2003 CLAS Summer Research Report Tracey Osborne Energy and Resources Group "Renewable Energy Use in Cuba’s Agricultural Sector"

The funding provided by the Center for Latin American Studies allowed me to travel this summer to conduct preliminary dissertation research. My research aims to analyze renewable energy applications for agriculture in Cuba in order to better understand opportunities and barriers to renewable energy use in agriculture, an important income generating activity in rural areas. The purpose of travel was to conduct informal interviews with individuals working in agriculture and agricultural industries, as well as to make new and secure existing contacts. I spent a total of 5 weeks in Cuba (from early May to mid-June). Half of the time was spent meeting with experts in ministerial offices and research institutions in Havana, and the other half was spent in Santa Clara, a relatively rural province, which will serve as the site of my research. In addition I attended 2 conferences, one on rural electrification in Latin America and the other on environment and sustainable development.

In Santa Clara, I was able to obtain permission to visit a number of agricultural cooperatives, which are considered the most efficient agricultural producers in Cuba. The cooperatives grow vegetables for domestic consumption as well as export crops such as sugarcane. After the harvest, sugarcane is transported to sugar and rum production facilities. I also gained access to a small-scale sugar production facility and much larger scale rum production plant, and conducted informal interviews with the plant managers. I was also able to collect some general information on the energy requirements of each facility and how much waste is produced in the process. This waste can be used to generate electricity for on-site production as well as be exported to the national grid.

Background
The majority of renewable energy (RE) projects implemented in the developing world are for household uses, such as lighting, radio, television and cooking. These projects can substantially contribute to the quality of life for some of the world’s poorest people by providing all the benefits of electrification. However, many of these projects do not contribute to income generation, an important aspect of development. Examples of income generating activities in rural areas include power for small cottage industries, livestock and agricultural production. Because agriculture represents a primary economic sector for many developing countries, this project will concentrate on renewable energy use in the agricultural sector, where it is likely to have the greatest economic impact particularly for rural development.

In addition, many countries in the Caribbean import oil for their energy needs including or agriculture. The price of oil on the international market is high relative to the agricultural commodities many of these countries export. For example, sugar is a main export crop for Guyana, yet petroleum contributes to 40% of the country’s imports by value. The low price of sugar and the high price of petroleum has contributed to a negative balance of trade in the country. The low market price of sugar caused Cuba to significantly reduce their sugar production and in 2002 the country closed 91 of their 176 sugar factories leaving 85 of the most efficient operating (Cuban Ministry of Sugar). Substituting oil imports with renewable energy may have a positive impact on the balance of trade and overall economy for many third world nations.

Energy Use in Agriculture
There are many activities in agricultural production that consume energy such as tilling, planting and weeding, irrigation, application of fertilizers, harvesting, transport, drying and curing, and processing. There are also substantial energy requirements in livestock activities (feeding, watering, waste disposal, etc.). Agricultural and livestock-related activities use both fuel and electricity. The fuel is mostly used to run tractors and water pumps for irrigation. In some cases, electricity is also used for irrigation, but it is mainly used in livestock activities and in drying and curing of crops and seeds.

Because agricultural production is a primary economic activity in many developing countries, residues of this production are of considerable quantities. Agricultural residues are not currently utilized to their full potential for energy generation. For this reason, biomass represents a large potential as an energy source. For example, the sugar industry alone can produce electricity via cogeneration or gasification technologies, ethanol for transportation fuel, as well as biogas for energy purposes. The manure from farm animals as well as coffee residues can also be used to produce biogas. Rice husks and other organic residues can also be used as a source for gasification. Energy production derived from agricultural waste will increase both the energy availability and economic revenues for agricultural production in developing countries.

Other renewable energy sources that have not been as widely used but may offer significant potential in agriculture are modern wind turbines for water pumps, solar dryers, and small hydro. All of these renewable energy options have applications in agriculture and can result in substantial economic benefits for rural areas.

The Case of Cuba
The early part of the 1990s marked the onset of a severe energy and economic crisis sparked by the fall of the former Soviet Union in 1989. The Cubans refer to this difficult decade of the 1990s as the ‘Special Period in Time of Peace’. The decline of the former Soviet Union caused subsidies and other supports to disappear, most importantly a beneficial trade relationship of sugar for oil (4 tons of oil for 1 ton of sugar). With this tremendous loss for Cuba, the country had to buy oil on the international market at prices much higher than they were accustom. This caused severe oil shortages, electricity blackouts as well as food shortages due to the loss of food trade with the Soviet Union, and the substantial energy use in agriculture. In order to reduce the impacts of the energy crisis and reduce the reliance on imported oil, the Cuban government began exploring the possibilities of renewable energy as well as domestic oil use. Due to recently found oil reserves and the lower up-front cost of domestic oil compared to renewables, the Cuban government has heavily been exploiting domestic oil for electricity generation. Cuban domestic oil has a high sulfur content and therefore contributes to ground-forming ozone or smog, responsible for respiratory and other health impacts.

Domestic oil accounts for 90% of petroleum combusted for electricity, and petroleum makes up 87% of electricity production in the country. Bagasse from Cuba’s vast sugar production is also used to generate about 5% of the country’s electricity however it is burned very inefficiently. This inefficiency means that many sugar mills must buy some of their electricity from the grid, usually during the harvest season. Although Cuba has a high percentage of household electrification (95%), the government is working toward full electrification of the country. To achieve this goal, more than 3 200 PV arrays with about 1.2 MW have been installed in rural areas in schools, medical clinics and community centers. In addition there are 150 micro and mini hydro power systems installed in the country, 150 biogas digesters (made in Cuba) used for cooking both on the household and community scale, 9 000 wind pumps of the traditional variety and more than 10 hybrid systems (wind-PV, wind-diesel) in operation.

Energy use in Agriculture
Agriculture, fishing and mining together account for 12.3% of the energy consumption by sector or 7.5 million BOE (barrels of oil equivalent) [OLADE 1999]. Although agriculture is not the largest sectoral consumer at the level of the nation, agriculture consumes a large percentage of energy in rural areas. It also contributes to a number of important agricultural industries such as sugar, tobacco, agricultural machinery and biotechnology.

Despite the many disadvantages of diesel use for irrigation, such as contamination, loss of time due to frequent interruptions, and consumption of lubricants, diesel is heavily used for water pumping and irrigation in Cuba. In 1999, diesel consumption represented 64% of agriculture’s total energy use. The following year, diesel consumption dropped to 57% due to the use of electrified irrigation systems. In 2002, electrified irrigation systems were installed on 13,200 hectares planted with root and fresh vegetables providing 27% of irrigated land with this system. Plans for 2003 are to increase electrified irrigation systems to 40% of land growing root and fresh vegetables. This is expected to save $11 million USD in fuel costs. In moving from diesel to electrified irrigation systems, Cuba is substituting diesel (the majority of which is imported), for domestic fuel (92% of which is used for electricity generation).

Potential Economic Benefits
Use of RE in agriculture can reduce both domestic fuel use as well as imported diesel. This can result in fuel saving and financial benefits derived from reduced oil imports. In addition, excess renewable energy produced from biomass for example may be sold to the national utility to generate additional revenue. There are substantial employment benefits as well. RE tends to be labor intensive and generally creates more jobs per dollar invested than conventional electricity generation technologies. According to the Wisconsin Energy Bureau, renewables create 3 times as many jobs as the same level of spending on fossil fuels. Also, due to the greater degree of indigenous resource use, most of the energy dollars can be kept at home.

Lessons learned from this project can be useful for the wider dissemination of these types of projects in other parts of the region as well as the agricultural-producing developing world.