CEGA ORGANIZES FIRST LATIN AMERICAN MEETING OF RESEARCH CENTERS IN GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
Monday, 01 de AugustFor the first time CEGA will host researchers from Mexico and Argentina in order to strengthen the exchange and cooperation network with Latin American countries that have consolidated or are looking forward to advance in the local geothermal development from the academic arena.
The “First Latin American Meeting of Research Centers in Geothermal Energy” will be held between the 16 the and 18th of August. The event will bring together researchers from Mexico, Argentina and Chile, and the program includes activities open to public and work meetings.
Among participants, we will count with the presence of José Viramonte, a member of the Institute for Research in Non Conventional Energy (Inenco), and José Manuel Romo and Thomas Gunter Kretzschmar, both members of the Mexican Center for Innovation in Geothermal Energy (CeMIEGeo).
For CEGA`s director, Diego Morata, the activity arises from the need to focus more towards what is happening with geothermal energy in Latin America: “even though they are countries with similar realities, there are different experiences when it comes to geothermal energy. For example, Mexico is the fifth producer of geothermal energy in the world and also has CeMIEGeo, which is a research center funded by the State. On the other hand, Argentina hasn`t have a specialized research center yet, but they do have a policy of looking into geothermal systems for electricity generation. And Chile which, along with having CEGA, is next to open the first geothermal power plant on South America”.
During the meeting CEGA`s challenges for its second period will also be presented, highlighting the innovations of the different research lines and the actions that are underway to promote the direct use of geothermal energy in Chile.
Another key point of the meeting will be the training of human resources. Diego Morata tells that one of the central objectives of the meeting will be to find ways of financing the mobility of professionals and technicians: “the idea is to consolidate an international exchange network of scientists from different countries”.
Guest researchers
José Viramonte (Argentina): Ph.D. in geology, superior researcher of the National Scientific and Technical Research Council – Argentina (CONICET) and faculty of the Universidad Nacional de Salta. He is also a member of the Institute for Research in Non Conventional Energy (Inenco).
José Manuel Romo: Ph.D. in Earth Sciences and researcher of the Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education at Ensenada (CICESE). He is also a member of the Mexican Center for Innovation in Geothermal Energy (CeMIEGeo)
Thomas Gunter Kretzschmar: Researcher of the Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education at Ensenada (CICESE). He is also a member of the Mexican Center for Innovation in Geothermal Energy (CeMIEGeo)