane.

In Argentina, a new rule mandating a 5% ethanol blend for gasoline went into effect on Jan. 1. However, it appears that blended fuel has not yet made it to many of the country’s service stations

http://sugarcaneblog.com/2010/01/16/ecuador-peru-join-south-americas-shift-to-greater-use-of-ethanol/

[protocol rv]

16. I suggest you guys write a note to the editor

Send letters to Cuban newspapers, and complain because Castro made a mistake when he killed the Cuban ethanol industry. Make sure you blame Fidel Castro, because I read Raul Castro supports ethanol, but he can't do anything about it until Fidel dies.

I know those Cuban papers won't publish anything complaining about an important issue such as the destruction of the Cuban ethanol industry, because in Cuba there is no free press. But you really ought to try it, it's good for Cuba and for planet earth. I also encourage you to get some signs and go protest in front of the Cuban National Assembly. The signs can say something like "Save the Planet", "Save Bangladesh", and "Venezuela oil no, Cuban biofuel si"?, Or you could be even more radical: "Etanol, o Socialismo y Muerte". It's melodramatic, but they'll get the point.

[protocol rv]

17. Scientific American, April 2010 Issue in the stands

It has an article called "Managing Earth's Future"

http://www.sciamdigital.com/

You have to subscribe. But think about it, all you have to do is skip one restaurant meal in the USA, and you can use the money to buy the digital subscription. And it's going to make you a lot better informed.

In this article, they describe the serious problems we have caused, we are destroying the earth's environment. And things are getting a lot worse very fast. I'll give you an example that hits us here in Venezuela. The water supply for Caracas comes from reservoirs which are filled by water falling on a pristine rain forest about 100 km south of the city. The government has allowed illegal entry into this forest, the trees are being cut, and people are building shacks and small settlements inside the national park areas and the watershed for the water supply. This is leading to degradation of the quality of the water being sent to the city. Remember we have no seasons as you do in the USA. Here it's either raining, or dry. And when it's dry, it's very dry.

So it's important to have reservoirs and a catchment area covered with forest. The forest helps conserve the soil, and it also serves as a sponge to hold the water, which trickles out during the dry season. Now, we are seeing the reservoirs which supply water dry up, in part because it's been so dry, but also because illegal mining, and cutting of trees is being allowed. It's anarchy in the jungle, you may say. And this is not only helping make the electric power crisis worse, it's also creating a water shortage. I don't know why, but the water we do get is coming into the city loaded with mud and silt. Which tells me it's possible there's serious soil erosion taking place in the watershed - and this in turn implies the forest is disappearing. Why there's soil erosion when there's no rain is a big mistery. Maybe what's happening is that the reservoir is so low we're now sucking muddy water from the bottom? Who knows, we don't have a very efficient press here.

We can't go on this way. This is a problem made worse by the incompetence of the current government, but it's a problem most nations have, and it just can't continue. We can't all become like Haiti, a collapsed society which destroyed the environment and now lives in a dantesque situation not even a science fiction writer could have imagined. We have to control population growth, and stop destroying the enviroment, have to become a lot smarter about the way we do things. And Americans need to stop consuming so much. You eat too much food, which is not good for you because you have an obesity epidemic, and your vehicles are too large, and waste too much fuel. Please help the planet.

[protocol rv]

23. biofuels will set you free

Someday Fidel Castro will die. That's a certainty, even if you guys have some weird program to make Castro clones, as if you were Dr Mengele in The Boys from Brazil. So when he dies, I'm sure we'll see the Cuban biofuel industry take off. Raul Castro isn't nearly the dinosaur his brother is, he'll lead Cuba into pragmatic change.

[Mika]

18. Biofuel mandates would make corn shortfall costly, experts say

Biofuel mandates would make corn shortfall costly, experts say
http://www.news.illinois.edu/news/10/0324corn.html

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Grocery shoppers face hefty price increases if bad weather withers a U.S. corn crop that is now tethered to grain-intensive renewable fuel mandates, a new University of Illinois study warns.

Scott Irwin and colleague Darrel Good analyzed weather and harvest records in key corn-growing states, projecting U.S. yields based on the five best and worst growing seasons since 1960. | Photo by David Riecks
A corn shortage, coupled with surging demand to meet government-ordered ethanol standards, could push cash prices to $7 a bushel, the study found, squeezing livestock producers and driving up prices for meat, milk, eggs and other farm staples.

Economists Darrel Good and Scott Irwin say federal policymakers need to forge solutions now to cushion the blow of a shortfall that history shows is a matter of when and how severe, not if.

“We believe everybody will be better off with a reasoned, well thought-out response if a crisis would occur rather than rushed, short-term solutions as the crop is burning up,” Irwin said.

Irwin and Good, professors of agricultural and consumer economics, analyzed weather and harvest records in key corn-growing states, projecting U.S. yields based on the five best and worst growing seasons since 1960.

The study found that average yields could range from 135.5 bushels per acre with bad weather to 172.5 bushels per acre in peak growing conditions, compared with a trend yield of 156.7 bushels per acre forecast for 2010. If weather turns sour in 2010, for example, the nation would harvest about 10.9 billion bushels of corn, down more than 2.1 billion bushels from last year’s record crop, according to the study.

The shortage could drive daily cash prices to $7 a bushel and average prices to about $5.75, up from about $3.50 today.

Livestock and poultry producers who need corn for feed would bear the brunt of the shortfall because ethanol producers have no wiggle room under federal mandates, and export markets are historically unfazed by short-term price spikes, Good said.

“Those producers have already seen profit margins shrink in the last couple of years and many would be quick to cut back livestock inventory, netting higher prices for milk, eggs and meat. On average, prices could go up 5, 6 or 7 percent instead of the normal 2 percent that we typically see annually for food costs.”

Good and Irwin say the government can ease the impact by developing contingency plans now so that biofuels mandates could be quickly scaled back if summer weather makes a harvest shortfall imminent.

Reducing ethanol-production standards and easing restrictions on imported ethanol would spread the pain of a shortage, propping up livestock producers and holding down price spikes for food, Irwin said.

“Our thinking is it may be the only policy solution that could rein in the damage in any given year,” Good said. “Making some cuts in the ethanol sector would prevent forcing all of the cuts on the livestock sector.”

The study discounts arguments that advances in seed technology have made the U.S. corn crop “bulletproof” – capable of strong yields even during hot, dry growing seasons.

Irwin says seed technology has undoubtedly improved, but has yet to be truly tested because the nation’s corn crop has faced no widespread drought since the mid-1990s.

Weather patterns over the last half-century show that another drought is inevitable, he says, and putting too much faith in yet-unproven technology is a gamble that leaves livestock producer and consumers at risk.

“No doubt there has been enormous scientific progress, but the question is whether the improvements are so dramatic that we can ignore bad-weather scenarios,” Irwin said. “We’re persuaded by our modeling that another drought will occur. And even if it’s not as bad as our scenarios, it could still be devastating.”

The study, Alternative 2010 Corn Production Scenarios and Policy Implications, is available online. http://www.farmdoc.illinois.edu/marketing/mobr/mobr_10-01/mobr_10-01.html

[protocol rv]

19. Let's go over this again, and this time try to read what I write

There are two large biofuel industry models.

One is based on corn, it's subsidized, and it's not efficient. This is the one used in the USA. Because corn is heavily subsidized, the American food industry has learned to rely on corn as a basic feedstock for a large range of products. The policy followed by the US is stupid.

The second one is based on sugar cane. It's used in Brazil, Colombia, India, and elsewhere. It's efficent, green, helps increase demand for labor in the countryside, and reduces oil consumption. This is the industry the Cubans and Venezuelans had planned to develop in late 2006, killed by Fidel Castro while laying in bed. Castro's move to kill this "good" biofuel industry was stupid.

Do you understand now?

[protocol rv]

20. So do you understand now?

Or should I expand on the topic?

[protocol rv]

21. This is a good discussion about US corn subsidies

http://usfoodpolicy.blogspot.com/2009/02/subsidies-to-corn-sweeteners-in-us.html

As I mentioned above, there is confusion in the minds of many people, regarding the nature of the biofuel industry in the USA, and the different industry which is used in Brazil, India, Colombia, and other tropical nations. Just repeat this to yourselves: US version is bad, Brazil version is good, India version is better.

[protocol rv]

24. To add to the Confusion, the European Union is re-considering

The EU is re-considering its biofuel mandate, which requires the use of certain biofuels mixed into oil-derived products. The concern is discussed in the article linked below:

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6231DD20100304

If you read the article, you'll see the concern arises because in Indonesia and Malaysia they have been burning the rain forest to plant palms which are used to make biodiesel. This has a negative impact on greenhouse emissions.

As I mentioned before, the biofuels industry is quite diverse, and some of the technologies and fuels are not really environmentally sound, they are not sustainable, or cause more greenhouse gas emissions. The problem, as I mentioned, is that Fidel Castro killed a very viable biofuel industry in Cuba, where there is plenty of land available for a sugar-derived bio-ethanol industry.

Cuba's sugar industry was killed by the inefficiencies introduced in the agricultural system by the communists. The lesson doesn't seem to have been learned yet, although there is a lot of background noise to tell us it's very likely that once Fidel Castro is dead, and this is a foregone conclusion, the man will die soon, then the government will likely begin to change and one of the first things they'll do is implement a biofuels (bioethanol) industry similar to what they use in Colombia.

[Mika]

25. For your consideration

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=us+sugar+subsidies&aq=0&aqi=g3&aql=&oq=US+sugar+sub&gs_rfai=

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[protocol rv]

26. That's the way to discuss the subject - with a good background

Indeed, the US subsidies are an obscenity. They were mostly advocated by Archer Daniels Midland company, which is very strong in the mid-west and processes the ethanol. Another group which has been instrumental in the US sugar industry, and has blocked imports and encouraged Congress to pass sugar subsidies is the Fanjul brothers combine. The Fanjul brothers are super rich bastitianos who own most of the US based sugar cane industry - an industry which uses indentured labor in the form of illegal aliens, who are treated like beasts.

To make matters worse, the US subsidies for corn are so pervasive, corn syrup has displaced sucrose as the favorite sweetener for Americans, and among other things has caused a serious epidemic of corn-sensitive or allergic individuals. This is being kept quiet now.

This is an example of what happens when a nation's congress sells itself to the highest bidder, and corrupts itself, as the US congress has.

[AlphaCentauri]

30. Biogás en Cuba

Según expertos del Grupo Nacional de Biogás de Cuba, perteneciente al Grupo Central de Energía Renovable y Eficiencia Energética, la primera aplicación industrial del biogás en Cuba data de 1940. En aquel momento se construyeron dos biodigestores para procesar los residuales de la Cervecería del Cotorro.

El uso del biogás creció aceleradamente a partir de 1980 y se construyeron biodigestores de las tecnologías de campana flotante y de cúpula fija. El principal uso ha sido en la cocción de alimentos con el consecuente ahorro de combustibles, aunque se ha empleado puntualmente en alumbrado y generación de electricidad.


En Magueyal, municipio San Luis en la provincia de Santiago de Cuba, se capta el biogás obtenido en los biodigestores y se envía a un grupo electrógeno donde se mezcla con diesel para generar electricidad. Ello permite dar más servicio eléctrico ahorrando combustible.

En los años 1990 surgió el Movimiento Nacional de Biogás y hasta el 2006 se construyeron más de 500 plantas. Hoy existen unas 700 plantas de biogás en granjas estatales y en el sector campesino y se continuará construyendo plantas de biogás de pequeña escala en granjas pecuarias estatales, casas de familias campesinas e instalando biodigestores para tratar los residuos porcinos. Se construirán plantas de biogás en destilerías y en los rellenos sanitarios de asentamientos de más de 50 000 habitantes.

Se han identificado potencialidades para usar el biogás en la cogeneración de energía eléctrica y energía térmica a partir de residuales de la industria azucarera y del café, entre otros. Otra vía es captar el biogás que se produce en los rellenos sanitarios debido a la descomposición de la materia orgánica, experiencia que ya se aplica en el relleno de la calle 100 en Marianao. La creación de plantas de biogás en Centros Integrales Porcinos para tratar los residuos y generar electricidad es otra aplicación prometedora.

Según datos del Grupo Nacional de Biogás, el potencial de Cuba supera los cuatrocientos millones de metros cúbicos anuales. Si se aprovechara adecuadamente, se podría instalar una potencia de generación eléctrica de 85 MW y producir más de 700 GWh al año. Así se evitaría emitir más de tres millones de toneladas de dióxido de carbono y se ahorrarían unas 190 mil toneladas de petróleo. Además, se obtendrían unas dos millones de toneladas de abono orgánico al año y se reduciría la carga contaminante. Datos preliminares ubican a Ciudad de La Habana, La Habana y Pinar del Río, como los territorios con mayor potencial.

En el mural de una planta de biogás ubicada en las afueras de la ciudad de Camagüey se lee la frase: «El biogás no es un símbolo de pobreza, sino un combustible alternativo que nos brinda la naturaleza». El biogás es una fuente de energía consustancial con el modelo energético eficiente, descentralizado, sostenible y solidario que construimos.


http://www.biodieselspain.com/2009/06/23/biogas-en-cuba/

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31. Good for them but what's the actual figure for production?

I'm glad to see Castro didn't kill the biogas industry in Cuba, he only managed to kill bioethanol. But like so many articles one reads about Cuba, there's no hard figures. They discuss potential, but how much of this potential has been realized? While they were collecting biogas, they were flaring and venting gas from their oil wells until recently. And this gas they vented was highly poisonous and had a huge greenhouse effect.

So what do you think, once Fidel Castro dies, they'll be able to go back to bio-ethanol?