br Results br Discussion br

Results
Discussion
Conclusion The development of alternative cement in developing countries is facing a triple challenge: a very fast increase in demand due to population as well as economic rise, low capital investment possibilities in an economic market with risky perspectives and a need to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. In this constrained context, this study has shown that LC3 represent a grounded alternative. Among the available possibilities in Cuba, LC3 technology is the only one who is able to face the demand and maintain a Return On Capital Employed (ROCE) above the expected Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC). This economic advantage is more robust than in the other scenario due to a lower sensitivity to operation costs.
Acknowledgements
Introduction Energy development in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) have been understudied within the scientific literature (Shirley and Kammen, 2013). The energy situation in SIDS member states is characterised by high dependence on oil for electricity production and for transportation (Wolf et al., 2016). In the reckoning of the recent works of Kuang et al. (2016) and Timilsina and Shah (2016), it was reported that renewable energy resources have been scarcely developed in SIDS member states and there are still some barriers and challenges to be addressed to deploy more renewable energy. Yaqoot et al. (2016) categorised these difficulties in different sub-barriers such as technical, economic, institutional, socio-cultural and environmental barriers. In a review, Kuang et al. (2016) concluded that the randomness and variability of weather-dependent renewables, especially wind and solar, remains a major impediment for renewable energy histone methyltransferase in islands. In some SIDS member states like Haiti, Comoros, Guinea-Bissau and some countries in the Pacific, there is also a lack of reliable and affordable electricity (IEA , 2016; Dornan, 2014). No doubt that renewable energy can improve electricity access and diversify the electricity mix in SIDS member states, but following present barriers for more renewable energy diffusion – especially the inability to supply base load power that some renewable energy resources cannot adhere to and the lack of some conducive energy policies to initiate continuous investment in the renewable energy sector – there is a need to investigate the impact of other energy sources within SIDS context. This article proposes to integrate natural gas – the “cleanest fossil fuel” (IGU, 2016) as a reliable alternative to oil and, complementary to renewable energy sources within SIDS energy mix. During combustion natural gas produces less carbon dioxide than other fossil fuels, is not toxic and produces very little undesired ash and soot. The versatility, price and performance properties of natural gas make it a predominant fuel to collaborate with renewable energy like wind and solar and thus can limit energy vulnerability, increasing the level of energy security that SIDS face towards high oil consumption (IGU, 2015). Thermal power plants fuelled by natural gas is the ideal backup plan for renewable energy in SIDS member states. Some SIDS member countries have developed natural gas (Singapore, Papua New Guinea and Trinidad and Tobago) but in the remaining member states, this option has so far vaguely been investigated. This article also advocates for exploring the use of natural gas in SIDS as an alternative fuel to increase energy security and to achieve a better diversification of SIDS energy mix. It presents a technical analysis and the economic sustainability of natural gas projects for electricity generation for a randomly selected SIDS member state – Mauritius as example. The techno-economic analysis is based on a 25MW capacity new natural gas plant taken as a baseline for calculation. For context, three key dimensions – transport, supply and distribution and potential uses are further elaborated.