Opportunities of the energy sector in the region

World economic growth has increased the demand for energy services. The boom of Asian economies, particularly China during the past decades, has been the driver of the demand for energy in the world. 

Since 2004, in Asia-Pacific the average economic growth has been 9.24 percent, while in Latin America it has been 3.99 percent. During the same period, energy consumption increased by 1.43 billion tons of oil equivalent (TOE), almost eight times the increase of energy consumption in the region, compared with a reduction of energy consumption in global terms in Europe and North America. 

For Latin America, the effect is in the increase of the prices of raw materials, the value of Latin American exports, and the development of a larger middle class, requiring increasingly higher levels of energy consumption in the region.  Latin America has 20 percent of the world's oil reserves, 4 percent of gas reserves, and almost 600 GW of hydroelectric potential, making it attractive to manage the growth of demand and promote the innovation of patentable technologies.   

At a seminar in the University of Stanford, Mauricio Garron, Senior Specialist at CAF's Energy Vice Presidency, stated that "the consumption of electric energy is increasing beyond the levels at which the current capacity can respond. This represents the challenge of increasing energy infrastructure to higher levels than those planned in the past decade, both in terms of the amount of investments and the speed of its implementation, as well as making sure that we can maintain a sustainable development with clean sources". 

This space for discussion started a dialogue between students and teachers of Stanford University's Precourt Energy Institute, seeking to contribute ideas to the region's energy agenda. During his intervention, the specialist made a presentation about the world economic-energy dynamics and the Latin American energy market, where he highlighted the opportunities offered by the region to achieve sustainable development: 

1. Energy integration of the countries, allowing for the generation of economies of scale and optimizing the efficiency of the systems as the wealth of energy resources is distributed heterogeneously.
2. Manage the growth of demand increasing energy efficiency, taking advantage of the renewable resources that have not been used much, targeting subsidies to benefit the most vulnerable populations.
3. Promote the innovation of patentable technologies to take advantage of the energy resources of the region which have not been used, and which may be exported to other regions of the world.