ABSTRACT
SUMMARY: An overview of the most mature renewable energy technologies will be given focusing on their potential implementation in the case study area, Puerto Rico, a US territory in the Caribbean. The discussion section will also include findings from an ongoing initiative at the municipality of Caguas which is becoming a sustainability model for the Island. The overall analysis includes some elements of social, technical, cultural, political and economic criteria. Also, sensitivity analyses will be performed regarding the energy generation potential of these processes. The technologies included are photovoltaic, wind energy, fuel cells, concentrated solar power and solar thermal water heating. These are referred to as near term implementation technologies. Other medium/long term ocean energy technologies will be discussed including tide, waves and ocean thermal. The last discussion subsection will briefly consider the area of transportation fuels (gasoline and diesel).
