Innovafest 2024: The epicenter of science and technology in Antofagasta will be carbon neutral after alliance with Colbún

This is a machine translation of the original release, issued in Spanish.

PRESS RELEASE from Colbún 
October 2024

With interesting speakers, networking opportunities, 60 stands and various activities, a new edition of InnovaFest, the Festival of Innovation, Science and Technology, will be held on October 24 and 25 in the city of Antofagasta. For the first time, this initiative, which is organized by the Scientific and Technological Park of the Catholic University of the North, will measure its carbon footprint thanks to an alliance with Colbún, a generation company that will also offset these emissions with bonds from its renewable energy plants.

During both days, the public will be able to participate in talks, seminars and discussion spaces on advances in R&D, technological trends and success stories developed at a regional level. In addition, 60 regional, national and international exhibitors will be present to present their main projects, ventures, developments and innovations.

On Thursday, October 24, on the main stage, Juan Pablo Fiedler, H2V manager at Colbún, will participate in the mining and energy discussion “Advances and technologies for the development of the Lithium and H2V industry,” with important panelists such as the Minister of Mining Aurora Williams, the Executive Director of H2 Antofagasta, Kenis Aguirre, and the Marketing Director of ITE Spain, Ignacio Casado. “Being part of InnovaFest gives us a great opportunity to present to the community the company’s commitment to the Region through the construction of the Horizonte Wind Farm, the largest in Chile and the second largest in Latin America, in addition to other projects that we hope to deploy in Antofagasta,” said Heinz Müller, Innovation, Planning and New Business Manager at Colbún.

Hernán Cáceres, executive director of the UCN Science and Technology Park and the Lithium R&D Center, referred to the great effort of coordination and collaborative work that has taken place between academia, the public and private worlds, as the starting point of what will be “Innovafest. “We believe that it is possible to bring together science, technology, knowledge and innovation in one place. That is why we have invited entrepreneurs and companies that develop technological solutions, the main centers of regional universities that do research and development, high schools and colleges in the region, and also relevant public and private institutions in the regional ecosystem. In this sense, we would like to thank Colbún for supporting this initiative and for also committing to neutralizing carbon emissions that may be generated at the festival."

Carbon Neutral Event

A milestone that will mark this new version of InnovaFest in terms of environmental commitment will be that for the first time it will be carbon neutral, since it will measure and offset its carbon footprint, thanks to the alliance with the energy generator Colbún. This translates into the implementation of measures that will reduce and offset carbon emissions and other greenhouse gases generated in an event with the magnitude and scope of InnovaFest, achieving that all of them will be equal to zero.

The measurement will be carried out by Beeok, a software developer that supports companies and their value chain in their decarbonisation processes through its carbon footprint calculation and management module. “I think that this alliance to measure and offset the carbon footprint of Innovafest is very relevant, because it shows the virtuous concept of a team, since none of the parties could do it alone. It challenges us to solve carbon footprint management problems using technology as the catalyst to accelerate these processes, since there is a lot of work to be done and technology is a very important ally that consultants, organisations and companies need to be able to do it quickly, well and sustainably over time,” said Cristian Bustos, CEO of Beeok.

In this context, the greenhouse gas emissions generated by the festival, such as the transportation of exhibitors and attendees, will be quantified and neutralized with carbon credits issued by one of Colbún's renewable plants. For example, a carbon credit represents one ton of CO2 equivalent that was not emitted. “Colbún has been issuing these credits for two decades and is the main issuer of carbon credits in Chile from its hydroelectric generation plants, with five renewable plants, in addition to a photovoltaic project,” explained Fiona Bello, Climate Change Specialist at Colbún.

Projects issuing carbon credits are verified under rigorous third-party standards that guarantee their quality, such as the United Nations Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS).