DOE Helps Develop Clean Energy in Latin America and the Caribbean
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DOE Helps Develop Clean Energy in Latin America & the Caribbean
On April 15, DOE announced partnerships to advance clean energy and energy security in the Western Hemisphere as part of the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA).
Clean energy projects include launching an Energy Innovation Center for Latin America and the Caribbean, exploring the potential of a Caribbean-wide electrical transmission system, developing biomass resources in Columbia, and cooperating with Argentina on clean energy technologies.
DOE and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the largest source of development funding for Latin America and the Caribbean, signed an agreement creating an Energy Innovation Center, the latest in a series of Regional Clean Energy Centers located throughout the hemisphere.
Staffed by some of the world's leading experts in renewable energy and energy efficiency, the center will serve as a focal point for clean energy jobs, project development and financing in the region. It will be able to access the IDB's financing pipeline for renewable energy and climate-related projects, which the IDB intends to increase to $3 billion per year by 2012. Among the proposed projects is development of an energy infrastructure in Haiti to help the country harness its wind, solar, and hydroelectric power potential. See the IDB press release.
DOE will provide technical assistance to the Caribbean Sustainable Energy Working Group, starting with a workshop to explore the potential for a Caribbean-wide transmission system that will help tap the region's renewable energy resources.
And under DOE's Low Carbon Communities of the Americas initiative, DOE and experts from its national labs will partner with scientists and technology experts in Columbia to develop a plan to produce heat and power from sugarcane and palm residues. DOE also signed a MOU with Argentina to promote cooperation on clean energy technologies.
ECPA was launched in 2009 during the Fifth Summit of the Americas, when President Obama and Western Hemisphere leaders committed to expand energy and climate cooperation in the hemisphere as part of a joint effort to ensure economic growth and prosperity. The ECPA is focused on developing clean energy resources, increasing energy security, and reducing energy poverty.
The latest round of activity occurred as energy ministers and delegations from 32 countries gathered at the IDB in Washington D.C., for the Energy and Climate Ministerial of the Americas, held on April 15-16. Energy officials joined with more than 200 businesses and NGOs to advance initiatives that will help countries across the hemisphere develop and deploy clean energy technologies and achieve economic growth without significantly increasing their carbon emissions. See the DOE press release.
DOE Issues Guidance for Reducing Petroleum Use in Federal Fleets
On April 14, DOE released its Federal Fleet Management Guidance, the first comprehensive document that addresses the environmental impact of federal vehicles. It will help agencies develop strategies to reduce petroleum use and GHG emissions, required by President Obama's Executive Order on Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy and Economic Performance.
