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27020: Hermantin(news)Toward energy independence (fwd)





Miami Herald


Posted on Tue, Dec. 27, 2005
HISPANIOLA

Toward energy independence
BY JOHANNA MENDELSON-FORMAN
jmendelsonforman@att.net

On Hispaniola, Haiti is on the verge of state failure, while the Dominican Republic is threatened by an energy crisis that could doom recent years of economic growth and democratic development. Fortunately, Dominican President Leonel Fernández, has taken the nation's crisis as a cause that must be addressed by developing an island policy for energy and security.

The Dominican Republic is at a crossroads. Energy insecurity threatens progress on many fronts. With more than 80 percent of electric power produced from oil, the use of bio-fuels as an alternative fuel would lessen the country's vulnerability to petroleum-market vagaries and geopolitics. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has given the Dominicans generous terms for oil through his PetroCaribe program, thus providing a quick fix to the current energy crisis. But the deal must be weighed against the medium to long-term energy security of Hispaniola. The reality is that the Dominican Republic needs both.

The country's agriculture sector and sugar producers, in particular, have been displaced by free-trade zones and services industries. Meanwhile, the accelerated, unplanned growth of tourism has resulted in over-exploitation and citizen insecurity.

Conversion to ethanol

A recent report supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development predicted that the country's current demand for power cannot be met. The report advocated conversion to ethanol or other biomass-energy products as a first step in making the transition from oil dependency. Doing so could lay the foundation for greater cross-border collaboration with Haiti. Some bio-fuel crops, such as jatropha, could play a significant role in rebuilding degraded soils, thereby alleviating a significant environmental problem. Bio-diesel, derived from plants that thrive on Hispaniola, would also stimulate microenterprises.

The continued deterioration of political, economic and environmental conditions in Haiti strains the Dominican government. Continued cross-border migration, transshipment of illegal narcotics and the spread of HIV/AIDS increases the risk of social and economic instability. There would also be the benefits of energy self-sufficiency and poverty reduction. Bio-fuel is a bridge to peaceful relations between the two nations.

Bioenergy is not new to the Dominican Republic. Its large sugar plantations have already attracted investors' attention. But no large-scale conversion of sugarcane to ethanol has yet occurred, in part because the U.S. government still provides growers with export subsidies. This has delayed policy considerations and limited bio-fuel production to small projects rather than a major conversion initiative. This policy has also created an open door to Chávez's energy machinations in the energy-poor Caribbean.

There is a new consensus at the highest political level in Santo Domingo that alternative energy is a priority. Recent oil-price increases have strengthened Fernández's hand to address the energy crisis. A national commission created in 2001 is now coordinating the government's response.

On Nov. 8, Fernández signed an agreement with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe in which Colombia will provide energy assistance and transfer technology for ethanol production. Brazilian investors, pioneers in ethanol production from sugarcane, are knocking at the doors of government agencies, affirming the bio-fuel potential for the Dominican Republic.

Saving Hispaniola is possible, and Fernández has taken the first steps. Progress over the next year must include:
• Developing energy alternatives, from photovoltaic to wind energy.
• Encouraging small-scale projects that provide immediate energy-cost relief to the rural areas.
• Advocating the conversion of all sugar to ethanol.
• Launching immediately a program to use bio-fuels to generate electricity in its national power system. • Creating a binational commission after the Haitian elections that uses the energy crisis as a means to rebuild trust.

The Caribbean must also become a place where bio-fuels flourish. Chávez's PetroCaribe should not replace what promises to offer the greatest opportunity to make energy security a reality in the Caribbean. Johanna Mendelson-Forman is senior program officer for Peace, Security and Human Rights at the UN Foundation, which was created in 1998 to administer Ted Turner's $1 billion gift to the United Nations.