Mariana Gendrón Portilla, Diego Lorenzo Garza and Julio César Cortés Luna, México, 11-14 years.

Researching the energy situation in our country helps people to understand how the distribution and affordability of electricity are unequal, but also how the production of electricity pollutes our water, soil, and air, and even clean sources of electricity harm our environment. What is Mexico doing to solve the problem? What states of Mexico are in a bad electric situation? Which people can’t afford energy? (2)

The Reasons

Points out that energy poverty is mainly due to low income and the use of inefficient equipment, thus highlighting the role played by energy efficiency in reducing energy consumption in households and, as a result, the proportion of income destined to pay for that energy. (4)

Price of energy with mexicans

According to data from Global Petrol Prices regarding December 2021, México has the fourth-cheapest electricity tariff in Latin America, with a price of US$0.086/Kwh. (4)

If the price of electricity increases, consumers lose purchasing power. Its actual disposable income is reduced through the increase in the price level and the possible decrease in economic activity. This causes disconformity in users. (4)

Common problems

Two of the most common problems are the excess of wind and the solar technology installed without planning. But in Mexico, one of the absolute most common is the cost of it. (2)

Wood as an energy source

A lot of people use wood as an energy source, they use it because it is cheaper, there is no energy in their area and it is easier to get wood, although it can cause problems like pollution, diseases, and is not clean nor safe. (1)

Why do most people use wood as an electric source? 

Many people prefer wood, wood pellets, and grains as low-cost alternative energy sources, especially during periods when energy prices rise. It is related to the concept “energy poverty”. (3)

However, it carries many disadvantages for the low income population. Setting apart, carbon is carbon, wherever it comes from, and if you burn wood for energy, you increase carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere (by more than if you had used fossil fuels), thereby contributing to climate change. The fact that the carbon emitted was absorbed by growing trees in the past is simply irrelevant.

Importance of the use of renewable resources

There are many benefits of renewable energy, like generating energy that produces no greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels and reduces some types of air pollution, less global warming, improved public health, inexhaustible energy, jobs and other economic benefits, stable energy prices, reliability and resilience.

Available sources of energy

According to Kijana Mack (5), there are five major renewable energy sources:

1. Solar energy from the sun.
2. Geothermal energy from the heat inside the earth.
3. Wind energy.
4. Biomass from plants.
5. Hydropower from flowing water.

The renewable energy in México 

Renewable energy in México contributes to 26 percent of electricity generation in México. Since 2009, the generation of electricity from renewable energies comes from biomass, hydraulics, geothermal, solar, and wind energy. (5)

By a survey made at school, it is concluded that many people know about the importance of renewable energy and that it may decrease the cost of energy in a long term but most of them do not have alternative sources of electricity at home; probably because the price of getting such systems, like the solar panels, are expensive, so to increase the use of renewable energy it is necessary to make it available to everyone or somehow decrease the initial cost.

SOURCES & CREDITS

1. Environmental Impacts of Wood Energy Consumption. www.fao.org/3/x5667e/x5667e0a.htm.
2. Imagen Radio. “La Pobreza Energética; 13.5 Millones De Mexicanos No Pueden Pagar Por El Servicio.” YouTube, 13 Jan. 2022, www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlfU3L99Erg.
3. La Pobreza Energética Afecta a 46 Millones De Personas En México. 16 Dec. 2022, www.animalpolitico.com/elsabueso/pobreza-energetica-en-mexico-que-es.
4. Resilientemagazine. “El Acceso a La Electricidad En México | Terraética – Resiliente Magazine.” Resiliente Magazine, 17 Nov. 2020, resilientemagazine.com/el-acceso-a-la-electricidad-en-mexico-terraetica.
5. Mack, Kijana. “An Overview of Renewable Energy in Mexico.” Mexico Energy Partners LLC, Aug. 2022, mexicoenergyllc.com.mx/blogs/mexico-energy-insights/an-overview-of-renewable-energy-in-mexico.