The impact of the ‘trade war’ on the development of the local lithium industry
The impact of the ‘trade war’ on the development of the local lithium industry
April 29, 2025 As the United States considers imposing new tariffs on the import of critical minerals, experts agree that Chilean mining should continue to bet on lithium, with long-term investments and a focus on Asian markets. The so-called “trade war,” sparked by the United States’ decision to impose import restrictions and, more recently, by the possibility of setting new tariffs on critical minerals,…
UAI and Academic CENTRA present their 24th patent: an innovation that gives new life to defective solar panels
As part of the World Creativity and Innovation Week, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez (UAI) announced the presentation of its 24th patent, a milestone that reinforces its commitment to the development of high-impact sustainable technologies. The patent application, whose principal inventor is Professor Felipe Larraín Benavides from the School of Engineering and Sciences, corresponds to a method and automated system for the recovery of defective solar panels….
Energy Resilience: A fundamental pillar to guarantee a reliable and continuous electricity supply.
April 28, 2025 Achieving this level of resilience requires strategic investments aimed at providing the system with greater flexibility, both in the temporal domain —the ability to adapt to fluctuations in demand or generation— and geographically, through the diversification and redundancy of its infrastructure. The latest studies on electrical resilience agree on an approach based on three fundamental pillars: risk anticipation, the ability to respond…
Seminar: Virtual Power Plants in Chile – Pathways to a Sustainable Future
April 29, 2025 This morning, the Center for Energy Transition (CENTRA) of Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez presented the policy brief “Regulatory and Policy Pathways for Implementing Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) in Chile” at a seminar held in the Entel Room of UAI’s Errázuriz campus, bringing together authorities, academics, and representatives from the electricity sector. The event was led by CENTRA researcher and Director of the Civil…
Talk: Sustainability and Sociotechnical Transitions to Reimagine the Future
April 15, 2025 The planetary polycrisis—ecological, economic, and geopolitical—requires sociotechnical transitions that integrate innovation, institutions, and cultural changes. Current policies are insufficient at both the global and local levels, and technological developments can deepen conditions of inequality. In this context, three key areas need to be developed: transformative resilience to move from incremental adaptation to structural change; multilevel governance and justice to align financing and…
Lights on the blackouts
April 10, 2025 Experts discuss the causes behind large-scale power outages, the existing gaps to prevent them, and, if they occur, how to quickly restore electricity. Multiple emotional states ran through the eight million Chileans who, on February 25, starting at 3:16 p.m., were affected by an unexpected and widespread power outage—both in terms of surface (from the regions of Arica and Parinacota to Los…
Technological development in wind farms: Bursts of innovation
April 10, 2025 In the old windmills, used for centuries to grind grain or pump water, lies the genesis of modern wind turbines. As highlighted in an article by Endesa, the transition from the former to the latter began at the end of the 19th century, when the industrial revolution and advances in electrical engineering enabled new developments. From that stage to the present, the…
Academics from the UAI Faculty of Engineering and Sciences lead a battery reuse project.
January 29, 2025 A team of academics from the School of Engineering and Sciences, composed of Professors Carlos Silva, Bernardo Severino, Luis Gutiérrez, and Felipe Larraín, has been awarded a grant in the first call of CORFO’s “R&D Challenges” program. This initiative is in collaboration with the Atamos Tec Corporation, the University of Nottingham, the French Research and Development Institute CEA Liten, and the University…
The urgent need to meet an unstoppable demand
April 3, 2025 The increase in energy demand and its cost has grown by about 20% over the past ten years, and this fact is relevant in a market such as mining. In the coming years, there will necessarily be a strong introduction of new energy sources, based on energy efficiency as a basic principle. About this present and future, we spoke with representatives from…
Energy transition expert talks hydrogen investment, project permitting, Trump fallout
April 1st, 2025 Like Chile, Canada is aiming to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. One target of both countries is the power generation sector. Canada gets around 85% of its electricity from renewable and non-emitting sources. Chile is not too far behind, following heavy investment, at about 65%. To achieve targets in the electric power sector and beyond, both countries have some distance to travel. Along…