Catálogo de publicaciones - libros

At present, wind energy is one of the most promising alternatives for diversifying electricity generation towards the sustainable development worldwide. Wind power technology is one of the most mature renewable energy technologies. In fact, over the last 20 years, almost all of the industrialised countries progressed towards the implementation of wind energy, looking to attain significant levels of contribution for satisfying the electrical demand at the national level. An increasing number of developing countries are already following the example.

The current contribution of 3.1 % of geothermal energy to México’s electricity supply is relatively elevated in comparison to a global offer of primary geothermal energy of 0.442 % (ISES 2002), or 0.8 % by renewable technologies, including geothermal, solar, wind and tide/wave/ocean technology (IEA 2006), but potential favorable national resources are still underexploited. Feasibility studies proved a potential for national reserves of 3,650 MW, whose generation (20,460 GWh) could provide more than 12 % (20,460 GWh) of the total electricity generation. The exploitation of middle- and high-enthalpy geothermal reservoirs could represent a major contribution towards a more environmental friendly electricity production in México, as the combustion of more than 40 million barrels of fossil fuels per year and the emission of approximately 16.5 million tons of CO into the atmosphere could be avoided by geothermal expansion strategies. On an economic point of view, the average generation costs of 3.98 USD cents per kWh for geothermal electricity are currently lower than for any other renewable energy type, and competitive with most conventional energy types. Low- to middle temperature sites (< 170°C) are still undeveloped in México, although an estimated heat potential of several thousands of megawatt could be used for private and industrial consumption, such as district and greenhouse heating, spas, and aquaculture. The implantation of decentralized small-scale plants (< 5 MW) with binary-cycle or heat pump technology could be fundamental for the energetic development of remote rural areas. As a basic condition to expand the national geothermal energy market, the legal and regulatory frame has to appropriate in order to fortify the renewable energy sector, as well as market incentives and innovative financing schemes have to be established to promote private inversions.

The proposed research is designed to upgrade sugarcane biomass byproducts (bagasse) to high-grade fuel (hydrogen), activated carbon, and chemical feedstocks (synthesized gas). It is shown how gasification can significantly enhance the value of sugarcane through the production of energy, synthesis gas, and carbon, which is required in the sugar purification and decoloring process. Furthermore, it can act as a valuable associate to sugar fermentation processes used to produce ethanol employed as a substitute for hydrocarbon fuels and raw materials. Through this project one can make the large sugarcane-growing regions of Mexico and other Latin American, African, and Asian countries more economically diverse and self-sufficient, increasing local employment and enabling support of larger rural populations. A key part of the proposed research is the training of highly skilled professionals to guide the Mexican sugarcane agro-industry toward production of high added value products in addition to sugar.

Mexico, as many other countries, needs the substitution of fossil fuels to avoid the environmental and health problems produced by their burning. Hydrogen is an important alternative energy source for the growing energy demand and the answer to the present need of a clean, efficient, and environmentally-friendly fuel. While the proved hydrocarbon reserves in Mexico will last for just some more decades, hydrogen, in counterpart, is the most abundant element in the universe and the third one in the earth’s surface. Burning hydrogen in a combustion engine produces water and a small amount of nitrogen oxides, which can be eliminated in proton exchange membrane fuel cells or in alkaline fuel cells. Fuel cells working with hydrogen are electrochemical devices where the recombination of hydrogen with oxygen produces electricity, heat and water in a silent manner. In the seventies, most countries started in hydrogen research and development due to the petroleum crisis; being Germany, Canada and Japan the most advanced countries in the area. USA announced in 2003 a $1.2 billion Hydrogen Fuel Initiative to develop technology for commercially viable hydrogen-powered fuel cells. Iceland, one of the countries with large contaminant emissions, is working to become the first hydrogen based economy. In the other hand, two hydrogen isotopes, deuterium and tritium, could produce energy for the future through thermonuclear reactions. Mexico needs to include in its energetic program research and development in hydrogen for its use as an energy carrier of the renewable and still non renewable energy sources. Mexico should also explore the possibility of becoming a member of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor ITER project, like other countries (e.g. India), to develop a clean energy future.

For more than 50 years, controlled nuclear fusion has been promised as a safe, clean and environmentally acceptable energy alternative for the future. Fusion was actually known from particle accelerator experiments well before nuclear fission, and by the time the latter was being discovered, there were already well developed theories of how fusion is the source of energy in the stars, including our Sun, and how stars work as the element factories in the Universe (). Yet, after several decades of work by researchers in several countries, producing more energy than is invested in fusion devices has been elusive. This has led to the common joke that the date in which fusion reactors will become available is a new constant in physics; always 30 years away. Actually, the international controlled fusion research programme is sound and healthy, and has achieved significant progress (), but the road to the reactor is more difficult than originally envisioned. In the process, it has influenced the development of plasma science as an interdisciplinary endeavour which requires the collaboration of physicists and engineers, and has led to important spin-offs in other applications. The limitations of fusion reactors will depend as much on physics issues as on engineering and materials design, and its competitiveness will depend on the results of further research and development in these areas.