A recent International Energy Agency report – using data compiled up until 2007 - lists Chile as the fifth-highest CO2  emissions polluter (per capita) in the Americas.

The report shows that Chile emits 4.3 tons of CO2 per person every year. This puts Chile behind the United States at 19.1 tons annually, Canada at 17.4 tons, Venezuela with 5.2 tons and Jamaica with 4.7 tons. Mexico trails close behind Chile, emitting 4.1 tons of CO2 per capita.

New solar panels that move in sync with the sun have recently been built in La Tirana in northern Chile.  They harvest 40 percent more energy than conventional, static solar panels. 

The 10 solar panels, the first of their kind in Chile, are attached to a water pump to provide irrigation water for nearby farms.  The well is 27 meters deep and pumps four cubic meters an hour.  The project cost about US$450,000 and is expected to run for 20 years.

Environmentalists pressure the President to stop other harmful energy projects

A bug that was originally introduced to the Western Hemisphere in order to control pest populations, the Chinese Ladybug known as the Harmonia, has now developed into an invasive species. The bugs have become an increasing problem in Valparaiso and Santiago, and scientists fear they can have a serious effect on wine production.

Researchers Audrey Grez and Tania Zaviezo, faculty members in the Veterinary and Animal Sciences department at Universidad de Chile, recently had their report on the insect published in the journal of Science and Agricultural Research. They conducted experiments on the effects the Chinese ladybugs can have on alfalfa crops and concluded that the species was, in fact, invasive.

While defending cancelling of controversial coal plant

Chilean President Sebastian Piñera visited Punta de Choros on Saturday and held a press conference on the town pier to defend his cancelling of the construction of a thermoelectric power plant near the nature reserve. 

Though his intervention has been criticized, Piñera didn’t discuss the matter in the press conference. Instead, he repeated his promise to change the plant’s location through negotiation with the company, Suez Energy, and said he planned to offer a bill in Congress in the next weeks to establish clear environmental rules for power production.