Persistent Challenges Carry Into 2022

An energy market characterized by uncertainty has hindered substantial progress in energy efficiency and, consequently, a reduced carbon footprint. These concerns will remain important challenges in 2022 in the context of increasingly common extreme weather events.

Industry leaders reflect on meeting growing energy demand, a changing market and the energy reform’s impact on the environment. In international news, scientists from Singapore University created a smart window capable of adapting to ambient temperatures.

Here is your weekly Energy briefing:

Mexico

CFE to Modernize Mexico City Subway

The state company will be in charge of improving the electrical efficiency of the subway, which will mainly benefit Lines 1, 2 and 3.

Industry Trends

Managing Both Sides of the Industry’s Local Content Development

Alma del Toro, Founder, Blue Bull Energy, explained how her team works with both national suppliers and the large entities that contract them to support the industry’s future.

“Many Mexican oil and gas companies had no previous experience working with [ the new] type of contracts and with global international corporations, so an institutional and mindset adjustment was necessary,” said del Toro.

New Priorities for Turbomachinery Contractors

Fernando López, CEO, TFS, delved into the history of his company’s growth and development as the turbomachinery market continues to change.

“We continue to grow in Mexico and Latin America through private and public sector relationships. The presence of private operators in the energy sector has an older history in South American countries and we continue to work with them, from power generation to gas compression,” said López.

How Can an Executive Order Kill a Legal Environmental Framework?

The Presidential Agreement to label public works as matters of national security will undermine impact assessments, wrote Mexican College of Biologists' Jesús Pablo-Dorantes.

“Arguing the public interest and homeland security as a mechanism to evade proper planning of projects is an act that potentially threatens biodiversity and environmental management, crimes set forth in the Federal Criminal Code,” said Pablo-Dorantes.

Traffic Jams Are Back. How Should Policymakers Deal with Them?

Congestion pricing, which puts the tax onus on car owners, is one way to reduce traffic congestion, writes Gabriel Cerdio, CIO, AINDA Energía & Infraestructura.

“[Traffic congestion] cost in Mexico is estimated to reach US$4.5 billion annually. This does not include fuel waste or health-related costs, such as stress or breathing ailments” said Cerdio.

International

Self-adapting Glass Technology Could Cut Power Bills

An international team of scientists based in Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (NTU) have created a highly energy-efficient “smart window” capable of adapting to light in order to regulate ambient temperatures.