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PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) - The president of the Inter-American Development Bank yesterday invited investors to apply for grants to develop renewable energy projects in the Caribbean, announcing a US$20 million (euro15.73 million) fund.
Luis Alberto Moreno made the announcement at the close of a two-day regional energy conference held in oil-and-gas rich Trinidad.
Moreno said the fund was geared toward infrastructure projects across Latin America and the Caribbean, but hoped investors in renewable energy would be among the first to apply for grants.
Moreno also said the Caribbean should look to Brazil as a model. The South American country is the world's leading producer of ethanol, a fuel often made from corn or sugarcane. Brazil meets 15 per cent of its energy needs with ethanol.
The meeting of 300 government and business leaders from the Caribbean was sponsored by the US Department of Energy, the United Nations Development Programme and the Inter-American Development Bank.
Karen Harbert, an assistant US secretary of energy, said it was time for the region to move beyond oil and diversify its energy sources.
"There's ample sunlight, lots of wind and geothermal opportunities here in the Caribbean," Harbert