The Ministry of Industry and Commerce would head an offensive to support private business proposals for the use of fuels from renewable sources. The proposals call for the replacement of 800,000 propane gas stoves with those run by a stoves that would use a base of ethanol (through the Plan Social de la Presidencia) and the use of a mixture of alcohol with gasoline of 22% and 2% biodiesel. Frank Lopez, deputy administrative minister of Industry and Commerce said that the moves could mean 35-40% reduction in prices, for savings of RD$400 million a year. In the DR there is a 55-year old law that allows the mixing of gasoline with ethanol up to 40%, but it has never been implemented. The Ministry says that President Fernandez still needs to give the green light for the program, as reported in El Caribe.
Lopez told El Caribe that an investment of US$160 million is needed to produce the ethanol here. Compared with the savings that would be had, the investment is minimal. The product would be profitable because alcohol is cheaper than gasoline. El Caribe reports that storage tanks would have to be built, costing an estimated US$1-US$2 million, and transporters would have to purchase special trucks, if the government decided to import ethanol to kick start the program.
Frank Lopez says we already have sufficient cane production. He said that not all the cane is ground because of the low prices. He said that of 15 sugar mills, only seven were in operation in 2004. On approximately four million tareas planted, some 548,722 tons of sugar metric tons were produced, according to the Sugar Institute (Inazucar).
Promoters argue that ethanol and biofuel are better for the environment. The DR also has the opportunity to sell emission reduction certificates under the Kyoto protocol.
Deputy Pelegrin Castillo said that Congress would need to pass the renewable law energy to provide the legal framework that international investors would require. Meanwhile, Doroteo Rodriguez, of the National Energy Commission, said that the bill has stagnated in Congress because it touches on established business interests.
Recently, Metro Minister Diandino Pena said during a presentation on the Santo Domingo metro at the Dominican College of Engineers conference, that the Dominican metro could become the first green metro in the world, running on biomass, or ethanol. One of the leading consultants on the metro, is TTC of Sao Paolo, Brazil. Brazil is a world leader in the use of ethanol.