Mark McCaughrean

Finally some good news.

You may have been aware of the green hydrogen & ammonia production facility, INNA, proposed for construction on the Chilean coast, very close to Paranal & Armazones, home to ESO's VLT, VLTI, VISTA, & ELT telescopes.

It posed an existential light & atmospheric pollution threat to those world-leading astronomical facilities.

Fortunately, the concerns of the scientific community have been heard & the project cancelled.

https://www.aesandes.com/en/press-release/aes-andes-focus-renewables-and-storage-discontinues-green-hydrogen-development

#science #astronomy

AES Andes Focuses on Renewables and Discontinues Green Hydrogen Development | AES Andes

AES Andes has announced that, following a detailed review of its project portfolio, it has decided to desist from the execution of the INNA project, an initiative designed to produce green hydrogen

AES Andes
Jan 25 at 3:54pmWeb
Show threadMark McCaughreanJan 25

This piece in the Chilean paper, Latercera, has more, albeit behind a paywall.

But the opening paragraph makes it clear that the decision by AES Andes to withdraw from the INNA project was in response to criticism from the scientific community & the new Chilean president-elect, José Antonio Kast.

Kast's politic are pretty far-right though, including rejecting the reality of anthropogenic climate change, so this victory for science comes with a degree of irony & shade.

https://www.latercera.com/pulso/noticia/aes-andes-desiste-de-continuar-desarrollando-megaproyecto-de-hidrogeno-verde-en-chile/

AES Andes desiste de megaproyecto de hidrógeno verde en Chile al que se opusieron observatorios astronómicos y José Antonio Kast

La compañía eléctrica inició la tramitación del proyecto INNA, que involucraba una inversión de US$ 10 mil millones en la región de Antofagasta, en diciembre de 2024, pero enfrentó el rechazo de parte de la comunidad científica y de José Antonio Kast, en el último debate presidencial. “AES Andes informa que, tras un detallado análisis de su cartera de proyectos, ha decidido desistirse de la ejecución del proyecto INNA", informó ayer.

La Tercera
Show threadMark McCaughreanJan 25

Personally, I don't know whether Kast's position on INNA was informed by an opposition to the green technologies it involved, or whether he is in favour of preserving Chile's status as perhaps the pre-eminent location on Earth for ground-based astronomy. Perhaps both.

Equally, most astronomers would certainly support the idea of green hydrogen & ammonia production, so opposing INNA came with some degree of nuance.

But Chile's coastline is very long & other locations must surely be possible.

Show threadDaniel FischerJan 26
@markmccaughrean Here's a Chilean article w/o paywall, also making a Kast connection: https://www.emol.com/noticias/Economia/2026/01/23/1189522/poryecto-hidrogeno-verde-norte.html (ESO hasn't commented in public yet, probably still struggling for the diplomatically expedient words).
AES Andes desiste de su megaproyecto INNA que enfrentó la resistencia del mundo astronómico y el rechazo de Kast

La iniciativa se iba a ubicar en Taltal, en la Región de Antofagasta.

Emol
Show threadMark McCaughreanJan 26
@cosmos4u Thanks, Daniel. Not a lot more detail there, apart from Kast saying something about the problems for astronomy, rather than climate change denial. But yes, I can imagine that ESO want to be 100% sure that they're saying the diplomatically correct thing before making a statement.
Show threadESOJan 27
@markmccaughrean @cosmos4u Hi Mark, Daniel. We're monitoring the situation and waiting for the project to be officially withdrawn from Chile’s environmental impact assessment system (SEA), as this would formally confirm that INNA isn't moving forward.
Show threadMark McCaughreanJan 27
@esoastronomy @cosmos4u Very good – thanks for that information and I hope that the official recognition by the Chilean government of INNA’s cancellation comes soon. It will be a great relief to all astronomers to know that the dark skies over Paranal and Armazones will be protected.
Show threadKnud JahnkeJan 25

@markmccaughrean

Yessss!

Show threadmeFransJan 25
@markmccaughrean Good news inderd, Chili is big enough to locate greed somewhere else.
Show threadЛафиэль ЭлентариJan 25
@markmccaughrean
Good news!
Show threadFabian EgliJan 26
@markmccaughrean Thank you for sharing the good news!
Show threadMark McCaughreanJan 26
@fabianegli In these increasingly dark times, it’s an ironic pleasure to be able to celebrate a victory in the defence of dark skies 🙂👍
Show threadFabian EgliJan 26

@markmccaughrean 🕺🪩🌌

And just to say it out loud: I thoroughly enjoy following you here! Your posts often lighten me up and make my day.

Show threadMark McCaughreanJan 26
@fabianegli That’s very kind – just the random ramblings of some bloke who’s been around a bit, but continues to find new curiosities to entertain himself & hopefully a few others with 🙂👍
Show thread*_jߍyropeJan 26
@Mark McCaughrean Okay, sounds like a win and a loss. Green hydrogen should be supported, and the reason why Kast rejects this is probably climate change denial. The scientific community should clearly distance itself from such politician(s), eventually by pointing out, where the cancelled project could find a better home. After all water vapour is nothing more than a cloud.
Show threadMark McCaughreanJan 26

@jrp I fully understand the ambivalence & wider concerns – it's a victory for astronomy, but arguably in some ways not for science & evidence-based policy.

That said, I think most astronomers were well aware of the contradictions & tricky nuances in this case, arguing not against INNA & green energy per se, but rather the choice of siting the plant so close to a protected dark skies zone.

Chile's coastline is very long & it seems as though this plant could be constructed elsewhere.

Show thread*_jߍyropeJan 26
@Mark McCaughrean Right I did understand this. So is there an official distancing from the different rather right-wing position?
Show threadMark McCaughreanJan 26

@jrp I'm not sure – I haven't seen any official statement from ESO yet, & the AES Andes announcement was pretty anodyne, citing neither the scientific concerns or any possible political pressure. FWIW, AES Andes is almost entirely owned by a US corporation, AES.

So any thoughts I've posted in this thread are purely mine, & even though I have a very strong professional interest in preserving the dark skies over the VLT & ELT, I'm not speaking on behalf of anyone or any organisation here.

Show thread*_jߍyropeJan 26
@Mark McCaughrean Thank you for the background, it's appreciated.