Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Seeking Funds for Renewable Energy

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

TEGUCIGALPA, Jan 19 2009 (IPS) - The Honduran government is seeking 400 million dollars to build two hydroelectric dams to meet the country's energy needs, and to promote alternative renewable energy projects, like biofuels, with Brazil as a consultant. Environment Secretary Tomás Baquero told Tierramérica that the site chosen for the dams is in the western department of Santa Bárbara, with feasibility and environmental sustainability studies to begin midyear.

Currently, Honduras gets its energy from three sources: fossil fuels, hydroelectric and biomass. In the 1990s, nearly all of the electricity came from government-owned hydroelectric plants, but there has been a shift, and now the country is 65 percent dependent on fossil-fuel-based energy plants in the private sector.