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The Cuban regime has once again bet on biogas and biomass as part of its energy strategy, despite the fact that these sources still hold a marginal weight in the country's electricity generation and lack a solid production base that would allow for their real expansion.
During a recent meeting led by Miguel Díaz-Canel with experts and scientists, projects were presented related to the utilization of livestock, pig, and industrial waste for biogas production, as well as proposals to develop forest biomass through wood chips and pellets.
According to the Presidencia website, the initiatives were presented as viable short-term solutions within the energy transition process.
However, the current data contrasts with that optimism. Biomass—historically linked to sugarcane bagasse—contributes today between 3% and 5% of the national electricity, while biogas barely exceeds 1%.
Together, both sources do not reach 6% of the total generation, far from the goals set by the government itself in 2014, when it projected that renewable energies would represent 24% by 2030.
The main problem is structural. The sugar industry, which for decades was the natural support of biomass in Cuba, is going through one of the worst moments in its history, with minimal production levels that limit the availability of bagasse. In light of this scenario, the official discourse has shifted its emphasis toward other sources, such as organic waste and forest biomass.
However, these alternatives have serious limitations. Agricultural production has also declined, which reduces the volumes of recoverable waste for biogas.
On its part, forest biomass —including marabou, often cited as a resource— faces logistical and technological obstacles that hinder its large-scale exploitation. In practice, most biogas projects remain local experiments, with no significant impact on the national electrical system.
In addition, many of the initiatives presented are still in the experimental phase or rely on investments and conditions that the country has not been able to guarantee amid a prolonged economic crisis.
Even proposals to transform the sugar industry into an energy pillar are based on a hypothetical scenario, far removed from the current productive reality.
Meanwhile, the population continues to face prolonged blackouts and an electrical system that is highly dependent on fossil fuels and deteriorated infrastructure.
In this context, the emphasis on biomass and biogas seems to align more with a political narrative than with an immediate and viable solution to the energy crisis.
Without an effective recovery of the productive sectors and sustained investments, the energy transition in Cuba risks remaining anchored in plans and promises, with little impact on the daily lives of citizens.
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