Honduras inaugurates the first dendroenergy laboratory in Central America

Siguatepeque, October 19, 2018.- In order to promote education and knowledge in renewable energy, Universidad de Ciencias Forestales (UNACIFOR) inaugurated the project: "Implementation of a Dendroenergy Program and Strengthening of Analytical Laboratories for Research and Technology Transfer in Honduras."

The project was supported by Spain's Debt Conversion Program to Honduras, which is administered by the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI); the Program granted 47.3 million lempiras for the project's execution.
With the start-up of this project, UNACIFOR will contribute to the sustainable development of the country with the conditioning, equipment and organization of seven laboratories, consolidating research capacities of human capital through the dendroenergy specialization; these aspects will strengthen the new major denominated "Engineering in Sustainable Renewable Energies."

The acquired equipment is state-of-the-art and pioneer in the Central American region with which UNACIFOR will be able to offer, in addition to high-level university education and training, services to learn about the capacities, technologies to be used and promote regional development in energy matters, through investment in heat production projects and generation projects using biomass.

Students, specialists and teaching staff of this center will benefit directly from this initiative; indirect beneficiaries include families that use biomass for heat generation, industrial companies in general and investors with forest plantations certified by the Honduran Institute of Forest Conservation.

It is noteworthy that the actions executed through Spain's Debt Conversion Program to Honduras are in line with the development policies of the Government of Honduras and the Kingdom of Spain, as well as with the axes of Social Development and Environmental Sustainability of the CABEI 2015-2019 Institutional Strategy, which aims to improve the quality of life of Central Americans.

The representatives of the Governments of Honduras and Spain and authorities of CABEI and UNACIFOR, recognized the importance of the execution of this center, which will contribute to environmental care not only to identify alternative sources of renewable energy generation, but also to decrease the use of electric energy and its direct impact on Honduran education.

Dendroenergy is energy produced with forest biomass, which comes from trees. According to data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, more than 2 billion people depend on wood energy for cooking and heating, especially in households of developing countries.