By Wendy Anders

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)’s ‘Technology Review’, awarded Joaquín Víquez, manager of the Heredia, Costa Rica-based Viogaz company its young innovators in Central America award.

The contest, which is held in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank, recognized six other Central Americans in areas such as plasma research, banking technology, wastewater and cancer treatments.

Since its founding in 2009, Viogaz has installed bio-digesters in 223 homes and farms in seven Latin American countries, where it has generated 8 million cubic meters of methane equivalent to almost 5 million liters of gasoline. This involved the treatment of more than 400 thousand tons of manure, which is the equivalent of treating 1.8 million people’s wastewater.

Víquez’s business stood out from others because of the example it provides for young people:

“The young Joaquín Víquez grew up in a family dedicated to farming, and from them (his parents), he learned that being an agricultural producer is becoming more difficult,” said Maximilliano Corredor, journalist for the Review. “Especially on a small scale, where competition and regulations can stifle owners. Therefore, every small advantage can be decisive for your business.”

Víquez’s company offers small businesses customized bio-digesters that convert livestock waste into biogas that can be used by the farmer.

Viogaz has set up renewable energy projects using waste in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Chile, the United States and Nigeria.

MIT’s Technology Review has been published since 1899, and is the oldest journal in the world in its field; it is considered a benchmark in topics related to the future of technology in the Internet, telecommunications, energy, information technology, materials, biomedicine and business.