Taller Regional de 

Metrología y Retos Tecnológicos en las Ciencias del Clima 

y Energía Renovable

Guatemala, 28-29 de Mayo, 2014

Hotel Camino Real

Salón Oro

Regional Workshop on 

Metrology and Technology Challenges of

Climate Science and Renewable Energy

Guatemala, May 28-29, 2014

Hotel Camino Real

Room Gold

Day 1 -Institutional Awareness and Technical Workshop
 

Morning – Do we have the Right Policies in Place?

8h30 Registration

9h00 – 9h05

9h10 – 9h15

9h15 – 9h25

9h25 – 9h30

9h30 – 9h35

9h35 – 9h45

9h45

Welcome Remarks

Lic. Pablo Martinez – Master of Ceremonies

Presentation of the representatives at the main table – Lic. Pablo Martinez 

Presentation on the importance of the Regional Workshop "Metrology and Technological Challenges in Climate

Science and Renewable Energy"

Lic. Emmanuel Seidner, Deputy, Legislative Congress

Remarks by the national representative of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Guatemala

Lda. Milagros Martinez de Torres-Chico

Remarks by the Director of the Office of International Affairs and Academic, National Institute of Standards and

Technology (NIST) United States

Dr. Claire Saundry

Opening Address by Vice-Minister of Economy

Vice-Minister Claudia de Del Aguila

Farewell to the representatives of the main table

Lic. Pablo Martinez - Master of Ceremonies

9h45 – 10h05 Renewable Energy and Climate Science (RECS)–An OAS-NIST Project

Lic. Ruben Contreras Lisperguer, MSc. – OAS Project Coordinator 

10h05 – 10h25 Guatemalan Policies and Regulations on RECS

Dr. Edwin Josué Castellanos – Director, Center for Environmental Studies and Biodiversity, Universidad del 

Valle de Guatemala

10h25 – 10h45 Guatemalan Policies to address the Challenges of Renewable Energy

Licda. Carmen Urizar – Director of the National Energy Commission /Directora de la Comisión Nacional de 

Energía Eléctrica (CNEE)

10h45 – 11h15 BREAK

11h15 – 12h00 Climate Change and Renewable Energy – A US Perspective

Dr. James Whetstone – Special Assistant for Greenhouse Gas Measurements, NIST

12h00-13h00 Panel Discussion on RECS – Policies and Activities of CAMET Countries

Representatives from each CAMET Country

Moderator: Dr. Hratch Semerjian – NIST Chief Scientist Emeritus, NIST

13h00-14h00 LUNCH

Afternoon - Climate Change and GHG Measurements
 

14h00-14h45 Air Quality Monitoring and Climate Change Related Measurements (GHG)

Lic. Jorge Koelliker Delgado –Scientific Coordinator, Gas Metrology, Centro Nacional de Metrología (CENAM), 

Mexico

14h45-15h15 Joining Metrology and Meteorology Communities for GHG Measurements

Dr. James Whetstone – Special Assistant for Greenhouse Gas Measurements, NIST, USA

15h15-15h45 BREAK

15h45-16h15 Measurements and Standards for Automotive Emissions

Lic. Sergio Zirath Hernández- Director of Research in Atmospheric Monitoring and Analytical Characterization of

Pollutants, National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change, Mexico

16h15-17h00 Introductory Comments by James Whetstone

Description of the Inventory Methodology of GHG and Preliminary Data for Guatemala 

Ing. José Luis Rivera Castillo – Coordinator of the Climate Change Unit, Ministerio Ambiental y Recursos 

Naturales (MARN) and Ing. Enrique Castroconde- Mechanical Engineer, Guatemala

17h00 -17h30 Summary and Closure of Workshop First Day

Lic. Javier Arias –Director, CENAMEP AIP, Panama 

Lic. Efraín Paz – Technical Coordinator,Centro Hondureño de Metrología, Sistema Nacional de la Calidad, 

Secretaria Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (SENACIT), Honduras

18h00-19h30 Reception and Networking

Amatitlan Room, Westin Camino Real

Day 2 Technical Workshop

Morning – Building Energy Efficiency Systems and Renewable Energy

8h30 Registration

9h00 – 9h05 Welcome Remarks 

Lic. Jose Trejo - Director, Belize Bureau of Standards

9h05 – 9h30 Building Energy Efficiency Systems

Dr. David Yashar – Deputy Division Chief, NIST, USA (Presented by James Whetstone)

9h30 – 9h50 Energy Star Program

Lic. Kristen Taddonio – Deployment Team Lead, Commercial Building Integration Program, Dept. Energy, USA

9h50 – 10h15 Experiences in Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency in Honduras

Ing. Jorge Núñez, M.Eng., Empresa Nacional de Energía Eléctrica (ENEE), Honduras

10h15-10h45 BREAK
 

RENEWABLE ENERGY

10h45-11h15 Standards for the connection of photovoltaic installations to the national grid in Panama

Lic. Daniel Mina – Dep. Director of Electricity at Autoridad Nacional de Servicios Públicos (ASEP), Panama

11h15-12h00 Outlook for 2

nd and 3rd Generation Biofuels: Where we are and where are we going? 

Lic. Larry Taylor –Scientist, National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), USA

12h00-13h00 Renewable Energy Hubs: Ecological, Economical, Sustainable

Moderator – Lic. Jorge Urrutia, President and CEO MSI Universal

A Renewable Energy Environment for Climate Change

Lic. Reuben Chow, Principal, Chow Engineering, Inc. , USA

A Supportive Regulatory Environment, Integrated Technologies and Finance

Lic. David Galicia, CEO Arnasa Consulting, Mexico D.F. 

13h00-14h00 LUNCH

Afternoon – What can be done? Training needs?

14h00-14h45

Introductory Comments; MEP in the U.S.

Dr. Hratch Semerjian – NIST, USA

How do we get small businesses involved in RECS? 

Dra. Ernestina Torres Reyes, Director of Technology Innovation, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy 

Sources from “Renovables de México, SA de C.V.”, Mexico

14h45-15h15 Measuring Energy Efficiency of Clean Stoves 

Dr. John McCraken, Director, UEIE, Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (UVG)

15h15-15h45 Metrology for Energy Efficiency

Ing. Virgilio Jiménez Valverde, Director, Laboratory of Energy Efficiency, Costa Rica

15h45-15h45 BREAK

15h45-16h15 Metrology to meet the Challenges of Climate Change and Renewable Energy

Dr. Gerardo Padilla, Physical Metrologist, Laboratorio Costarricense de Metrología, LACOMET, Costa Rica

16h15-17h30 Panel Discussion: Development of an Action Plan for the CAMET region

CAMET Representatives

Moderator: Ing. Julio Alberto González, CENAMEP AIP, Panamá

17h30-18h00 Summary and Action Items for the Future

Moderators: Dr. Hratch Semerjian – Chief Scientist Emeritus, NIST, USA and

 Lic. Efraín Paz – Technical Coordinator, SENACIT, Honduras

18h00-18h15 Closing Remarks 

Lic. Franky Eduardo Reyes – Director of the National Quality System, Guatemala
 

Summary Report from CAMET Regional Workshop on

Renewable Energy and Climate Science (RECS)

Observations:

1. The Workshop organization was excellent, in terms of the program and speakers, as well as the 

workshop logistics. All attendees were very appreciative of the hospitality provided by the 

Guatemalan Government and CENAME Staff, in particular.

2. The Workshop Steering Committee deserves our thanks for putting together an excellent program 

that was both informative and stimulated much discussion. In fact, the program was packed, and left 

little time for discussion. (Future workshops should allow more time for discussion and reduce the 

number of presentations and the topics to be covered.)

3. The Guatemalan Government deserves our thanks for their support of the Workshop and personal 

participation of the Vice-Minister of Economy Claudia de Del Aguila and Congressman Emmanuel 

Seidner.

4. Participation by all countries of the CAMET Region (Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, 

Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama) was critical for the success of the workshop. Participation by 

more than 200 attendees from the government, private sector and universities at the workshop 

certainly is a testimony to the importance of RECS. 

5. Several Ministries were represented at the workshop including the Guatemalan Ministry of Energy 

and Mines, National Secretary of Science and Technology (SENACYT), Ministry of the 

Environment and Natural Resources, Ministry of Communication, Infrastructure, and Housing, and 

Ministry of Economy (El Salvador).

6. It was gratifying to see that most Central American countries have already established policies and 

regulations to promote utilization of renewable energy and reduce the impact of climate change. 

7. It was also reassuring to see that the importance of RECS policies for economic development of 

each country was appreciated by the public and policy makers.

8. However, in many cases, the countries are not in a position to implement the policies and 

regulations because of lack of metrological and technological infrastructure.

9. It was pointed out several times that the Central American Economy of 35-40 million people is 

relatively small, and each country does not have the economic power to establish independent 

capabilities in metrology and technology.
 

10. The last two observations make it imperative for the Central American Countries to cooperate to 

put in place the necessary infrastructural capabilities to implement RECS related policies.

11. Central American Countries are already making strides in establishing cooperative programs, 

such as the Central American Commission for Integration; these efforts need to be extended to the

arenas of technology and metrology. 

Actions Under Consideration:

1. Measurement capabilities for air quality and GHG emissions are almost non-existent in Central 

American countries (This may be true throughout much of the Americas). A hands-on training 

workshop for GHG measurements from fixed and mobile emission sources was identified as a 

priority item. CENAM (Mexico) has the capabilities and expressed the willingness to organize such 

a workshop (pending approval from Dr. Hector Nava Jaimes, CENAM Director), in cooperation 

with NIST. This will enable participants to: a) develop an appreciation of the measurement 

techniques needed, complexity of the measurement apparatus, and the methodologies to establish 

GHG and other emissions inventories; b) plan development of human resources with appropriate 

expertise; c) plan acquisition of measurement apparatus; and d) plan cooperative activities among 

the NMIs of the hemisphere.

2. Improving energy efficiency of buildings as well as industrial systems will have immediate 

impact on a country’s energy demand and GHG emissions. Building Energy Efficiency Systems was 

identified as a high priority area of interest for all CAMET Countries, and may be true for many 

other SIM countries. Training on efficient lighting systems for EE buildings, houses and industry 

was identified as a useful undertaking for the region. NIST will explore organizing visits to the NIST 

Net Zero Energy Residential Test Facility (NZERTF) and training workshops to familiarize the SIM

metrology community with the metrology and technology tools currently available.

3. Photovoltaic energy systems are finding increasing use in Central American countries to 

supplement fossil-fuel based energy generation systems. Evaluating the performance of PV systems 

requires complex calibration and certification capabilities. A SIM training workshop on existing PV 

evaluation systems and design of new apparatus will be explored.

4. Effective use of highly distributed PV systems (e.g., from residential units) will require efficient 

connectivity to the electrical power grid. A wide-area network currently planned to extend from 

Guatemala to Panama will also require implementation of an efficient and secure power grid. Both 

of these activities will require an advanced power grid to ensure interconnections to networks with 

minimum losses and maximum security. A specific training on how to minimize energy losses when 

interconnecting different networks was suggested. NIST will look into organizing a training 

workshop on Smart-Grid technologies, the standards required and the cybersecurity requirements of 

such a system.
 

5. Linkages among CAMET NMIs need to be strengthened. Regional NMIs need to empower 

CAMET as a Technical Support Council for the Decision Makers in the Region to utilize such an 

organization to suggest a CAMET Unified Labelling & Efficiency Index Code for the Region

(similar to Energy Star discussed at the workshop.

6. All NMIs in CAMET, and indeed in SIM, can benefit from collaboration and sharing of 

resources, given limited resources of these relatively small economies. National Governments may 

not lead such an effort, because of political reasons and national pride. NMIs and their leadership 

will have to take the lead in identifying their strengths and areas where they can benefit from 

expertise in other NMIs. 

7. The Directors of the NMIs identified the following items to work on together: suggest a CAMET 

Unified Labelling and Efficiency Index Code for the Region; promote regional organizations 

(CAMET, FOCA & CONCANOR) to improve quality infrastructure in the Region; and work 

together with international organizations such as OAS, SICA, and SIECA to promote these and other 

regional standards and regulations at governmental levels.