Development
bank pushes for renewable energy investment in Caribbean
AP
Port
Spain
Petroleumworld.com
09 17 06
The president of the Inter-American Development
Bank yesterday invited investors to apply for grants
to develop renewable energy projects in the Caribbean,
announcing a US$20 million (euro15.73 million) fund.
Luis
Alberto Moreno made the announcement at the close
of a two-day regional energy conference held in
oil-and-gas rich Trinidad.
Moreno
said the fund was geared toward infrastructure projects
across Latin America and the Caribbean, but hoped
investors in renewable energy would be among the
first to apply for grants.
Moreno
also said the Caribbean should look to Brazil as
a model. The South American country is the world's
leading producer of ethanol, a fuel often made from
corn or sugarcane. Brazil meets 15 per cent of its
energy needs with ethanol.
The
meeting of 300 government and business leaders from
the Caribbean was sponsored by the US Department
of Energy, the United Nations Development Programme
and the Inter-American Development Bank.
Karen
Harbert, an assistant US secretary of energy, said
it was time for the region to move beyond oil and
diversify its energy sources.
"There's
ample sunlight, lots of wind and geothermal opportunities
here in the Caribbean," Harbert
AP
September 9, 2006
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