Possibilities for Renewable Energy Ignored

Last week, at an exposition sponsored by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation on "Renewable Energy as the Alternative for Nicaragua," Narciso Mayorga, a renewable energy specialist, said that the main problem is Nicaragua's lack of a clear policy for its development. Mayorga noted that Nicaraguans have been told over and over that their only opportunity for overcoming the country's costly dependence on petroleum as a principal source of electricity is renewable energy, but without result. Nicaragua, he said, has the greatest potential in Central America for renewable energy in all its forms, including hydroelectric, geothermic, wind, solar and biomass.

Mayorga particularly found fault with the government for not promoting wind energy and biomass energy, the latter of which is produced by the decay of organic waste. He criticized the recently passed Law for Promotion of Renewable Energy, saying that while the law provided tax incentives, they were only for projects that sold energy to the national energy grid. Mayorga stated that the government should promote the development of small local projects that aid the economic development of the rural areas of the country.