More than 10 million visitors traveled to Hawaii in 2019. By April of this year, with flights and cruises suspended due to the global pandemic, the torrent of tourists had become a trickle—down by 99.5% from the year before. Although tourism is now starting to gradually resume, it is still only about one tenth the […]
Wind and solar projects have been multiplying in Colombia in the past two years, and President Iván Duque recently announced plans for another major renewable energy auction in 2021. Although hydroelectric power is still the main course on Colombia’s energy menu, the appetite is growing for non-conventional renewables. With its abundant resources and solid regulatory […]
In southern New Mexico—part of the vast Chihuahuan Desert—the predominant color in the landscape is brown. But inside the greenhouses at Masson Farms, in a village called Radium Springs, it’s all about color: pinks and reds and purples and oranges and yellows. The potted plants the company grows thrive there all year round, in large part because of an abundance of geothermal hot water that keeps the temperature carefully controlled.
As energy becomes more decentralized—as close to home as solar panels on the roof—the opportunity is there for it to become more democratic too. What does energy democracy look like? It’s often tied to renewables, but it’s about a lot more than that.
With 33 brand-new electric buses now crisscrossing the island, Barbados is moving full speed ahead in modernizing its public transit fleet and reducing its greenhouse gas emissions. Passengers love the fringe benefits—for starters, the buses are air conditioned—but they are still getting used to one big change: the absence of noise.
Natural gas has some clear advantages over diesel or heavy fuel oil—it’s cleaner to burn and less expensive—but it has not always been a practical option for small countries. That is changing. Innovations in technology, advances in logistics, investments in infrastructure, and strong market forces mean that liquefied natural gas (LNG) can now be economically viable on a very small scale, opening up new prospects for power generation, transportation, and industry in Central America and the Caribbean.
The region’s energy future rests on investment and innovation from the private sector—along with smart policies and regulations from governments. Beginning this month, a new Public-Private Sector Dialogue Series will seek to expand that synergy and strengthen the foundation for energy development and growth.
As countries around the world scramble to lower their carbon emissions, many are looking to green hydrogen—in other words, hydrogen produced using renewable energy—to help them meet their goals. One country that believes it is especially well positioned to be a major player in that market is Chile. Energy Minister Juan Carlos Jobet has encouraged the country to “think big” about Chile’s prospects as a producer and exporter of green hydrogen.
Three closed door 75-minute discussion sessions featured each month on Mondays at 10:00a.m. (EDT), with energy officials from the hemisphere and ABD members.
For the past decade, before Covid-19 brought aviation to a near standstill, growth in air travel had been soaring, bringing with it a rise in CO2 emissions. The industry was taking steps to become more efficient and reduce its carbon footprint, and a landmark carbon offset plan was established for international air travel. Although today’s economic turbulence has led to an adjustment of that plan, the industry is still on a trajectory to become more sustainable, according to one veteran aviation expert.
The road trip is a classic theme in U.S. popular culture and a staple of the summer vacation—a chance to recharge the batteries. For owners of electric vehicles (EVs), that’s not just a metaphor. Far from their usual home or work plug-in sites, they consult apps and map out routes that will get them to the next charging station down the road. The fear of running out of charge—range anxiety—has always been a barrier to EV adoption, especially in a country as big as the United States. But as longer-range electric vehicles come on the market and the charging infrastructure ramps up, that may be starting to change.
For electric utilities that operate in Caribbean countries, planning for hurricanes is a year-round endeavor. Add Covid-19 into the mix, and things start to get even more complicated—especially since this year’s hurricane season is expected to bring “above-normal” activity.
Ecuador is an oil-exporting country, of course, but lately it has been exporting clean energy too, thanks to a surplus of hydroelectric power. The country’s electricity sales to Colombia have been increasing, and plans are underway for a new high-voltage line connecting Ecuador and Peru. By 2024, says the head of Ecuador’s government-owned electric utility, an “electric transmission highway” will link these three Andean countries, marking a step toward a more integrated—and more resilient—electricity market in the region. Meanwhile, Ecuador is looking to increase its own resilience by diversifying its electricity grid.
Countries around the region have long understood that making a transition to clean energy and energy efficiency is critical if they hope to achieve their environmental goals and commitments. Now they are looking at another potential benefit of the energy transition—the role it could play in helping to stimulate a post-pandemic economic recovery.
The expansion of the renewable energy sector in recent years has spawned a growing number of jobs all along the value chain. That has many countries taking notice, as they look to restart their economies and put people back to work.
Solar and wind plants are springing up everywhere, but the electricity grid cannot always take maximum advantage of the clean energy they produce. As countries in the region ramp up their targets for renewables, they need to ensure that their power systems are flexible enough to accommodate ever-larger amounts of intermittent generation. That is doable—even 100% renewable energy is doable in some cases—but it will require governments to put new policies in place that reward flexibility, one energy company executive says; otherwise, a lot of that wind and solar will just go to waste.
Just in time for the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, celebrated on April 22, residents of many of the world’s largest cities were experiencing some of the clearest skies they had seen in years. The decrease in air pollution—captured in striking before-and-after photos and satellite images—has been one of the rare positive side effects of the pandemic-related shutdowns. Experts in air quality from some of Latin America’s major urban areas talked recently about the effects of the sharp declines in traffic in their cities—and some of the problems that cannot be solved just by taking vehicles off the road.
Every economy in the world will feel the effects of Covid-19, but the pain will be especially acute in the Caribbean region, where the bottom has fallen out of the tourism market. Now is the time for governments to think big about how to make the region more resilient, one economist says.
No matter how many movies families watch in home isolation or how many hours they run their air conditioners, play their radios, or work on their computers, they will not use nearly as much electricity as a working factory or a bustling hotel. As a result, the widespread shutdown of commercial and industrial activity across the region has led to lower demand for electric power. This creates challenges for utilities—especially at a time when many of their customers will struggle to pay their electric bills.
With a pandemic on the march, economies in near-paralysis, and a collapse in oil prices to boot, the energy sector is facing a new set of uncertainties. How might these factors shape the region’s long-term energy future? How will oil-exporting countries fare? Will the momentum for renewable energy falter? Are there new opportunities to improve resilience? These are just some of the questions experts from around the Americas have been tackling as they examine a world that has been upended in a matter of weeks.
Now that the end is in sight for resolving the territorial differendum between Guatemala and Belize, could it be time for the two countries to think about an electricity interconnection? At the Fourth Ministerial Meeting of the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA), Guatemala said it would like to sit down with its neighbor and talk about it.
The vast majority of people in Latin America and the Caribbean—over 96% of them, according to most estimates—have access to electricity. In some corners of the region, it may not yet be as reliable, affordable, sustainable, or modern as it should be, but as a rule, people can turn on the lights. That is not the case for most people in Haiti. With 60% to 70% of the population still without electricity, the government is pursuing an “aggressive” strategy to overhaul the power sector and improve access and quality throughout the country.
What does it mean to build resilient infrastructure—and who’s going to pay for it? On the sidelines of the Fourth Ministerial Meeting of the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA), representatives of the public and private sector talked about how to make the region’s energy systems less vulnerable to disruption and better prepared for contingencies.
Diversification. Flexibility. Integration. Versatility. Nimbleness. These are just a few of the objectives that countries across the Americas are pursuing as they strive to become more energy-resilient and climate-smart. How best to do that was the focus of the Fourth Ministerial Meeting of the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA), held in Montego Bay, Jamaica—which for two days in February was, as Prime Minister Andrew Holness put it, “the most energetic place on Earth.”
MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica—As countries across the Caribbean and Latin America strive to become more climate-resilient and meet ambitious energy goals, they are turning the region into “a global leader in renewable energy,” the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, said here today.
When ministers of energy from around the Americas descend on Jamaica next week, they will find a country that has set its sights on a more climate-resilient future. What does that mean, in a region so often in the path of hurricanes? It’s about much more than hardening the grid, says Fayval Williams, Jamaica’s Minister of Energy, Science and Technology.
Just in time for the Fourth Ministerial Meeting of the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA)—coming up this week in Montego Bay, Jamaica—two new reports examine prospects for increased energy resilience and growth in electric mobility in the Caribbean region.
With only 10 years to go to meet the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals—including the goal to ensure access to “affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all”—energy ministers from around the Americas will meet in Jamaica next month to look at some of the obstacles and opportunities ahead.
How can cities and towns become better prepared for natural disasters? How can they mitigate the potential damage? What can they do to speed up recovery if the worst happens? How can they help their populations adapt to growing threats? What role do education and culture play? These are the types of questions panelists […]
Expanding renewable energy sources, reducing carbon emissions, becoming more energy-resilient, making electricity more affordable and accessible—these are big challenges that require all-hands-on-deck teamwork. Yet too often, women aren’t even on the team. At the ECPA Ministerial Dialogue on Gender and Energy, several women in the energy sector talked about how to improve the […]
No question, petroleum still rules the road. In most places, electric vehicles make up a miniscule percentage of cars and buses in circulation today. But several experts who spoke at the ECPA Ministerial Dialogue on Electric Mobility in the Americas said that changes are already underway—not just in the vehicles people drive but […]
Power systems are changing rapidly due to a confluence of technologic, social, meteorological and business drivers. These changes are highlighting the need for flexibility and resilience in energy systems. This is seen clearly in South American countries that have traditionally relied on hydropower and are experiencing strong growth in wind and solar. On December […]
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic—Most of the electric power generated in the Dominican Republic comes from fossil fuels, but investments in wind and solar energy are on the rise. The country’s commitment to produce 25% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2025 is “achievable,” said Deputy Energy Minister Ernesto Vilalta. Plus, there’s a growing role […]
The Fourth Ministerial Meeting of the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA)—scheduled to take place on February 27-28, 2020, in Montego Bay, Jamaica—will focus on “Energy Resilience and Investment Opportunities.” It’s a theme that will resonate across the Americas, said Jamaica’s Minister of Science, Energy and Technology, Fayval Williams. “Our countries are […]
At a new urban park in the Dominican Republic, visitors can stroll in the sunshine, enjoy a fresh breeze, and soak up the sound of falling water—all while learning about how sun, wind, and water are converted into clean energy. The Renewable Energy Theme Park, which Dominican President Danilo Medina inaugurated on November […]
For many countries in the Caribbean and beyond, tourism is a linchpin of the economy. But what happens when catastrophe hits, say in the form of a Category 5 hurricane? Increasingly, the watchword is resilience. The new Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre, based in Jamaica, will look at how the industry can […]
Think of electric power generation in Brazil, and the first thing that comes to mind is probably a mega-dam. That makes sense—after all, two-thirds of the country’s electricity comes from hydroelectric power—but hydro is not the only renewable energy source in South America’s largest country. Wind power has taken off in recent years, and […]
Clean sources of electricity and predominantly urban populations make Latin America promising terrain for electric cars and buses. But so far, electric vehicles have picked up speed in only a few countries. Two upcoming events will discuss the potential for smarter, more sustainable transportation in the region and look at some of the roadblocks […]
Good policy depends on good data. As cities and countries in the Americas tackle the problem of air pollution—a growing public health concern—they rely on air quality monitoring systems to measure how they’re doing. Through workshops co-sponsored by the Organization of American States (OAS), experts who operate such systems throughout the region are strengthening their […]
(Photo: George Desipris) The Bahamas has experienced many powerful storms over the years—even Category 5 hurricanes—but Dorian brought a new level of devastation. As search, rescue, and recovery operations were just getting underway, a Bahamian diplomat to the Organization of American States (OAS) reflected on the impact of the storm and the challenges ahead. […]
The tons of sargassum drifting ashore in the Caribbean in recent years have created big headaches for the tourism and fishing industries, but some entrepreneurs in the region see opportunity. That was the case with Johanan Dujon, who first noticed—and smelled—the piles of seaweed as he was driving along Saint Lucia’s east coast five […]
Say you’re settling in for a day at the beach: Sunblock? Check. Towels? Check. A good book? Check. Maybe some cold drinks, your favorite tunes, a lounge chair and umbrella? Perfect. Giant mounds of stinking seaweed? Not so much. But that’s the nasty surprise many beachgoers have encountered in recent years, as massive clusters of […]
At the OAS country office in Georgetown, Guyana, air conditioning is a year-round necessity that accounts for a large part of an electric bill of close to $300 per month. “The AC units draw a lot of power. They are on all day long, practically,” said Jean Ricot Dormeus, who represents the OAS in Guyana. […]
Buildings are energy hogs. And when they date back more than a century, they have an especially voracious appetite for electricity, water, air conditioning, and heat. Mindful of the need both to be green and to save greenbacks, the Organization of American States (OAS) is working to cut energy use at its headquarters in […]
Street lighting can increase the safety and enhance the appeal of a neighborhood or city center—but it can also drive up energy use and carbon emissions. Governments around the world are adopting strict lighting standards to promote maximum efficiency and incorporate the latest technologies. The eight countries in the Central American Integration System (SICA) are […]
Massive hurricanes in 2017 turned out the lights in Puerto Rico and several other Caribbean islands—in some cases, for months—and sparked a conversation about energy security and resilience that continues today, in the hurricane belt and beyond. Increasingly, decision-makers are looking at developing microgrids to power the most critical infrastructure and services in the […]
With ever-larger numbers of people concentrated in dense urban areas, many citizens and policy makers in the Americas and beyond are realizing that traditional transportation models based on the internal combustion engine are “totally unsustainable,” as one expert put it. Electric Buses in Santiago, Chile As part of its National Strategy […]
With a new law mandating a full transition to a zero-carbon power grid by 2045, New Mexico has become one of a handful of U.S. states driving the national conversation on clean energy. Ending coal-fired power generation in New Mexico will bring clear benefits—cutting carbon emissions, improving air quality, lowering electricity rates—but it will also […]
Throughout its seven decades of existence, Costa Rica’s state-owned electric utility—the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE)—has had a mandate to use renewable energy. That gives the country a deep well of experience from which to draw as it tries to reduce its carbon footprint even further. In an interview with the Energy and Climate Partnership […]
There’s no getting around it: energy is a male-dominated industry. And that gender gap comes at the cost of innovation, according to Kelly Tomblin, CEO of an energy infrastructure company called INTREN and a former President and CEO of Jamaica Public Service Company Ltd. In an interview with the Energy and Climate Partnership of […]
Green finance is not just for utility-scale solar plants or giant wind farms; it can also work for small businesses or even households. A program called EcoMicro—run by IDB Lab, the innovation laboratory of the Inter-American Development Bank—has helped design green finance solutions for small-scale borrowers as diverse as truckers in El Salvador, homemakers in […]
At a time when climate change is headline news, it may seem like a no-brainer for a financial institution to offer green loans. But it’s not as simple as just launching a new product. As an official at the Grenada Development Bank explained, it’s important to first understand the market and the technologies available and […]
Generating electricity can be an expensive undertaking for small island states, which face such challenges as lack of scale and high fuel transport costs. The challenges only increase when a country includes multiple islands—as is the case with Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Like much of the Caribbean, this island chain depends largely on fossil […]
New solar projects are cropping up around the Caribbean, thanks to a $50 million grant fund created by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to promote renewable energy. The fund will ultimately benefit 16 countries, with the first three projects—in the Bahamas, Barbados, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines—now close to completion. The UAE-Caribbean Renewable Energy […]
2010-04-21Nuestra visión es un futuro energético y climático sostenible para el Hemisferio
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