Reply #1: Cuba's ethanol is set aside for health and for the production of beverages, and not as biofuel

[Mika]

Cuba Defends the Poor at Energy Conference

Havana, May 23 (Prensa Latina) Cuba's Minister of Basic Industry, Yadira Garcia, said that ethanol as biofuel may be useful as long as it doesn't affect millions of people, or land allotted to cultivate food plants.

Speaking at the International Conference on Renewable Energy (CIER 2007) in Havana on Tuesday, the Cuban official highlighted President Fidel Castro's stance, rejecting the intentions of the US Government to produce ethanol from corn or sugar cane to the detriment of the staple food for millions of people.

Doctor Conrado Moreno Figueredo, an expert from the Academy of Sciences of Cuba attending the meeting told Prensa Latina that the Island's production of ethanol is set aside for health and for the production of beverages, and not for its use as biofuel.

"There was never a large production in Cuba pointing to the use of ethanol as biofuel," stressed the expert, who gave a lecture on renewable energy and reported breakthroughs and projects in the use of alternative energy sources.

"For the time being, the Island's small production will be export-oriented and to cater to internal demand, public health and food production," he said.