Science and innovation projects related to renewable energy sources, aimed at harnessing available resources and technologies, were presented on Tuesday afternoon at a meeting between the First Secretary of the Party Central Committee and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, and experts and scientists on issues linked to the energy transition.
Initiatives capable of providing efficient solutions in the short term, such as heat production, are among the results of the joint work of the Ministry of Energy and Mines (Minem) and the Ministry of Higher Education (MES), based on the work of the National Group of Universities for Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Efficiency (GNUFRE).
Created in 2019 with the participation of seven universities, GNUFRE was a response to the 2014 approval of the Policy for the prospective development of Renewable Sources and the efficient use of Energy up to 2030, preceded by the creation of the Government Commission for the development of RES and the call then made to the universities of Sancti Spíritus, Villa Clara, Havana and CUJAE, which were later joined by those of Oriente, Cienfuegos and Matanzas.
Currently, GNUFRE extends to all Higher Education institutions with some energy utilisation capacity, participates in supporting the expanded consultation process and presentation of the draft Energy Transition Law and complementary regulations, and is part of the leadership of the project for the energy transition in the Higher Education system, which includes all universities, among other actions aimed at intensifying participation in different science and technology programmes.
The exchange was moderated by Deputy Prime Minister Eduardo Martínez Díaz and included the participation of Deputy Prime Minister Inés María Chapman Waugh, the heads of Minem, Vicente La O Levy; of the MES, Walter Baluja García; and of CITMA, Armando Rodríguez Batista, among other personalities, including directors of the country’s universities, who participated via videoconference.
On the path to biogas and biomass
At Tuesday’s meeting between President Díaz-Canel Bermúdez and experts and scientists on energy transition issues, a proposal was presented to complete and bring into operation revolutionary biogas projects, replicable in the rest of the country based on the potential offered by swine, livestock and industrial waste.
The presentation was given by Doctor of Sciences Manuel Alejandro Rubio Rodríguez, coordinator of GNUFRE and professor at the Marta Abreu de Las Villas Central University (UCLV), who initially referred to the Martí Project, the first experience of biomethane production for transport, based on covered lagoon biodigesters.
Other proposals included the Managuaco biogas project, a network for domestic use of this fuel based on livestock waste distributed with a Cuban biodigester; the La Pastora demonstrative project, a waste treatment system converted into a Cuban hybrid biodigester with a rubber membrane; and the project to recover the biodigester of the Heriberto Duquesne sugar mill.
The specialist presented for debate a proposal based on the use of forest biomass (chip and pellets) that includes the development of the value chain and the solid biofuel market, with priority for use in kilns, food cooking, construction materials production and process steam generation.
Based on the Bioenergy Atlas available in the country and experience in using biomass burners in kilns, as is currently done in rice mills, work is underway, among other actions, on the definition and preparation of a standard that provides incentives to encourage the participation of potential actors in this value chain.
Special attention was generated by the Sugar Cane project, aimed at developing and implementing a new technological and business model for the sugar industry. This is a preliminary, different proposal for a technological model for the sector that takes into account Cuban and international experience, Rubio explained.
The expert argued that the proposal is based on the concept that a different sugar industry could generate base, flexible and sustainable electricity for the energy transition from electricity surpluses.
This industry, he said, could be self-sufficient in terms of fuel from biomethane and alcohol and provide fuel for non-electrifiable motor transport; and it could also produce part of the animal feed needed to increase meat production in the country in a sovereign manner.
