Chile holds itself out as a global leader on climate change. Nearly 22 per cent of its electricity is generated by solar and wind farms, putting it far ahead of both the global average, 10 per cent, and the United States, at 13 per cent. It was one of the first countries to declare a target for renewable energy, in 2008.
Yet even as solar farms have spread across the north and centre of the long, narrow nation, imported natural gas, a polluting fossil fuel, has been able to sideline the clean electricity they provide thanks to a sweet deal won from the government.
Marcelo Mena, a former environment minister in Chile, witnessed that waste of clean power before he took the helm at the new Global Methane Hub, a non-profit aimed at reducing global methane emissions. Natural gas is basically methane.
“They’re actually hindering the power that we can deliver from…
Gas interests slow Chile’s clean energy transition | Business
