RENEWABLE ENERGY AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN CUBA

May 16 – 25

Site visits in Havana and Eastern Cuba

XIII International CUBA SOLAR Conference
May 21 – 25, 2018

“A better world with the energy of the sun”

Tour leader: Laurie Guevara-Stone,
Rocky Mountain Institute

Rural Cuban schoolhouse with rooftop solar panels

“We need an example of what to do when the effects of Peak Oil really hit internationally. Cuba provides us with that as Cuba has already undergone an energy famine.”
– Richard Heinberg, Post Carbon Institute

Eco Cuba Network and Laurie Guevara-Stone invite you, again this year, to participate in an exciting and visionary conference and extended educational program in Cuba – an opportunity to see Cuba’s remarkable renewable energy and energy efficiency projects for yourself!

If your passion is renewable and efficient energy policy and practice implemented on a nation-wide scale, if you are looking for possible models to follow, and if you feel you have some innovative ideas to share with Cuban engineers and policy makers, we highly recommend that you join us!

Eco Cuba Network has organized this Cuba tour since 1996.  We have developed deep and ongoing relationships with our Cuban counterparts and a rich and powerful program, always including the bi-annual Cuba Solar Conference.

SPECIAL REPORT: 2017 CUBAN HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS AND SOLAR PANELS

For more information on the development of renewable energy, energy efficiency and related matters in Cuba during the last 20 + years, please read the articles of your tour leader Laurie Guevara-Stone, foremost US expert on Cuba’s renewable energy policy and practice, on our ECN resources page. Here is the latest:

This Cuban Province Is on Its Way to 100 Percent Renewable Power
by Laurie Guevara Stone, January 2015

HISTORY

2006 was “The Year of the Energy Revolution” in Cuba. Government Ministries and agencies like CubaEnergía as well as Cuban NGOs like the award-winning Cuba Solar developed a nationwide plan focused on energy efficiency and independence.

• The entire electrical system was upgraded.
• Efficient appliances were distributed among the citizenry, including energy efficient refrigerators!
• Cadres of young social workers went from house to house in every community teaching energy efficient methods of home maintenance.
• Cuba became the first country in the world to completely phase out incandescent light bulbs.
• During 2006 – 2007 Cuba saved close to one million tons of imported oil through these measures and reduced their CO2 emissions by 5 million tons.

It was exactly ten years earlier, in 1996, that Eco Cuba Network organized our first Cuba tour to learn about their plans and projects in renewable energy. Since that time, the pioneering NGO Cuba Solar has installed thousands of solar panels on rural schools and family doctor clinics, and maximized their use of the regions in Cuba where wind, water, biomass and biogas resources for energy production are available.

(Of course in Cuba, solar energy is almost always available everywhere, a situation that inspired Italian renewable energy expert Enrico Turrini to extol “the love affair that exists between Cuba and the sun!”) In the last 20 years, numerous new renewable energy departments, agencies, NGO’s and organizations have been formed throughout Cuba:

• CubaEnergia, a department within CITMA, the Cuban Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment
• PAEME, the Ministry of Education’s Program for Energy Conservation
• Pedagogical University Enrique Jose Varona, a vocational-technical school with a renewable energy/energy efficient curriculum
• Similar schools throughout rural areas of eastern Cuba
• PV Factory
• Centro de Investigaciones de Energia Solar, the solar energy research center in Santiago de Cuba

CUBASOLAR 2018 Sample Program / to be updated soon!

Cuba Solar Orientation Packet May 2018 (practical/logistical information/ to be updated soon!)  

PROGRAM & ACCOMMODATIONS FEE for full 10 day program:  $2900

Fee includes:

• Double-room accommodations*
• Three meals per day, most days**
• Full daily program
• Conference fee
• Transportation to and from all programmed activities
• Experienced delegation guide / translator
• All program honoraria to host speakers, organizations and communities
• Preparatory educational materials

* Single room supplement $350

** There are usually two or three days when participants wish to explore some meal options on their own

Fee does not include:

• Extra meals and snacks
• Bottled water and other beverages
• Tips for Cuban guides
• Optional cultural activities
• Expenses of a personal nature

CHARTER FLIGHT AND VISA FEE: $500

Fee includes:

• Airfare Miami to Havana to Holguin to Miami
• Cuban visa and required Cuban health insurance
• Airport exit taxes
• VIP group check in service in Miami, Havana and Holguin

US delegation to Cuba Solar Conference, April 2012 in Santiago de Cuba

Eco Cuba Network (ECN), a project of the Green Cities Fund, promotes environmental interchange between U.S. and Cuban environmentalists in the areas of Renewable Energy, Organic Agriculture, Environmental Protection, Natural and Traditional Medicine, and Sustainable Development policy and practice. Contact: Pam Montanaro (or call 510-318-4910).

Travel arrangements for Eco Cuba Network are made by Marazul Charters, a licensed Cuba Travel Service Provider with over 20 years experience arranging Cuba travel for professional, educational, cultural, and “people to people” delegations to research every aspect of Cuban life.

* Laurie Guevara-Stone, tour leader, is the Writer/Editor for Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI). She has over 20 years of experience in renewable energy technologies. Prior to joining RMI, Laurie was the International Program Manager for Solar Energy International (SEI), where she organized renewable energy trainings around the world. She also has extensive experience working on and documenting renewable energy projects throughout Latin America. Laurie has been participating in and leading renewable energy trips to Cuba since 1996 and has written extensively on Cuba’s energy policy and practice.

REGISTRATION

Here is the registration form for this Cuba conference and program. Please complete the form and scan/email it, along with a copy of your passport, to Pam Montanaro at pam@ecocubanetwork.net 

Cuba Solar May 2018 Application Form

If you prefer, you may call in your credit card account number to Pam at 510-318-4910, but you must still fill out and sign the Credit Card Authorization page on the form (simply leaving the line for the cc number blank. A deposit of $500 is due upon registration.

Application forms will be processed in the order in which they are received. Participants are encouraged to submit their forms as soon as possible to ensure participation.

Cuba travel for Eco Cuba Network tours, including the flight, visa and required Cuban health insurance, is arranged by Marazul Charters, a licensed Cuba Travel Service Provider with a half century of experience arranging Cuba travel for professional, educational, cultural, and “people to people” delegations to research every aspect of Cuban life.

We must receive your application and a non-refundable deposit of $500 by two  months before departure, preferably upon registration. Payments by Mastercard, Visa and Discover are welcome. Full payment is due 4 – 6 weeks before departure.

Participants should also allow at least $50 – 100 per day for personal expenses and non-covered items, the flight to Miami from your home city, and one overnight stay in Miami the night before departure for Cuba.

For any questions regarding the program, logistics for this Cuba program and and more information on the practical and logistical aspects of the tour, please contact Pam Montanaro, US Coordinator of Eco Cuba Network at 510-318-4910 or pam@ecocubanetwork.net 

Eco Cuba Network is a project of Green Cities Fund.