Mexico Program
Mexico Energy Program
Berkeley Lab's Mexico Energy Initiative seeks to play an important role in supporting Mexico's transition to greater clean energy production, more efficient use of energy and aggressive carbon emissions reductions. Understanding energy use around the world is of critical importance to the United States, and working with Mexico enhances our strategic understanding of energy use worldwide.
Our Research
The Mexico Energy Initiative is building on more than two decades of collaboration with Mexico, and similar models of successful collaboration with China and India at Berkeley Lab, to help Mexico make lasting progress in the areas of policy development, scientific exchange, capacity building and implementation of energy efficiency programs. We supply the data to enable both the U.S. and Mexico understand the implications of energy decisions and energy impacts.
Already the second-largest Latin American economy, Mexico is the major regional leader in the area. Over the years, Berkeley Lab has forged a solid partnership with Mexico’s National Commission for the Efficient Use of Energy (CONUEE) to collaborate in the development of energy efficiency regulations and in the evaluation of related economic and environmental impacts. The Mexico Energy Initiative seeks to expand its engagement with key actors in the public, private and academic sectors and leverage California’s role as a national and global leader in clean technology investment and policy development to further energy efficiency uptake in Mexico.
Follow the Mexico program on Twitter @lbnl_mexico
Projects
U.S. Supports Mexico to reach energy goals
The Mexican Energy Pathways Initiative / Iniciativa Rutas Energéticas Mexicanas (MEPI/IREM) is a collaborative, multidisciplinary, and multisector effort to improve and expand the data and analysis needed by decision makers and researchers in Mexico and abroad to enable Mexico to more rapidly and effectively meet its clean energy goals.
As a global leader in the field with a long history of collaboration with Mexico, Berkeley Lab is well positioned to serve as a focal point for clean energy research. Through collaboration with the Mexican government and academic and private sector institutions, Berkeley Lab's Mexico Energy Initiative leverages broad scientific and policy making expertise, particularly in core areas of policy development, scientific exchange, institutional capacity building and energy efficiency program implementation.
National emissions of greenhouse gases in Mexico under the baseline
scenario (BAU) and INDC mitigation unconditional goals, 2013-2030.
Source: Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) for Mexico
Points of Interaction
MEPI/IREM can impact Mexican clean energy data analysis and policy development through the following channels:
Research Approach
Berkeley Lab researchers are experts in developing highly tailored models to inform policymakers of the likely trajectory of energy demand, as well as models which reveal the best options for high impact energy reduction and decarbonization policies. Two of the primary models developed by Berkeley Lab are the China 2050 Demand Resources Energy Analysis Model (DREAM) covering energy use and production in China, and the Bottom Up Energy Analysis System (BUENAS), a global equipment efficiency model for buildings and industry. These models and others have provided policy makers across the globe with key insights that have helped to shape large scale clean energy policies and strategies including IPCC reports, China's 12th 5-year energy plan, pre-negotiations to the Paris Agreement, the Clean Energy Ministerial Initiative, and Global Energy Assessment, among others.
a large, rapidly developing economy like Mexico.
Research Topics
The following is a small selection of the wide variety of studies that are possible within MEPI/IREM:
Mexican Partner Institutions
Berkeley Lab's Mexico Energy Group Cooling Initiative
Work on Berkeley Lab's Cooling Initiative for Mexico is funded by US AID and the Kigali Cooling Efficiency Program, with the goal of lowering emissions while also stimulating our economy and ensuring our energy security.
Berkeley Lab Mexico Energy Initiative (MEI) analysis finds that space cooling (air conditioning) in Mexico accounts for:
- Summer electricity use increase of 30%
- Nine percent of total electricity consumption
- Peak electricity demand of 7.5 GW
- Over $US 3 billion per year in energy bills and subsidies
- 10 million metric tons of CO2
- Peak demand not well correlated to renewable resources
Most importantly, cooling energy use is projected to double by 2030 and increase by a factor of 3.5 by 2050, in line with global trends. Because of this, some activities are emerging around cooling worldwide and for Mexico in particular. In 2017 alone:
- SENER announced a Mexico-Roadmap for Building Energy Codes and Standards in collaboration with the International Energy Agency and other partners.
- The Kigali Cooling Efficiency Program (K-CEP) announced support for energy efficiency transition and HFC refrigerant phase-down in Mexico, in partnership with Berkeley Lab and UNDP.
- Mexico's Sustainable Energy Fund (FSE) launched a 10 million dollar research initiative on Buildings Energy Efficiency in collaboration with the University of California.
Considering the importance of cooling to Mexico's energy system, as well as the tools to mitigate it (e.g. equipment efficiency and advanced construction), MEI partnered with USAID, SENER and CONUEE on a Summit on Space Cooling Research Needs and Opportunities in Mexico held in Mexico City in February 2018. In this unique event, participants from Mexican federal and state governments, researchers, industry and NGOs discussed opportunities, barriers and solutions to lowering cooling energy consumption through six main areas of practice (equipment standards, voluntary adoption programs, technology R&D, building codes, cool surfaces and advanced building design and operation). These discussions set the stage for a Mexico Cooling Initiative with goals to cut cooling energy demand by half versus Business-As-Usual and save 100 billion dollars of electricity costs and subsidies by 2050.
Within the framework of the Mexico Cooling Initiative, Berkeley Lab proposes work in close coordination with SENER, CONUEE and other government agencies, as well as research institutions in Mexico and the U.S. and a wide array of private sector and civil society organizations in an integrated and coordinated strategy to meet these ambitious goals. The following main components are drawn from the Summit and ongoing dialog within the Mexico Cooling community:
Components of Mexico Cooling Initiative
Research and Development
Basic research projects driving achievement of initiative goals through development of novel technologies scaling already-commercialized ones through a program of lab experiments, field testing and market and policy analysis, within a National Center on Human Thermal Comfort, as well as in collaboration with other institutions.
Program Implementation and Capacity Building
- Market Transformation — Comprehensive, integrated strategies to increase penetration of high-efficiency equipment and buildings, including innovative financing and incentive programs, bulk purchasing and voluntary industry agreements.
- Refrigerant Transition Coordination — Efficiency technologies and policies with HFC phase-down (through K-CEP and other programs) and other refrigeration technologies.
- Enterprise Kick starting — Technical support and startup financing to incubate home-grown manufacturing and installation of efficient equipment and building materials.
- Outreach, Education and Training — Information and education campaigns to inform end users, technicians, builders and local governments about the benefits of high-efficiency equipment and buildings, including on-site events, social media and mobile apps. Training programs for technicians, architects, engineers and builders.
- Building Code Implementation — Development piloting and implementation of strategies to scale adoption and enforcement of building energy codes (NOM-008 and NOM-020) by sub-national governments.
- Policy Evaluation — Elevation of cooling energy efficiency as a policy priority in Mexico's energy and climate strategy. Evaluation, monitoring and verification to ensure program integrity and quantify impacts.
Organization and Coordination
- Initiative Coordination — Secretariat to manage, coordinate and seek synergy between projects and programs across multiple stakeholders and funding sources.
- Community of Practice — Ongoing networking, outreach and convening platform including website, social media and newsletter / blogs to facilitate collaborative engagement throughout the initiative.
Important Links
- Sonora Workshop Cooling Initiative Presentation: https://mexico-cooling.lbl.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/38/2019/03/Mexico-Cooling-Initiative-Sonora-Presentation-2019.pdf
- Mexico Cooling Initiative: mexico.lbl.gov/sites/default/files/mexico-cooling-initiative.pdf
- Mexico Cooling Fact Book: mexico.lbl.gov/sites/default/files/mexico-cooling-factbook.pdf
Documents
Partners and Sponsors
Partners
- Mexico's Ministry of Energy (SENER)
- National Commission for the Efficient Use of Energy (CONUEE)
- National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT)
- CONACYT-SENER Energy Sustainability Fund
- California Energy Commission
- National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)
- Institute for Renewable Energies (IER-UNAM)
- National Institute for Electricity and Clean Energies (INEEL)
- Mario Molina Center
- Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (Tec de Monterrey)
- Iniciativa Climatica de Mexico (ICM)
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
