Chile is in front of one of the most important challenges in the next years: to deal with an increased demand of energy. Naturally, many options are proposed by different “players”. But two big forces are in the final battle. By one hand, one consortium is a big defender of hydroelectric power, installing several dams. In second place, another group is claiming that nuclear energy is the only option for satisfy chile’s demand of energy.
In the meanwhile, many small thermoelectric (gas, oil, or coal) power plants are being installed. One of them is placed near to a region known as “Punta de Choros”. The international audience is not aware of the upcoming damages that this power plant could do to this region. The following video (in spanish and with english subtitles) explain some of the probable damages. It is enough to say that Punta de Choros is an extremely important region for biologists and ecologists. It harbors important species and is a natural Marine reserve.
The big problem here also is that, as in many other issues, Chilean scientists are not being listened at all. Many scientists are claiming that wind energy is the best option for our country: it is clean, affordable for a country with economic stability, suitable to increase the energy’s demands, and also feasible considering the abundance of wind in several places in our country. Enemies state that the costs of wind energy are very high (without serious studies), and that this energy is not suitable. Well… let’s see. The following figure shows the energy produced in our country, in the context of wind energy:
A recent article in Science (Vol. 329, pp. 382-385) also reviews the proposed alternative to thermal and nuclear plants: flooding of valleys and rivers in the Patagonia, losing precious ecosystems and biodiversity. It is very dissapointing to see how chilean authorities don’t want to listen to scientists and engineering, and to see wind energy and other clean energies (such as solar) as a real option.