Resumen

PASTEN, César. Chile, energy and development. Obras y Proyectos [online]. 2012, n.11, pp. 28-39. ISSN 0718-2813.  doi: 10.4067/S0718-28132012000100003.

The use of different indexes shows that the development of Chile is closely associated to the energy consumption. This relation is based on the analysis of primary energy consumption evolution within the world context and its impact on development indexes and environmental sustainability. The results in this analysis show a strong dependency on fossil fuels too, whose use is associated to important environmental impacts. This situation will be worse due to the increasing use fossil sources for electric generation and costs related to externalities. To mitigate these effects it should be encouraged mainly the harvesting of abundant solar and marine energy in the north and south of the country, respectively. In this form, a sustainable development of the country will be compatible with environmental and supplying constraints.

Palabras clave : energy; sustainable development; human development index; ecological fingerprint.