January 2017 – During a tour of Europe, a group of experts from the Chilean government learned about ways in which agriculture can be organised to cope with unfavourable climatic conditions. The tour participants enquired about the issue of greenhouse efficiency on a visit to the fan manufacturer Ziehl-Abegg in southern Germany. The delegation was led by Etel Latorre Varas, Minister of Agriculture in the Province of Magallanes.

For many years Chile has enjoyed an outstanding reputation as a supplier of premium wines and fruits. However, for climatic reasons, the region of Magellan and the Chilean Antarctic in the South of the country finds it almost impossible to produce food itself. To avoid expensive and polluting transportation, the intention is to accelerate production through the use of greenhouses on a regional basis. In order to get a picture of how greenhouses of the future might look, representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture and the private sector paid a visit to Europe. The German-Chilean Chamber of Commerce had included visits to leading companies and institutions on the itinerary. The Group was led by Etel Latorre Varas, Minister of Agriculture in the Regional Government of Magellan.

The firm of Ziehl-Abegg, based in Künzelsau in southern Germany, is a technology leader in the development and manufacture of efficient drives and fans. Alfredo Rodriguez Rincon, a Spanish engineer at Ziehl-Abegg, revealed to the visitors the company’s more than 100 years’ experience in the construction and development of durable, efficient drives. Together with the Product Manager Martin Mink, he explained the potential savings that can be achieved with greenhouses when modern technology is applied. He also gave an illustration of the German company’s sales and after-sales network in South America.

Achim Kärcher, the head of the test department at Ziehl-Abegg, explained the extremely thorough and precise test procedures. In this context, he also listed the advantages of the rapid prototyping with 3-D printers. The highlight was going inside a totally soundproofed test chamber: mounted on steel springs, Ziehl-Abegg’s 1250-tonne test rig is the world's largest combined test bench for fans.

The fact-finding trip was organised by the AHK Chile [Chamber of Commerce] as part of the Smart Energy Concepts Chile project. Smart Energy Concepts is a project of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment funded through the International Climate Protection Initiative. Its aim is to reduce CO2 emissions in the agriculture and food sector in Chile through energy efficiency measures.