The Dominican Republic is in pursuit of alternative energy sources. Unfortunately, as reported in Hoy, along with a caricature of Don Quixote, the nation is riding a horse, not a fast train or any other motorized vehicle. The reporter, Isaolym Mieses, interviewed Doroteo Rodriguez, the manager of Alternate Energy Sources for the National Energy Commission.
Rodriguez is now responsible for lobbying for alternative energy in the DR. He is lobbying for the much needed incentives law for using renewable or alternative energy. Rodriguez pointed out that agro-business in the energy field would be one of the country’s main economic activities, saving the state US$2.0 billion per year in oil purchases and creating thousands of jobs in the rural areas. Brazil is now a world leader in ethanol fuels and has shown how ethanol creates 30 times more jobs that oil. According to the expert, the Dominican Republic should plan on generating between 50% and 60% of its energy needs from biomass, both for transportation and energy. Rodriguez pointed out that as much as 15% of the country’s energy needs could be supplied from methane gas, available from manures already in existence. Bio-diesel is another fuel that can be easily produced from vegetable oils such as soy or palm nuts. In Brazil there are four million vehicles using 100% ethanol for fuel – more than the entire Dominican fleet – and the rest are using 50% mixtures. Even more interesting is the fact that, according to the expert, the DR has more wind energy than it can absorb over the next 20 or 30 years, as much as 500 megawatts. The energy expert revealed that at an installation cost of US$1.2 million per megawatt, he expected that as many as 40 wind power farms would be installed in the DR, most with capacities between 50 MW and 100 MW capacities.