Mexico Tries to Float Big Dams to Meet Renewables Goal
by Eliza Barclay, Nomad on 09. 6.07
Renewable energy has been low on the totem pole of priorities in Mexico, particularly because the nation remains an important oil-producer and relies on fossil fuels for 85 percent of its energy consumption. But Alfredo Elías Ayub, the head of Mexico's Federal Electricity Commission, or CFE, recently announced that country would increase its mix of renewables by 23 percent (up from 2 percent of the current mix) by the end of the current administration in 2012. There's a catch, however. The CFE wants to count its 53 big hydroelectric projects and a few others under construction as renewable energy.
Renewable energy advocates have pointed out that this is a questionable strategy. Until now, Mexico's big hydro projects have not been counted as renewable source of energy. And according to Ivan Zea, an analyst with Cambridge Energy Research Associates, nobody in the international renewable energy community counts big hydro because of its environmental impact.
Instead, renewable sources are generally defined as wind, geothermal, biogas, solar and micro and mini-hydro. Mini hydro is considered to be between five and 30 megawatts, while micro is 5 megawatts or less.
More big dams, however, are still a preferable alternative to building more oil refineries. But the CFE should also focus on Mexico's biggest opportunity to expand renewable energy sources: wind energy. There is already a plan to add 2,000 megawatts of wind by 2014, much of it in the southern state of Oaxaca, which has some of the greatest wind potential in all of Latin America. :: Via Mural (Spanish link and subscription required)
If water coming from the bottom of any dam still has some above ocean level altitude, the water could be used to run free hydro current devices and produce additional power. Also, free hydro current devices could be placed before the water flowing into a dam (at an altitude higher than the top of the dam) to generate an additional source of power.
In this manner, the additional electricity produced by the free current hydro generators might be able to save water in the dam so that it would be available during time of drought. The dam itself would act as the power back up or energy storage unit.
By using the dam for power storage in this way, wind, solar, tidal current and other intermittent power generation might be better utilized.
adrianakau@aol.com
if they're increasing their current 2% by 23%, that only equates to 2.46%... is this what you're trying to say?
If I understand the 'newthink, the wind turbines, the solar collectors, the generators used to make electric power, are all somehow just brought into existance with out expending any power? How does the copper for wire wound armatures get converted to wire? Let alone get refined from the earth mining process? Iron for the armature core? Steel for the millions of precision bearings that allow the high tensile shafts to spin in the slightest breeze. Engineers understand the machining processes for each of these modern wonders to materialize. Each 75 foot long precision blade for the massive wind turbines, made from hi-tensile alloys, just magically happen? The transportation of these components and raw materials is done by what force? Do you know what it takes to build a tractor to farm the corn, let alone the energy and technology to convert it to ethanol? Engineers, of which we are in short supply, understand each of these processes extremely well, where the consuming public has absolutely no idea how the infrastructure of society functions. Believe me, all of this takes massive amounts of energy and Mega Hydro has 'economy of scale' to prove it's value. Stay in school, study the 'Hard Sciences', then go to work and improve our society. The future needs you.