Energy sustainability, a challenge for the Dominican Republic
Achieving electric system costs that contribute to the competitiveness and sustainability of the productive sector, encouraging the development of renewable energy sources and awareness of the impact each person has with their decisions on the country's energy and environmental situation are the main challenges it faces Dominican Republic in energy matters.
This was stated by Francisco Mariano, from the Directorate of Hydrocarbons of the National Energy Commission (CNE), during a conference given at the 2013 Intecnology fair of Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC), held last 29 and August 30.
"The final products are heavily loaded with energy costs, sometimes between 30% and 50%, and that does not allow us to compete with the countries with which we have achieved bilateral trade agreements, such as the United States," explained Mariano, accompanied by the experts Cándido Quintana, research professor, with a doctorate in technical sciences, and Raúl Pérez, professor of the Master's Degree in Renewable Energy Technology.
The increase in the generation of energy from renewable sources would reduce costs in the electricity sector, which operates with an average annual deficit of about US $ 1,200 million. "According to the Hydrocarbons Law, the 5% of the resources that are generated must be invested in promoting the development of renewable energy sources, but that is another pending task," said Mariano.
Need for professionals
"The country still does not have the large amount of high-level human resources required to face the challenges posed by sustainable energy development," explained Cándido Quintana, research and teaching professor of the Master's Program in Renewable Energy Technology at INTEC, which opens its fifth round in November.
The areas where human resources trained in energy management and renewable energy are most needed are design, planning and identification of potentials.
Through this program, the university creates a critical mass of specialists in renewable energy and energy efficiency. "The master's degree covers all the needs of the design, planning and use of alternative energy resources and provides professionals with the tools and tools to creatively address the challenges in this area," said Raúl Pérez, of Universidad Central Marta Abreu de las Villas, from Cuba, and teacher of the INTEC master's degree.
A wide range of professionals can take the master's degree, from graduates of various Engineering to Basic Sciences professionals such as chemistry, physics, mathematics.
In terms of services, the Basic Sciences Area of INTEC has an Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Laboratory that performs energy efficiency assessments for industries and companies, with a wide range of instruments that allows measurement of atmospheric pollution gases, measurement of networks electrical (lighting), air conditioning and wind speed (for its use), among other aspects.
During two days, Intecnología 2013 presented a series of conferences of national and international experts that exposed the latest technologies and trends in the field of energy, both in talks and in stands of companies such as the Dominican Association of the Electrical Industry (ADIE), EgeHaina, the National Energy Commission (CNE) and Edesur, among others.
Research Projects
INTEC works on three energy-related projects, from capacity building and specific engineering applications to prototypes for agriculture in the Dominican Republic and measurement of air pollution. Some of them are in coordination with international networks such as Edulink and the Ibero-American Program of Science and Technology for Development (CYTED), a network chaired by the University of Soria (Spain).