The Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation will set 187.5 million, of the 490 million euros for R&D&I, for the investment in scientific and university infrastructures. In this item, Cristina Garmenia said that 23 million euros will be allocated for building two research centers related with renewable energies.
The first one will be set aside for the research in non food energy culture and will be set at 15 million euros. The second center will be directed at the production and development of seaweed culture for collecting CO2 and producing biofuels, with an investment of 8 million euros in 2009.
The research centers will be located near universities
Cristina Garmendia emphasized that “we are going to tackled new projects with international relevance in the two areas we have given the maximum priority: health and energy.” Besides, she pointed out that there are several reasons to prioritize scientific investment and infrastructure: “firstly, it is an investment which is going to generate a fast demand in those sectors that are especially affected by the crisis – building, maintenance service, equipment and installation sectors; secondly, a training and specialization effort is demanded to providers and, finally, many of the centers and infrastructures are going to be located near university campus, so its impetus is also a major boost for the excellence and internationalization of our universities.”
The Minister showed these initiatives in the lunch meeting titled España en el mapamundi de la ciencia: la inversión pública en infraestructuras científicas como respuesta a la crisis económica (Spain on the science world map: public investment in scientific infrastructures as answer to the crisis). This meeting was organized by the Club Español de la Industria, Tecnología y Minería (Spanish Club for Industry, Technology and Mining). During her intervention, she pointed out that “the interpretation of the Ministry about the crisis is an opportunity for the scientific, technological and innovation system.”
Source: Revista Energías Renovables
