Uruguay to Reduce Greenhouse Gases in Power Generation

Montevideo, Nov 4. -Uruguay on Thursday presented a program called Probio, which is estimated at 8.5 million dollars to reduce greenhouse gas emissions produced by the use of fossil fuels to generate electricity.The project, sponsored by the Uruguayan government in conjunction with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP)and the private sector, promotes the use of forest waste to generate power.

The initiative will have the Ministries of Cattle Breeding, Agriculture and Fishing; Industry, Energy and Mining (MIEM) and the Ministry of Housing, Territorial Order and Environment (MVOTMA) as executives, supported by UNPD specialists.

MIEM Minister Roberto Kreimerman said biomass is one of the raw materials that Uruguay will use to increase renewable elements, and that modality will represent between 10 and 15 percent of the energy matrix in 2015, in addition to 200 megawatts from the use of agro-industrial wastes to produce biogas.

Graciela Muslera, head of MVOTMA, said the initiative is part of the National Plan to Respond to Climate Change, and that the Probio Program will empower the integration of the productive sector, improving profitability.

Uruguay aspires to reach the capacity to produce 90 percent of the electricity it consumes from renewable sources by late 2014. (Prensa Latina)