27030: Lemieux: UN Foundation: HISPANIOLA Toward energy independence (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

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.


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