Energy Efficiency And Conservation In Mexico

In comparing the degree of efficiency in energy production and the uses to which energy resources are allocated in Mexico with those in other countries, this book addresses three basic questions: What are the major reasons for differences in energy efficiency between industrial economies and a newly industrializing country like Mexico? To what extent is energy conservation possible in the Mexican economy? And what are the social and economic benefits of more efficient use and conservation of energy in comparison with their costs? Using the history and operations of two state-owned energy agencies, PEMEX and the Federal Electricity Comission, as case studies, the authors explore the patterns of energy use in all major sectors of the economy and discuss the prospects for energy-saving policies between the mid-1980s and the end of the century.

Urbanization and growing wealth in developing countries portend a large increase of demand for modern energy services in residential, commercial and public-service buildings in the coming decades. Pursuing energy efficiency in buildings is vital to energy security in developing countries and is identified by the Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change as having the greatest potential for cost-effective reduction of CO2 emissions by 2030 among all energy-consuming sectors. Building energy efficiency codes (BEECs), along with energy efficiency standards for major appliances and equipment, are broadly recognized as a necessary government intervention to overcome persistent market barriers to capturing the economic potential of energy efficiency gains in the residential, commercial and public-service sectors. Implementation of BEECs help prevent costly energy wastes over the lifecycles of buildings in space heating, air conditioning, lighting, and other energy service requirements. Nonetheless, achieving the full potential of energy savings afforded by more energy-efficient buildings requires holding people who live or work in buildings accountable for the cost of energy services. Compliance enforcement has been the biggest challenge to implementing BEECs. This report summarizes the findings of an extensive literature survey of the experiences of implementing BEECs in developed countries, as well as those from case studies of China, Egypt, India, and Mexico. It also serves as a primer on the basic features and contents of BEECs and the commonly adopted compliance and enforcement approaches. This report highlights the key challenges to improving compliance enforcement in developing countries, including government commitment to energy efficiency, the effectiveness of government oversight of the construction sector, the compliance capacity of building supply chain, and financing constraints. The report notes that the process of transforming a country s building supply chain toward delivering increasingly more energy-efficient buildings takes time and requires persistent government intervention through uniformly enforced and regularly updated BEECs. The report recommends increased international support in strengthening the enforcement infrastructure for BEECs in middle-income developing countries. For low- and lower-middle-income countries, there is an urgent need to assist in improving the effectiveness of government oversight system for building construction, laying the foundation for the system to also cover BEECs.

This publication sets out information on the findings of an energy planning project in Mexico, based on evaluation of the possible evolution of energy and electricity consumption given certain socioeconomic and technical development scenarios to 2025. Topics discussed include: energy and electricity demand analysis and projections; power expansion alternatives; and total energy system analysis.

Without energy, there is no well-functioning economy, besides facing social risks. This book provides a systemic approach to energy in Mexico and its relations to the USA arising from the energy reform of the former. It covers the transition from fossil fuels to a low-carbon economy, relying heavily on renewable sources and mitigating climate change risks. Several human knowledge disciplines and topics are covered in the book, including public policy, economics, transboundary issues, electricity and thermal energy, residual biomass use, distributed energy systems and its management, and decision-making tools. An analysis is considered regarding energy issues interaction in the Mexican-USA border, which differ in both countries from pricing and policy, and the work and research that has been developed for transboundary energy trade.

The ultimate goal of building and construction – in relation to environmental issues – is to construct in an environmentally neutral way; or, as the Brundtland Report states, to consume in such a way that our children have the same choices that we have. Construction will always be needed, and will always consume resources. But in accordance with the conditions of the Brundtland Report, we should move construction into a direction that does not deplete resources, and does not worsen living circumstances through harmful indoor or outdoor environmental effects. Improving our efficiency in resource consumption is the only way in which we will be able to continue our current way of life. It has been calculated that in order to (only) maintain the world average lifestyle a factor 4 of improvement in efficiency of resource consumption is necessary, based on global resource availability, effects on climate change, and coping with growing welfare for developing countries. Measuring a factor x improvement heavily relates to the chosen benchmark. Building activities will always require some environmental load: the mere fact of living already implies use of earthbound resources, so it is generally not very efficient to calculate emissions and other effects in an absolute way. The ultimate target is not to avoid resource use at all, but to use only “reproductive resources” (“regrowable, renewable and replaceable”) to create a balanced situation. When this is achieved, we will still use resources, but usage will be sustainable: it can be maintained well into the future. In developing an approach for assessing sustainable building, the Three Step Strategy (in the Netherlands named Trias Ecologica) has proven to be useful. This publication takes a detailed look at this Strategy.

This book reviews the main energy sources, production problems and energy perspectives in Germany and Mexico. It surveys the status of traditional and alternative energy sources, including fossil fuels, nuclear, hydraulic, eolic, solar, and hydrogen cells. The book emphasizes the search for answers to such questions as What are the main problems of industries based on fossil fuels, and What is the present status of hydraulic and nuclear energy?