Hard Talk: Can renewable energy be the answer for PetroCaribe's imperiled members?
Hard Talk: Can renewable energy be the answer for PetroCaribe's imperiled members?
Two experts debate whether PetroCaribe can mitigate the effects of a deteriorating Venezuelan economy with renewable energy.
Leopoldo Martínez Nucete - Yes: Renewables Are a Start—But NAFTA Has to Help
The current situation cannot continue. The news of oil sinking to around $60 dollars per barrel, combined with Venezuela’s large fiscal deficit and deteriorating economy, makes the country’s annual $8 billion oil subsidy to PetroCaribe nations increasingly unsustainable. The question is, what will replace it.
Fortunately, the 17 member countries of PetroCaribe don’t have to look far to find a viable alternative. Aruba’s successful energy policies have demonstrated that life without PetroCaribe is possible. Aruba’s government resisted the temptation to join PetroCaribe. Instead, it...
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Anton Edmunds - No: The Constraints to Developing Renewables are Too High
While many have suggested that renewable energy can be a viable alternative for countries dependent on Venezuela’s PetroCaribe, it cannot address the region’s short-term energy needs. While there could be potential long-term savings, the short-term costs of investing in renewables, the declining cost of non-renewables, and the need to overhaul existing energy infrastructure are formidable obstacles.
Although PetroCaribe member nations—Antigua, Bahamas, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Nicaragua, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent...
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