“¿México a la vista del 2030?

Gonzalez Guevara Miguel Angel

Ciudad de México a 12 de mayo del 2019
First, it is necessary to give a background to understand the challenge a little bit better.
In order to tackle global problems, such as global warming, climate change or other political or
economical issue, in 2012 the sustainable development goals were established. Then, in 2015 the
adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development began to work.
Among this 17 goals, the most interesting topic for me is number 7, Renewable Energy, which has
the purpose of ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all people
and countries. But to achieve all these goals, it is necessary the support of all the countries,
citizens and industries. Despite of this world wide effort, is it true that Mexico is really planning to
achieve these goals by 2030, or at least trying to?
Currently, more than three quarters of the energy production, in the world comes from non-
renewable resources, such as coal or oil. Oil is a liquid fossil fuel that is trapped by underground
formations. Most of the world's oil is still deep underground, but as we drill more and more, we
must go deeper and deeper every time. Once the oil has been drilled, it must be refined, because
oil is a complex mixture that must be separated into its different components. About half of the
world’s oil is converted into gasoline. The rest can be processed and used in liquid or solid
products,such as bags and shoes.
The drilling process is relatively inexpensive and a reliable energy source. However, a drawback
of this process is the possibility of an oil spill, for example if there is a problem with the drilling
machinery, the oil can explode out of the well and spill into the ocean or surrounding land.
Moreover, these non-renewable resources will run out or will not be replenished for thousands or
even millions of years. Most of these resources are burned to produce electricity, which produces
a huge amounts[f3] of carbon dioxide and other hazardous gases and fumes, which are released
into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming.
“Burning fossil fuels also upsets Earth’s “carbon budget,” which balances the carbon in the ocean,
earth, and air. When fossil fuels are combusted (heated), they release carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is a gas that keeps heat in Earth’s atmosphere, a process called the
“greenhouse effect.” The greenhouse effect is necessary to life on Earth but relies on a balanced
carbon budget.” (Morse,2013)
On the other hand, renewable energy comes from renewable resources, which are inexhaustible
natural resources and does not pollute the environment. Our electrical needs can be supplied by
different sources of renewable energy; such as, the movement of wind and water, the heat and
light of the sun, the warmth inside the earth, the production of Hydrogen and Methane and, lastly,
by the carbohydrates which are main components of plants. Allowing us to live in a sustainable
way.
It is important to point out that these methods also possess both advantages and drawbacks.
According to the research done by Rodriguez (2018), Mexico is in a critical situation to decide
whether or not to invest in renewable energies, because this type of energy has become very
important worldwide and it has diversified the electrical sources of energy without harming the
environment. Just in 2017, México produced 4000 MW with wind turbines only. This amount was
roughly 5% of the total amount of energy consumption in 2017. Mexico wants to triplicate this
production during the next 5 years and by 2024, Mexico expects to produce 35% of all energy with
renewable resources.
There are many kinds of renewable energy, for the purpose of this essay, the focus will be on 7
main types of clean energy.

• Bioenergy, it uses biomass, which is any organic matter from animals or plants, to produce
energy, or liquid fuels, such as ethanol or biodiesel. There are plenty of systems used to
produce this kind of energy, ranging from burning biomass to capturing and using methane
gas produced by the natural decomposition of organic matter,. A process similar to the one
that occurs in a cow's digestive system.

• Geothermal energy. It is created with the heat coming from inside the earth. This heat is
found in rock and in reservoirs of hot water inside the surface of the planet. The heat is
used by Geothermal power plants to generate electricity.

• Hydroelectric energy. It is generated by a dike system to store water in a reservoir. When

the water is released, it flows through the tubes and moves the turbines. This movement
of the turbines produces electricity. So, basically, water is cycled between lower and higher
reservoirs to control the electricity generation.

• Hydrogen´s energy, which is found in organic compounds, just like water or natural gas,
and it can also be produced under certain conditions. Hydrogen produces a huge amount
of heat, almost 285.53 KJ/Mol, when burned. In fact, it is almost five times greater than oil,
which produces 43.7 KJ/mol. In 2016, I researched more about this kind of energy, and I
made a project that tried to convert human urine into Hydrogen. That's why this kind of
electric generation system has a great potential to keep working on it.

• Solar energy is produced when we capture the sun's energy directly. This type of
technology is based on Einstein's photoelectric effect, which consists in the release of
electrically charged particles, that are in a material when it absorbs electromagnetic
radiation. In this case, any solar cell receives electromagnetic radiation from the sun,
producing energy when the electrons or ions are ejected from the solar cell due to the
previously mentioned effect. Another way to take advantage of the sunlight, is to
concentrate the heat using mirror-covered dishes that are focused to boil water.

• Wind´s kinetic energy. Winds are caused by the uneven heating and cooling of the
atmosphere, and it is used to move giant propellers, and it is also compressed and
expanded inside the wind turbine to create a variation in Entropy between the wind entering
and the one exiting. With these processes of expansion and compression, the generator
produces a huge amount of energy due to the change of entropy and the speed of the
wind, as well.
In 2017, China was the leading country of renewable energy production, with a total capacity of
around 618.8 GW, followed by the USA (229.91 GW) and Brazil (128.89 GW) contrasting with
Mexico which had 70 000 MW produced(Irena,2018). According to “El Universal Mexico”, Mexico
is expecting to meet 35% of the total energy consumption demand with clean energy by 2024.
This energy will be produced mainly by wind and solar power, with a total investment of 8.6 Million
Dollars.
Mexico approved an energy reform in 2012, which has transformed the power sector since then
by supporting the renewable energy in Mexico, at first glance.
But if we analyze carefully, only 17 out of 32 states in Mexico will have a renewable energy power
plant but from these only 4 out of 17 states will have support from the Mexican Government,
workers and technology to build these plants, which will only produce 2.4k MW, nearly 12% of the
energy consumption in the country.
Mexico has become a leading destination for clean energy investment. The second largest power
market in Latin America, just behind Brazil. The total investment is expected to increase because
of the country’s excellent solar and wind resources. Clean power investments increased
dramatically from $1.441 billion in 2016 to $6.2 billion in 2017. From this total investment, 90%
represents the foreign investment, something disturbing because Mexico is selling its land to
foreigners, even though it has the knowledge,the capability and tools to develop its own
technology to produce clean energy without the intervention of other countries.
Mexico is facing an important presidential transition since December 1st 2018, as the elected
president is going to reactivate the use of coal for electricity generation, due to the expensive
electric rates.Honestly, this is a huge setback to the renewable energy industry even though solar
and wind energy have been cheaper since last year.The cost per MegaWatt-Hour of energy is 20
dollars, so its illogical to invest in non-renewable energy when Mexico can use that money to build
more renewable energy power plants in the country. Furthermore, if Mexico decides to start using
coal again, Mexico will have to import it from Australia as a result of the lack in this resource.
As Olea (2018) says, it is amazing how in the 21 century, Mexico will invest for non-renewable as
the solution to its electric problems rather than renewable energy which have been a real solution
during the last decade, and it will continue to be so for the years to come. In addition, Mexico has
a law(Ley General de Cambio Climático) that establishes a commitment to reduce greenhouse
gases emissions by a 30% by 2020, and 50% by 2050.Unfortunately, this goal seems to be non
achievable than ever with this new Coal-Industry reactivation.
As Mahatma Ghandi once said: “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not
every man’s greed.” Mexico has to start developing new technology to take advantage of all the
renewable resources Earth gave us to produce clean energy, without harming it.If we want to
achieve our energetic production goal by 2024, we must stop looking for the “economic” ways to
obtain energy from non-renewable resources but more investing in sustainable and economic,
environmental and social way than invest in long term with renewable energy.
Mexico needs to start focusing in the sustainable development goals, if we pretend to have a real
development for 2030, but to achieve this, it is necessary the support and actions of all the citizens,
because together we are the strength that the world needs to be saved.
Lastly, Mexico is in the perfect moment to start researching new ways to produce clean energy if
we want to start the next decade as the flagship of renewable energy. Because, if we forget about
future generations now, they will not ever forget us.
Referencias
• 7 types of renewable energy to support comercial sustainability. (2017,January 3.).
Recuperado de: businessfeed.sunpower.com/lists/7-types-of-renewable-commercial-
energy el 11/05/19
• García, K. (2018, noviembre 22). AMLO reactivará uso de carbón para generación
eléctrica. Recuperado de: https://www.eleconomista.com.mx/empresas/AMLO-
reactivara-uso-de-carbon-para-generacion-electrica-20181122-0194.html el 11/05/19
• Irena. (2018, marzo.). Las 14 Ventajas y Desventajas de la Globalización Principales.
Recuperado de: https://www.lifeder.com/ventajas-desventajas-globalizacion/ el 01/05/19
• García, M. (N.D.). Leading Countries in installed renewable energy capacity worldwide in
2017. Recuperado de: https://statisca.com/statics/267233/renewable-energy-capacity-
worldwide-by-country el 11/05/19
• Olive, L. (2018, abril 16). México y su gran potencial en energías limpias. Recuperado
de: https://www.forbes.com.mx/mexico-y-su-gran-potencial-en-energias-limpias/ el
12/05/19
• Renewable Energy. (N.D.). Recuperado de: https://www.globalgiving.org/sdg/renewable-
energy/ el 12/05/19
• Objetivos de desarrollo sostenible. (N.D.). Recuperado de:
https://www.undp.org/content/undp/es/home/sustainable-development-goals.html el
12/05/19