NewsTaco

By Amanda Maxwell, La Onda Verde de NRDC

Chile

HidroAysén, the company intending to build a 2,750 megawatt dam project on two rivers in Patagonia, announced that it would not present the environmental impact study for its transmission line until the end of 2014, in the most optimistic of scenarios. The company has not shown clarity about how it would move forward since parent company Colbún announced in May 2012 that it recommended halting work on the project. Among the reasons given for the delayed timeline, HidroAysén cited the need to re-evaluate the baselines and other technical studies needed for the transmission line’s environmental impact assessment. At the same time, Chile’s government announced that the Committee of Ministers, which is supposed to rule on the 58 appeals filed against HidroAysén’s dams’ approval, will likely not make a decision this year. Filed in the middle of 2011 and originally set for 2012, the appeals case is viewed as too politically unpopular for the government to take a stance. (Economía y Negocios 3/19/2013, 3/21/2013)

The first stone was laid in the Pampa Elvira Solar project in Antofagasta, a $26 million investment by the Chilean-Danish consortium Energía Llaima-Sunmark. The complex will produce 51,800 MWht annually, allowing the Gaby Mine to replace 85 percent of its diesel fuel and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 15,000 tons of CO2 each year. Officials expect Pampa Elvira Solar to be operational during the second semester of 2013. (La Segunda 3/15/2013)

Executive Director of the Chilean Renewable Energy Association (ACERA), Carlos Finat, spoke to the Energy and Mining Commission in the Chamber of Deputies of ACERA’s support for the proposed “20-20 law”, which would mandate that 20 percent of Chile’s energy generation come from renewable sources b 2020. He argued against the executive branch’s recent statements that the law would be too difficult to achieve, saying it is both technically feasible and economically beneficial. He further said that the “20 by 2020” goal would allow renewables to compete in upcoming distribution tenders. (Cámara de Diputados de Chile 3/21/2013)

Community members in Puchuncaví and La Greda fear that the opening of the new coal-fired power plant in AES Gener’s Ventanas will create even higher levels of industrial pollution in the already-saturated area. The addition of the new 270 MW plant will make AES Gener’s Ventanas complex the largest coal power plant in Chile, at 885 MW. (El Mercurio de Valparaiso via Terram.cl 3/20/2013)

High energy costs and low water levels are pushing Chilean winemakers to invest in innovative ways to run their wineries. The Morandé winery has installed solar panels at its Añade vineyard, and is assessing the feasibility of using solar energy at other vineyards, too. The De Martino winery says it has already achieved savings by using energy more efficiently, and is looking to optimize insulation and natural light uses. The Montes winery also reports considerable savings after employing various energy efficiency strategies. (Diario Financiero 3/15/2013)

Mexico

The city of Cancun will be host to the 2013 Solar World Congress during November 3-17th this year, making it the first time the congress will be held in a Latin American nation. The 50 year-old Congress will be attended by over 110 countries and organizations, such as the International Agency of Energy and the International Agency of Renewable Energy. At this year’s event, the congress will encourage energy reforms among member countries, pushing governments to make the transition to renewable energies as soon as possible. (Tiempo en Linea 3/20/13)

The Mexican Center for Environmental Law (CEMDA), the Marine Turtle Specialist Group (MTSG) as well as international experts have contacted President Enrique Peña Nieto about the already high and growing mortality rate of sea turtles off the coast of Baja California Sur. According to CEMDA, more than 2,000 turtles died in 2012 – a 600 percent increase from the mortality rates in the past few years – placing it among the highest turtle mortality rates in the world. Many of these deaths can be associated with high levels of accidental kills associated with small-scale fishing in the Gulf of Ulloa. (Hispanically Speaking New 3/13/13)

At the Fourth High Level Dialogue between Mexico and the European Union (EU), Marie-Anne Coninsx, the head of the EU’s delegation, recognized President Peña Nieto for the country’s new environmental policies. Among the advances highlighted in the meeting was Mexico’s recent adoption of the Climate Change Law. At the meeting, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources also announced a new forest program which would plant 180 million trees to increase the awareness among Mexicans of the need to manage forest resources sustainably and rationally. (El Economista 3/19/13).

Regional

Mountainous communities in the Andes have been experiencing climate change’s impacts on glaciers first hand, as melting glaciers are increasingly causing dramatic flooding events that can threaten communities. The Risk Management Office in the Peruvian municipality of Huaraz recently warned that water levels in the glacial Palcacocha Lake are again at record highs, indicating that the lake’s walls –formed by loose rocks and debris—could rupture and cause a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF). If it were to happen, the equivalent of 240,000 Olympic swimming pools (approximately 17 million cubic meters of water) would rush down the valley and to the city of Huaraz, home to over 110,000 people. The threat of the GLOF has citizens calling on the government to take preemptive action. (E&E News, Climatewire 3/14/2013)

This article was first published in NRDC Switchboard.

Amanda Maxwell is a born and bred Jersey girl, but has lived for varying amounts of time in Michigan, Vermont, Rhode Island, New York, and the Czech Republic before moving to Washington, DC. Prior to joining NRDC she received my Masters degree in International Politics and Economics with a focus in Renewable Energy policy from Charles University in Prague. While there, she gained an appreciation for night running, train travel (especially of the high speed variety), and the local pivo. She received a Bachelors degree in history and Spanish from Middlebury College, and also studied in Buenos Aires.

[Photos: Mexican Sea Turtle by Quiltsalad; Palcacocha Lake courtesy University of Oregon; Puchuncavi La Greda Chile courtesy Prensa.cl]

By Amanda Maxwell, La Onda Verde de NRDC

Chile

Chile’s Minister of Energy, Jorge Bunster, proposed a new tender system for renewable energy, which would competitively bid out renewable energy contracts to independent generators. This proposal would replace the government’s previous one, called “the 20-20 law,” which would have required that 20 percent of Chile’s electricity supply to come from renewables by 2020. If implemented, the new tendering scheme would mean that traditional large generators would no longer need to meet the current obligation of obtaining between 5 percent and 10 percent of electricity from renewable sources. Instead, specialized renewable energy suppliers would compete to supply this power but without set obligations. (Plataforma Urbana 01/09/13)

Chile’s Committee of Ministers, its highest administrative authority, delayed ruling on the controversial HidroAysén mega-dam project again, this time until March. The Committee must assess the almost two thousand appeals that were filed against the project’s environmental approval, by civil society and by the company itself. Environment Minister Maria Ignacio Benitez says that the committee may need more time to review the appeals, while environmental groups feel the decision is political and not technical. (Radio Universidad de Chile 01/10/2013) The Catholic Church’s Bishop of Aysén, Luis Infanti, delivered letters to the five ministers in the committee, urging them not to rule on the HidroAysén based on purely economic interests, but to also consider social interests. (Cooperativa 01/09/2013)

Chile is warming, claims new evidence from Catholic University’s Institute of Geography. Attempting to quantify the impact of global warming on the country over the past three decades, the research determined that the average minimum and maximum temperatures in Santiago have increased between 0.19°C-0.32°C and 0.07°C-0.15°C per decade, respectively. These figures are in line with climate projections that show Chile’s average temperature increasing between 2°C and 3°C by the end of the century in the worst-case scenario. (La Tercera 01/06/2013)

A study completed by Solarbuzz, a solar energy market research company, has named Chile a regional leader in solar energy, indicating that the country will represent more than half of all photovoltaic energy generated in Latin America and the Caribbean by 2017. Although the country’s total solar capacity is still relatively low—the estimate includes both currently operating facilities as well as proposed projects—there is substantial interest in expanding the role of solar power in energy generation. Upon completion, plans currently being considered would add close to 760 MW to the Chilean grid. (La Tercera 01/07/2013)

Costa Rica

The Environment Commission of Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly will consider a proposal to create a new canton (a Costa Rican administrative division) joining Corcovado with Bahía Drake and parts of Sierpe. The idea of a new “ecological” canton was presented by local residents as a popular initiative with the goal of strengthening environmental conservation in the Osa region. (El Financiero 1/7/2013)

A group of about 100 false killer whales are visiting Caño Island, about 20 kilometers off of the coast of Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula. Some individuals have stayed in the vicinity up to a month and a half. Generally this species is found in deeper waters far from the coast. Costa Rica’s Osa is an exception, making the region an important site to study the species. (La Nación 1/11/2013)

Mexico

Scientists announced that they expect fewer gray whales to be born off the Baja California Sur coast this year than normal, due to the lack of food available to the whales in the Arctic. A biologist at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Wayne Peryman, says that these whales found less food in the Arctic and that this will affect their reproduction. Around 20,000 gray whales make the 15,000 kilometer trip every year from the Arctic to Mexico’s Baja California Sur to give birth and raise young. (Octavo Día, 1/03/13).

The new Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources (Sermanat), Juan José Guerra Abud, stated that Mexico has a responsibility to ensure that all future economic growth is sustainable. “Economic growth has to be sustainable, that is our responsibility, we are not going to permit development to violate environmental laws…” To achieve this Guerra Abud wants to fortify the human capacity of the Federal Attorney of Environmental Protection (Profepa) with staff from Semarnat to allow Profepa to better monitor compliance with environmental laws. He also noted the upcoming release of new policies that will bring emissions in line with levels permissible in the U.S. and prevent the use of cars that do not meet new emission standards. Finally, Guerra Abud will look to achieve the goal of protecting 17 percent of the nation’s surface area and 10 percent of its oceans. (Veracruzanos.info 1/08/13).

The CEO of International Power Expo, Alberto Segura Larios, noted Mexicans’ increasing awareness of renewable energy and sustainability and how that will contribute to Mexico being a large driver of renewable energies this year. The growing awareness has led an increasing number of people to participate in sustainable energy programs. Many Mexican businesses are also finding new technologies and practices that promote intelligent consumerism and environmental protection. (Reve 1/2/13).

Regional

The town of Río Negro diverged from the national government of Argentina with itsdecision to ban all unconventional exploration or extraction of hydrocarbons, including fracking. The Cinco Saltos City Council’s seven members all voted unanimously for the ban, using health and potential negative environmental effects as the main reason for this ban. The town, which has already had its share of contamination with mercury, is most concerned about the water supply safety. Because fracking utilizes so much water in its process, as well as so many chemicals, the town believes that there is no fail-proof way of containing all of the possible contaminates. Cinco Saltos leads the way as the first jurisdiction in Latin America to pass such a ban. (The Independent Argentina 1/10/13).

A new report highlights that Latin America has excellent opportunity for wind power growth. The region’s current and future wind projects could have a total installed capacity of 46 GW by 2025. Brazil will lead have a significant lead in the region, with 31.6 GW of installed capacity by that time. Mexico is likely to have the second highest installed wind capacity in 2025, with 6.6 GW. (Renewable Energy World 01/10/2012)

This article was first published in NRDC Switchboard.

Amanda Maxwell is a born and bred Jersey girl, but has lived for varying amounts of time in Michigan, Vermont, Rhode Island, New York, and the Czech Republic before moving to Washington, DC. Prior to joining NRDC she received my Masters degree in International Politics and Economics with a focus in Renewable Energy policy from Charles University in Prague. While there, she gained an appreciation for night running, train travel (especially of the high speed variety), and the local pivo. She received a Bachelors degree in history and Spanish from Middlebury College, and also studied in Buenos Aires.

By Amanda Maxwell, La Onda Verde de NRDC

Chile

The Supreme Court ruled this week that the environmental approval for the Pirquenes coal plant in the Biobío Region was illegal, and that the local authorities would have to conduct a new vote. The court upheld an earlier decision by an appeals court that the $80 million, 50 megawatt plant requires an environmental impact assessment for the approval. The company argues that no plant of that size has needed an environmental impact assessment before. But, those who oppose Pirquenes and representatives of the local government argue that Pirquenes is a special case. It plans to extract water from the local drinking supply, the land will be contaminated with pentachlorophenol, a toxic chemical, and the project’s environmental impact declaration was made before the 8.8 magnitude earthquake of 2010. (Radio Universidad de Chile 11/28/2012)

Mining industry executives celebrated the inauguration of the world’s largest thermo-solar energy plant connected to a mine, on Thursday. A $15 million investment, the new plant will use parabolic troughs to heat mining solutions used for copper production, and will replace 55 percent of the diesel fuel currently used for these processes, saving the company $2 million annually. By doing so, the new plant will also reduce the company’s carbon emissions by more than eight thousand tones, or four percent of the company’s total emissions. (Revista Electricidad 11/30/2012)

Chile’s Senate approved the highly controversial new fishing law after five intense days of debate. The Senate began discussing the law on November 20th, but needed several days to address the nearly 1000 suggested changes to the text. The bill now returns to the lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, for its third round of discussion there. (La Nación 11/29/2012)

Costa Rica

Starting this coming January, Costa Rica will start importing diesel and gasoline with a lower sulfur content. Sulfur content in diesel will drop from 50 parts per million (ppm) to 15 ppm. Sulfur in gasoline will drop from 200 ppm to 80 ppm. The cleaner fuels will meet sulfur standards applicable in Europe, and make Costa Rica the leader in low-sulfur fuel in Central America.  Costa Rica’s new fuel standards will also limit the amount of MMT, an additive that can harm gasoline engines. (Inside Costa Rica 11/30/2012)

Costa Rica’s President Chinchilla and Minister of the Environment signed a decree declaring the import, use and distribution of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the public interest.  The government claims importing natural gas would help meet the country’s transportation and electricity needs at a lower cost than petroleum, and with lower greenhouse gas emissions.  According to the government, Costa Rica is poised to begin imports in six months. Costa Rica’s College of Geology disagree with the government’s cost estimates, predicting that importing LNG would be just as expensive as importing oil.  As an alternative to importation, the College is calling for the lifting of the moratorium on natural gas exploration in the country. (La Nación 11/21/2012)

An extremely rare frog thought to be extinct in the 1980s has reappeared in Costa Rica, but now in a different ecosystem  and at a higher altitude. Formerly, the frog was found only in mountainous areas between 1,210 and 2,040 meters above sea level.  Its recent re-discovery in Costa Rica was at an altitude of 2,300 meters. The frog’s re-location may be possibly due to climate change according to herpetologist Alan Pounds. (El País 11/30/2012).

Mexico

In a big win for Mexican civil society, Desarrollos Zapal has withdrawn its Environmental Impact Manifestation for their highly controversial mining project, Los Cardones, which they had submitted for review to the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat). The company wishes to wait and resubmit the manifestation once the new federal administration has taken control and is in position. (Peninsular Digital 11/30/2012).

Maremotrices de Energias Renovables (Marersa), a Mexican energy company, intends to start building four wave energy projects totaling 30 megawatts in February. The company, based in Mexico, City, will construct 450 buoys that capture the movement of waves to produce this energy, and will be selling it at costs 20% lower than the cost of energy from the Federal Commission on Energy. An anonymous investment bank is backing Marersa’s projects with $100 million in equity. (Bloomberg 11/23/2012).

The Secretary of Energy (Sener) is contributing to the current administration’s legacy as a proponent of renewable energy by publishing five detailed studies on the potential for wind power, solar power, geothermal, biomass and cogeneration. Each study highlights the benefits of these renewable sources as well as different techniques of maximizing each one, and offering regulations that will make for safer production and a greener future. The contents of the studies are available on the Sener website. (Reve 11/26/2012).

This article was first published in NRDC Switchboard.

Amanda Maxwell is a born and bred Jersey girl, but has lived for varying amounts of time in Michigan, Vermont, Rhode Island, New York, and the Czech Republic before moving to Washington, DC. Prior to joining NRDC she received my Masters degree in International Politics and Economics with a focus in Renewable Energy policy from Charles University in Prague. While there, she gained an appreciation for night running, train travel (especially of the high speed variety), and the local pivo. She received a Bachelors degree in history and Spanish from Middlebury College, and also studied in Buenos Aires.

By Amanda Maxwell, La Onda Verde de NRDC

Chile

Fifty half-dressed activists covered in blue paint greeted Senators on their way into the congressional building on Wednesday, advocating for the politicians not to pass a controversial fishing law. The activists, organized by GreenPeace, said that the proposed new law would lead to serious miscounts of the number of fish caught, thereby skewing official numbers and threatening the health of Chile’s fisheries. A 2010 study by the Undersecretary of Fishing found that 13 of the 22 types of commercial fish are highly or over-exploited. The fishing law was passed in July in the lower house, and the Senate is expected to vote in mid-November. (Santiago Times 10/31/2012)

Companies submitted plans for eighteen new salmon-farming projects to the environmental impact system in October alone, totally $41 million in investments. The majority of them propose to expand existing salmon feedlots. The company that contributed half the number of projects and the investment is Ventisqueros S.A., which submitted nine proposals to expand its salmon feedlots, for a total of $20.8 million. (Aqua.cl 10/31/2012)

Costa Rica

Based on 2011 data gathered by Costa Rica’s National University, air pollution levels in the San José greater metropolitan stayed the same over the past year, but there’s an increasing chance of acid rain. The data was gathered as part of air quality improvement program launched in 2008 which seeks to reduce particulate emissions and meet air quality standards by 2013. (El Financiero 10/29/2012)

Costa Rica will seek to join the Global Carbon Fund, an initiative created by the United Nations to help developing country address climate change. By 2020, the Fund aims to have $100 billion in resources. According to Alvaro Umaña from the Environment for Development Center and a former Costa Rican Minister of Environment this fund will need to layout clear parameters, long term policies and allow for coordinated and varied financing options including a carbon tax, an area where Costa Rica has already set an example.  (El Financiero11/2/2012)

Mexico

Mexico could cover its entire electricity demand by only utilizing 4 percent of its potential capacity of solar power, according to Carlota de las Mercedes Cagigas Castello, Advising Coordinator of the Ministry of Energy. She stated that Mexico’s solar generation potential is currently almost 6,550 terawatts hours (TWh) daily, making it a necessity to take advantage this resource. It will be a challenge for Mexico to reduce greenhouse gases and create a cost-competitive clean energy sector in the next 15 years, as the lack of investment and the prioritization of fossil fuel plants are preventing solar’s development. Cagigas Castello said that non-fossil fuel sources should contribute 35 percent of total energy generation by 2026. The Ministry of Energy has created three scenarios to meet that goal. The first is to develop all possible energy from renewable sources such as wind and solar; the second focuses on investing in nuclear energy; and the third combine the first two. (El Universal 10/03/2012)

The government of the Federal District in Mexico City awarded the Spanish power company BMLMX the rights to develop a biogas generation plant at the Bordo Poniente landfill for 25 years. BMLMX will invest 2.121 billion pesos to close the landfill, capture the biogas and build an energy plant. The closing of Bordo Poniente will save Mexico City 800-1,000 million pesos, 90 million pesos in compost and more than six billion pesos in energy costs. Fernando Aboitiz, Secretary of Public Works, stated that this investment will help the city reduce greenhouse gas emissions and free up money to use for other projects such as public transportation. (Milenio 11/01/12)

Mexico’s Green Ecology Party (PVEM) highlighted the environmental and health risks at the heart of the proposed open pit mining project by Desarrollos Zapal called Los Cardones. The gold and silver mine, proposed on September 5th on 44,000 hectares of land, would be located in the state of Baja California Sur, and PVEM claims it represents a “danger” to ecosystems in the biosphere reserve of Sierra de la Laguna, a protected area since 1994. PVEM noted that this project has already been submitted for evaluation twice, under different names, and both times it was rejected due to its lack of compliance with the required environmental standards. PVEM is urging the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources to reject it again. (La Informacion 10/30/2012)

One of the world’s largest cement companies, Cemex announced their participation in an investment fund aiming to raise $300 million for clean energy projects in Mexico  by offering capital development certificates in the Mexican stock exchange. The first projects Cemex plans to propose for the fund are two wind parks, named Ventika and Ventika II, which would be built in the northern state of Nuevo León, cost around $550 million and have a capacity of 250 megawatts. (Terra 10/30/12).

This article was first published in NRDC Switchboard.

Amanda Maxwell is a born and bred Jersey girl, but has lived for varying amounts of time in Michigan, Vermont, Rhode Island, New York, and the Czech Republic before moving to Washington, DC. Prior to joining NRDC she received my Masters degree in International Politics and Economics with a focus in Renewable Energy policy from Charles University in Prague. While there, she gained an appreciation for night running, train travel (especially of the high speed variety), and the local pivo. She received a Bachelors degree in history and Spanish from Middlebury College, and also studied in Buenos Aires.

By David Goldstein

It doesn’t take a lot of prodding to get San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro going on his vision for the future of his city. Education, jobs, green jobs, economic development and the promise of being able to work towards all of these things if his twin brother Joaquín wins a congressional seat, which encompasses parts of the city in the east, west and south. The mayor’s enthusiasm is palpable, perhaps even more so because the plan he lays out to make these things happen sounds pretty reasonable, actually.

“My overall vision for the city is to create a brainpowered community that is the liveliest city in the United States. What I’m after is to create the workforce that can take on the new energy economy jobs,” he told News Taco. If you recall, Castro actually made good with these pretty words in June when he pledged to shutter a coal-fired power plant, in addition to other green projects.

Getting these things from ideas to reality involves a few tangible goals, Castro noted:

1. Getting more young people into college so they can partake of these new jobs
2. Fostering the biosciences, information and cyber security, and healthcare industries already alive in San Antonio
3. Taking a regional approach to bring in communities near to San Antonio

To this end Castro points to the city’s northern neighbor, Austin, which fosters industries compatible with those in San Antonio, such as information technology, software and hardware. Plus, both cities currently focus on new energy, he said.

“It is clear that we need to take a regional approach in the coming years and this region, when you combine San Antonio and Austin — with almost a quarter of a million college students — has tremendous brainpower. It also is one of the most visited corridors in the U.S. All of the elements of success are there,” he told us.

An element that bolsters his argument is the potential that his brother may win the 35th congressional seat, putting two San Antonio natives who share not only history — but blood — on the same path towards lifting up the region as far as their energy and imagination will allow. If Joaquín is elected, and Julián is re-elected, the brothers could potentially serve simultaneously for a good four years, the mayor told us.

“I think that both of us are serious about policymaking and we both have a strong vision. We would bring an enthusiasm and a willingness to use imagination and to apply that to practical policy that I’m convinced would benefit the region very well,” mayor Castro told News Taco.

In the meantime, Castro told us he’s looking forward to another new energy announcement in mid-August of a 400 megawatt solar project, with accompanying jobs, and to fomenting the new energy companies that are already operating in San Antonio.

Follow Sara Inés Calderón on Twitter @SaraChicaD

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