----- Original Message ----- From: Barry Stoller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, April 07, 2001 8:37 PM Subject: [downwithcapitalism] FW: Green Cuba Cuba: Progress in Renewable Energy and Environmental Sustainabililty. Excerpt from a work-in-progress by Annie Birdsong. Posted on usenet, 11 March 2001. With the U.S. embargo against them, Cubans are lacking many things Computers, money, medical equipment, basic medicine, leotards and shoes for their ballet dancers and more but it appears there is no shortage of international respect, at least outside the USA. Cuba has become a model for the world in various areas in spite of, and sometimes because of, the incredible struggles caused by the U.S. embargo. The shortages of fossil fuel, pesticides and fertilizer has brought about innovation in renewable energy, organic agriculture and other areas of environmental sustainability. Because of their achievements, the United Nations environment program has chosen Cuba to host the 2001 World Environment Day---a first-time honor for the Caribbean. The government is using a variety of renewable sources to produce electricity. In one city nestled in a mountain, called Magdalena, every home has its own solar photovoltaic panel to supply electricity, thus they are not connected to a grid supplying electricity. Also to make electricity, the country has 6,500 windmills that pump water, 220 micro-hydro systems on their small rivers---which are much more environmentally sustainable than large dams would be. Biomass (bagasse and straw) from the sugar mills is used to make electricity to run the sugar mills as well as to supply electricity to the national grid supplying electricity to homes and businesses. They are converting the liquid waste from their sugar production into biofuels for automobiles and domestic fuel, just as Brazil is doing. (A U.S. Department of Energy website says 90 percent of the cars in Brazil run on ethanol made from sugarcane. A Brazilian man in the United States said people purchase a kit, which includes a new carburator, to make adjustments to their cars so that they can run on ethanol.) The sugar cane mud, rich in minerals and wax, is used in Cuba to make animal feed and manufacturing medicaments as well as a source of organic fertilizer. In the absence of chemical pesticides, fertilizers and fossil fuel for tractors, Cuba has used the best scientific knowledge available to convert most of its agriculture to organic, which helps preserve the soil and the quality of the food. An added bonus is that organic sugar brings double the price of regular sugar on the world market. The United Nations Development Program and the Global Environmental Fund is helping the country build a new thermoelectric plant with cutting edge turbines that can efficiently extract substance from the biomass. Researchers from 70 sugarcane producing countries will be meeting in Havana May 22 through 24 to discuss uses of sugarcane biomass. Renewable energy is also taught in the schools. All high schools teach renewable energy in their curriculum, and some have renewable energy equipment as well, says Laurie Stone with Solar Energy International. She said in the Che Guevarra Technical High School in Havana, there are solar water heaters, PV modules and wind turbines. Although the school is not specifically geared towards renewable energy, every class includes a renewable energy component, she says. In biology class they learn how to build a biogas plant, and in physics they learn how a solar panel works. They also have an energy efficient wood burning stove which cooks the meals for the students during the week. This is the same type of stove that is implemented in over 250 schools throughout Cuba. The Cuban government is taking a number of measures to preserve biodiversity and the beauty of the environment. For instance, the causeway is built with 44 bridges so that traffic often passes over habitats without disturbing animals, plants and water. Some buildings within the tourism industry are constructed from light materials over bridges built on piles so as not to disturb the rich profusion of fauna and flora. They have even built open areas under causeways that allow wildlife to safely pass. Cuba also has a reforestation program, a recycling program and a wildlife refuge in Cayo Santa Maria to preserve 260 species of land animals. A businessman who visited Cuba, Alf Nucifora, hoping to do business there when the embargo is lifted, said, "I fell in love with the place." But he is concerned about the negative influences the global economy will have on the country when the sanctions are lifted. "Once you allow the Western influence in, you are going to lose a lot of the natural charm," he said. "You will McDonald-ize the environment." Speaking at the Third International meeting of Economists on Globalization and Problems of Development, Castro cautioned representatives from 36 countries and ten international organizations to be alert to problems globalization is having on the ecosystem. He said large reserves of resources are being wasted. In the last century, a considerable part of the hydro-carburant reserves has been thrown to the air and sea. It took nature hundreds of years to create such reserves, he said. PLEASE DISREGARD ANY SPAM THAT MAY FOLLOW THIS LINE ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-~> Get great low international calling rates from Net2Phone! Click Here! http://us.click.yahoo.com/pOl7zD/kJXCAA/4ihDAA/4GJWlB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------_-> Your use of Yahoo! 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