“The US’s energy dominance strategy seeks to entrench dependence on fossil fuels, stall the green transition and strengthen US power,” said Kevin Cashman, a researcher with TSP, who wrote the analysis. But increasingly cheap and scalable solar power and battery storage weaken such a strategy.
“For countries like Cuba – with enormous renewable potential, but suffering blackouts and widespread suffering under a cruel and illegal US-imposed energy blockade – a transition to green electricity would reduce US leverage and provide a shining example to the world.”
Typicl lefty nonsense. Cuba must be a shining beacon to the world etc etc etc, boo hiss to the US etc.
So, it should go renewables, at a cost of only $8 billion. OK, I guess:
Which leaves the question: who would pay? “Financing this transition should … be understood as reparative climate finance,” the report argues. Not only would Cubans be able to pay back investments through savings on cheaper energy, but the transformation “would set an important example of a rapid energy transition under conditions of external constraint”.
You’ve got to pay for it, you you little British taxpayer you. Because socialism in Cuba has been so successful that they cannot possibly pay for it themselves.
“reparative climate finance”
Reparations for what?
The horrid, horrid Industrial Revolution that the West inflicted on the noble savages. Naturally no credit would be given for modern plumbing, antibiotics etc which the Industrial Revolution facilitated
Oh, you mean the reasons why most people are alive today? You’d hope for a bit more gratitude, rally.
I naturally feel that the Cubans should pay all of us trillions in reparations for not sorting out their problem years ago.
It’s a no-brainer for Cuba to install solar. Their power generation is mostly from oil so very expensive. They are in the right latitude for solar so electricity should be a 15th of the price. Payback time would be 3-6 years. Generation from oil would then be for nights and backup with much of that being displaced by batteries over time.
If they were a capitalist state, firms would be falling over each other installing it. As it it they have only 1-2% solar though this is growing rapidly.
As long as twenty years ago Californians were installing roof-top solar panels to save money on their electricity bills. So why didn’t the Cubans?
Don’t have roofs? Anyway, I’m willing to forego my solar panels from China, the ones the government plans to install in 4000 acres of Lincolnshire, so the Cubans can have them. I’m sure China will do it for nowt. And they may work better than they will here.
And er, how did that work out?
Pretty good till the power companies reacted to the surplus by reducing export tarrif to next to nothing and increasing the cost of electricity at other times to correct for the loss of revenue without an associated drop in costs. They also devised lots of new things to bill for.
This shows the inherent risk of home solar. The payback time is often long (Cuba’s is shorter than most as they have the right climate and use oil fired generation). During the long payback period things change so that payback might vanish.
Plenty of firms happy to do business in socialist states. As long as the bills are paid.
“Sorry comrade. Going to need that 100% up front or 100% guaranteed by the World Bank if you don’t mind. You know how it is”.
No need for up front cash, just the assurance that the investors will be protected. Shouldn’t be a problem, right? It’s not like Cuba has a record of nicking stuff off international investors….
TBH, with it being such a sound proposal, it is a bit surprising that these guys are bleating in the Guardian, rather than pitching the idea to global investors.
Santo Traficante Jr found out the hard way.
It’s a no-brainer for Cuba to install solar.
No brains. Cuba can’t afford decadent luxury. They are on a coal budget.
So it would be “reparative climate finance” but Cuba would repay the investment?
If it only requires $8 billion and is a guaranteed winner, there should be people queuing up to fund it. The Gates Foundation alone provides more than that in funding each year.
And there’s a horde of clean energy & impact funds with billions invested.
Good!!!! As you’ve guessed, I don’t want to waste a penny of my cash on this.
I think Lounge Lizard Bill is a bit more worried about the lawsuits pilling up than pushing the charity bollocks. After all the Nobel Prize is off the table given the Epstein thing, so what’s the point spunking money away for no reward.
Gotta think this would turn out like the latest California choo choo, costs triple and 20 years later there’s still no power being generated.
Other than that…
You can’t run a 1958 Oldsmobile with solar.
but suffering blackouts and widespread suffering under a cruel and illegal US-imposed energy blockade
Candidly, socialism would work perfectly if only the evil capitalist running dog scum we intend to subvert and destroy agree to let them trade with capitalist countries.
I’m pretty sure blackouts and other sorts of “widespread suffering” were already the norm under Glorious Socialist Rule.
I agree with Tim’s categorization of this. The only blockade the US had against Cuba were Soviet missiles. The US has an embargo on Cuba. Cuba is free to trade for whatever it wants with the rest of the world.
What the US has done is eliminated the subsidies Cuba was getting from like minded countries. So this is a case of those evil capitalists in the rest of the world wanting something more valuable than Cuban currency for their wares.
So, fossil fuels and no green transition makes you stronger. Good to know.
The US is not blockading Cuba though.
So he’s saying the Cubans would not get cheaper energy – but the difference between production costs and what they pay would go to pay off the people who built the solar panels.
Sounds an awful lot like capitalism to me.