Latin America’s quest for sustainable energy continues

The inaugural The Future of Energy: Latin America’s Path to Sustainability event, which was organized by the MIT Sloan School of Management and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), was held this past Aug. 18 in Santiago, Chile.

The seminar focused on combining elements of different spheres of technology to create a sustainable energy policy for Latin America. International authorities on the subjects met with the scholars who studying them and the energy specialists implementing them.

“We are convinced that renewable energies, energy efficiency, infrastructure with a smaller environmental footprint and smart energy networks can and should be the answer to our region’s sustainable energy development,” ECLAC Deputy Executive Secretary Antonio Prado said. “Our region is extraordinarily well-endowed with resources, but it still falls short in terms of mechanisms to guarantee that this wealth is appropriated and distributed fairly among its citizens.”

Split between five panels, the seminar addressed subjects such as energy storage and smart grids, any regional challenges rising from transformational technologies, energy and the political economy, climate change economics and what future unconventional energy sources may have.

Almost nine percent of the world’s population lives in Latin America and the Caribbean, but it only consumes seven percent of global electricity.