Cleantech in Chile
Chile has the best conditions for doing business in Latin America, and the economy is growing. In particular, there are a lot of opportunities for companies within the renewable energy and waste management sectors.
Renewable energy
To combat climate change and improve energy independence, the Chilean goverment has proposed a law requiring that power companies generate at least 5% of the electricity from renewable energy.
At present, imported natural gas from Argentina is important for the Chilean economy.
However, frequent shortages in the deliveries has demonstrated that domestic alternatives are necessary. Energy independence through domestic renewable energy production is thus a top priority.
The geoeconomic conditions are splendid for most types of renewable energy.
Biomass
The forestry & wood sector is one of the most important sources of income for Chile, with vast opporunities for biomass energy generation.
Biogas
The agricultural, fruit, wine & dairy sectors are also very important, and concentrated to the central parts of the country. That means huge amounts of organic waste, suitable for biogas generation, concentrated in certain areas. This waste has traditionally been overlooked as a source of energy, but things are changing.
Solar energy
Conditions for solar energy are splendid in the northern parts of the country, with some of the clearest skies on earth, and the virtually cloud-free Atacama desert.
Wind Power
There are vast, unexploited areas with suitable conditions for wind power generation in Chile.
Hydro power
The hydro energy sector is the only renewable energy sector with a significant share of the energy matrix in Chile, with 4700 MW installed capacity. There is still a huge unexploited potential.
Environmental Technology
Waste & Waste water
Recently approved laws and regulations call for drastic improvements in the ways that companies handle their waste water.
Only in the Santiago region, the investment needs of Chilean companies in the industrial waste water sector has been estimated at 500 million USD.
Most of the solid waste is deposited in landfills, and there are many opportunities for improvement within the whole waste chain, especially for recycling valuable materials and energy utilization.
Environmental quality
While air quality has improved during the last decade, the needs for improvement are still urgent. Because of Santiago's location, surrounded by mountains that trap the pollution, the air quality is still causing serious health problems.
There are also need for improved environmental technology for the mining sector, the most important sector of Chilean economy, for contaminant materials, waste water and contaminated soils treatment.Energy efficiency
Energy efficiency is probably the cleantech area with the largest potential in terms of space for improvement. Studies have shown large inefficiencies in practically all industrial sector where energy is used. The awareness about the energy use of different machinery has traditionally been very low, but is increasing. Proper isolation of buildings and houses is virtually nonexistent, indoor heating efforts in winter are often in vain. With the cold winter this leads to high heating bills. As a result, there is a big waste of electricity and heat. The energy efficiency issue has been almost overlooked by the state, until recently. The goverment has launched a nationwide energy efficiency program, directed to both industrial and domestic sectors. The program include national awareness campaigns, best practise promotion and studies. Energy efficiency is quickly gaining ground in Chile.
Why Chile?
The business climate in Chile is excellent as a result of an ambitious political strategy. Open economy, free market policies, guarantees for foreign investors, excellent growth in GDP all contribute to making Chile one of the most competitive countries of the world and the obvious port of entry to the Latin American region. According to a global competitiveness reports by the World Economic Forum, Chile is among the top 25 countries in the world, ahead of countries such as France, Ireland, and China.
The capital, Santiago, always keeps a high spot in international competitiveness rankings, and for 2007 Latin American business magazine AmericaEconomia selected Santiago as the best city for doing business in Latin America, ahead of cities like Sao Paolo, Buenos Aires and Mexico City.