The Chemical World This Week
U.S.-CUBA SCIENTIFIC CONTACTS EXPLORED The possibility of renewed U.S.-Cuba relations—for the first time since 1961—is in the air. Last week, in the latest signal by the Carter and Ford Administrations, the U.S. ended its ban on use of U.S. passports to travel to Cuba, and the U.S. shortly will lift bars to U.S. visitors' spending money in Cuba. Renewed U.S.-Cuba political relations are still far down the road. But as with the People's Republic of China and East European countries, scientific contacts and exchanges may help pave the way for improved relations with Cuba in other spheres. Indeed, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences is exploring possible scientific relations with the Cuban Academy of Sciences, NAS president Philip Handler tells C&EN. Chief contact was an unpublicized meeting last October between Handler and a three-member Cuban delegation to the General Assembly of the International Council of Scientific Unions, held in Washington, D.C. The $elegation was led by Dr. Bartolomé Sagaro Delgado, vice president of the Cuban academy. Both sides seem "eager" for contacts, Handler says. "They would like to open negotiations for technical assistance of the kind that our Board on Science & Technology for International Development operates. They would like to send more people more frequently to meetings of American scientific societies. They would like to have people come to major American universities."
Biomedicine and agriculture are chief scientific priorities for Cuba, with some interest in earth sciences. Tropical biology in Cuba is one area of possible interest for U.S. scientists, Handler notes, but the Cubans admit frankly that their research in general is "not very advanced or sophisticated" yet. The Cubans believe that contacts would best be carried out through a formal interacademy exchange program, such as NAS has with East European scientific academies. NAS is willing to set up such a program, Handler says, "as soon as possible." And he adds, "I think the State Department would bless it instantly." NAS now is waiting to hear from the Cuban academy. U.S. scientific contacts with Cuba would start from a baseline near zero. The State Department has exempted scholars, journalists, medical personnel, and persons on humanitarian missions from its ban on use of U.S. passports,
Du Pont projects hydrocarbon needs
Du Pont's primary energy sources will change dramatically in the next several years, according to the company. Except for its own syngas plant on the Gulf Coast, Du Pont is downplaying synthetic fuels and will replace natural gas primarily with oil. Although in 1976 Du Pont's energy needs were supplied primarily by natural gas, the situation will be much different in 1985. Natural gas made up 45% of the company's energy demand in 1976, with 57% of the gas going for process heat and 43% being used as boiler fuel. The company projects that for 1985 only 27% of the demand will be made up of natural gas. About 85% of the gas will go for process heat and 15% for boiler fuel. The slack will bé made up by oil, increasing from 24% of total demand in 1976 to 37% in 1985; coal increasing from 19% of demand to 23%; and electricity going up only slightly from 12% in 1976 to 13% in 1985. In terms of hydrocarbon feedstocks, which are used in more than 80% of Du Pont's product lines, the company expects natural gas consumption to remain the same in 1981 Sen. George McGovern examines sugar as in 1977—59 trillion Btu. The difference to make up for the increase in mill model during 1975 visit to Cuba β
C&EN March 21, 1977
and U.S. political leaders such as Sen. George McGovern (D.-S.D.) also have visited the island in recent years. However, the only U.S. scientists to visit during the past few years appear to be in the biomedical and health field. For example, scientists from the National Institutes of Health and the Center for Disease Control have gone to Cuba for a few weeks as consultants under auspices of the Pan American Health Organization. Some Cuban medical personnel also have attended seminars in the U.S. run by PAHO. The American Chemical Society had 77 members in Cuba in 1959 when Fidel Castro came to power, but the last member left ACS in 1966. There is only one paid subscription to an ACS journal, The Journal of Organic Chemistry, and none to Chemical Abstracts. Chemical Abstracts Service receives only two journals from Cuba, both covering sugar research. D
finished product output will come from oil. Du Pont cites, for example, its joint venture with National Distillers & Chemical to produce syngas from residual oil for making methanol. This facility is slated for startup in 1979. In a second joint venture, Du Pont and Atlantic Richfield will build a facility on the Texas Gulf Coast that will use crude oil to produce ethylene, propylene, butadiene, cyclohexane, toluene, and xylenes. Regarding overall fuel prices—both for fuel and for feedstocks—Du Pont expects a slowdown from the huge rate of increase between 1972 and 1977, when the company's price index for coal, electricity, gas, and oil shot up 200 points. However, Du Pont expects the index to continue rising more rapidly than inflation. Du Pont doesn't expect oil from Alaska and from Atlantic offshore wells to lower prices but rather believes that the prices will rise at the rate that OPEC determines. To decrease its vulnerability to rising oil prices, Du Pont says that it is interested in establishing a "more substantial program" for oil and gas exploration, perhaps through acquisition. D
