The availability of energy at reasonable cost is central to the stability, well being, and economic development of any region. The use of energy invariably carries with it environmental consequences such as air pollution, degradation of water quality, and toxic waste disposal.
The complex relation between energy use and the environment is even more complicated in international border regions. The physical environment does not respect political boundaries. In most cases inhabitants of the border region share the same airshed, as well as the same water supplies. Industrial and commercial operations on one side of the border can and do have environmental consequences on the other side of the border. For example, smelting operations, which require large amounts of energy, have contributed to degraded air quality in the U.S.-Mexican border region. (1 ) A similar and even worse example occurs in the Russian-Finish border region near the Russian city of Nikel. (2)
To examine how energy use affects the environment, it is necessary to look more closely at the energy sector itself. The energy sector may be divided into three areas. First, there is the extraction and processing of the energy resource. This entails exploration and recovery of the principal primary fuels: petroleum, natural gas, coal, and uranium. Following recovery, petroleum is refined to produce gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, heating oil, liquid petroleum gas, etc. Natural gas and coal generally undergo very little processing and are used mostly as recovered. Uranium is processed to produce enriched fuel for use in nuclear reactors. Each of the primary fuels can be used to generate electricity. In addition to the primary fields, hydro-generated electricity contributes to the energy supply in the United States and Mexico, as do geothermal energy, solar, wind, and wood.
Second, a distribution system is required to transport the fuel or electricity from the point of production to the point of use. This requires pipelines, electrical transmission lines, roads, and rail systems. Third is the consumption sector where energy is used for a given purpose. Energy in the form of heat, obtained by the direct combustion of fossil fuels, is used mostly for industrial processes, space heating, and cooking. In the form of electricity, energy is used for lighting, space heating, communications, and all electronic devices. Fuels in the transportation sector are, for the most part, derived from petroleum.
At each step in the energy cycle, there are impacts on the environment. Drilling for oil and gas obviously has consequences for the surrounding land, or water, in the case of offshore drilling. Extraction of coal impacts the land and may contaminate underground water tables. Mining and milling of uranium ore produce large quantities of radioactive materials which must be dealt with.
Useful work is obtained from energy resources by converting the energy from one form to another. Heat, for example, which is used to warm buildings or generate high temperature steam to produce electricity, results from combustion of fossil fuels. The combustion process releases CO2, NOx, SO2, particulates, and other pollutants into the atmosphere, depending on the fuel. (3 ) Even when renewable energy resources are used, such as wind, solar, and geothermal, there are consequences for the environment. For example, the manufacture of photovoltaic cells (solar cells) requires the use of potentially harmful chemicals and the exploitation of geothermal wells can have negative consequences for the surrounding land.
The main point to be made here is that any energy resource, when used to produce useful work, will invariably impact the physical and biological environment. The task of energy planning, as is the goal of energy policies, is to determine the most rational mix of energy resources that have the least impact on the environment and are the most economical for a given region. With this in mind, an examination of energy use in the U.S.-Mexican border region follows, focusing on the California-Baja California portion of the border.
Some of the relevant agencies that regulate the energy sector in the United States are the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the Department of Energy (DOE), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NCR), and individual state public utilities commissions that set electric and natural gas rates. In California, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the California Energy Commission (CEC) are the principal agencies charged with regulating the energy sector. At the local level, city and county jurisdictions may have to grant approval for energy related construction such as gas pipelines and power transmission lines. In San Diego, planning agencies such as the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) also play an important role in long-range energy planning.
The Mexican energy sector is structured very differently from that of the United States. The production, distribution, and management of energy supplies in Mexico is under control of the federal government. The Secretaría de Energía, Minas e Industria Paraestatal (SEMIP) is the key government ministry responsible for formulating energy policies. SEMIP has direct oversight of the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE, the national electric utility), Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX, the state-run oil monopoly), the Comisión Nacional para el Ahorro de Energía (CONAE, the national energy conservation commission), and several energy related research institutes. Currently, there are no large-scale energy related activities within the private sector. This situation may change in the future with the implementation of NAFTA, as well as trends underway within Mexico to diminish the federal government's role in the energy sector. (4)
Energy consumption by source for 1992 for the United States is shown in Figure 1.1. Fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, and coal) dominate the energy mix, accounting for 88% of energy consumption; hydro and nuclear generated electricity, plus a small amount of other sources (solar, geothermal, wind, and others), account for the rest. (5) The United States imported 40% of its oil, including 827,000 barrels a day from Mexico, which accounted for 10.5% of total petroleum imports. (6 ) Almost 70% of petroleum was used in the transportation sector, and coal accounted for 55% of the electricity generated. Total energy consumption in 1992 was 82.36 quadrillion British Thermal Units (Btu), an increase of 1.5% from the previous year. Energy consumption per capita was 322 million Btu. (7) California had the second highest energy consumption, after Texas, but ranked 44th in energy use per capita, indicating that the California energy sector is quite efficient relative to other states.
Coal was the principal fuel used in the generation of electricity in 1992, accounting for 55%, followed by nuclear, hydro, natural gas, and oil, with geothermal and solar making a very small contribution. Nuclear power accounted for over one-fifth of the U.S. electric supply and surpassed both hydro and natural gas as a source of electricity, as shown in Figure 1.2. Total U.S. power generation in 1992 was 2,796 billion kilowatt-hours, or 11,184 kilowatt-hours per capita. (8)
Although a net importer of energy, the United States exported 103 million short tons of coal in 1992 mostly to Europe, Canada, Japan, and Brazil. (9 ) The United States is also a major supplier of petroleum products to Mexico, mostly unleaded gasoline.
Mexico is an energy rich country, currently producing more energy than it consumes. Mexico's energy resources, however, are unevenly distributed with most of the oil and gas producing regions located in the eastern, southeastern, and Gulf of Mexico regions of the country. Baja California lacks any known fossil fuel reserves and the only presently exploited indigenous energy source is the geothermal fields located at Cerro Prieto, south of Mexicali.
Mexico's energy mix is much more dependent on petroleum than the United States. In 1991, 73% of energy produced came from petroleum (about 50% of which was exported), 17% from natural gas, 3% from hydro, 4% from biomass, 2% from coal, and 1% from geothermal and nuclear energy, as seen in Figure 1.3 (10). Mexico is, of course, an oil exporter. During the first seven months of 1993, PEMEX exported 1.33 million barrels per day (MBPD) of crude oil, about 64% of that to the United States, 15.3% to Spain, 4.9% to the Far East, and 15.8% to other markets. (11) For 1991 and 1992, Mexican exports averaged about 1.37 million barrels a day, representing about 50% of total production. (12)
In addition to petroleum, Mexico is a large producer and consumer of natural gas and has vast proven reserves, approximately 73 trillion cubic feet. (13) Mexico is both an exporter and importer of natural gas to and from the United States. In the first three months of 1993, for example, Mexico imported more than 300 MMcfd (million cubic feet per day), but by August 1993, that amount dropped to about 70 MMcfd. By the end of 1993, Mexico had become a net exporter of gas to the United States. (14)
In the electric sector, fuel input consists of oil, hydro, natural gas, coal, geothermal, and nuclear power. Figure 1.4 shows that in 1990, oil accounted for 54%, hydroelectric 20%, natural gas 12%, coal 6%, geothermal 4%, and nuclear 3%. (15) In addition to the 25,2989 MW of installed capacity owned by CFE in 1990, Mexico also had about 3,000 MW of industrial cogeneration. (16)
The demand for electricity has been growing at a much higher rate in Mexico than in the United States. From 1960 to 1990, installed capacity grew by a factor of 10, with an average annual growth rate for of 8.3%. During the 1980s, however, the growth rate for installed capacity dropped to 5.6%, while the demand for electricity grew at close to 7% per year. (17) The northern border states experienced an annual growth rate of 2.7% higher than the national rate, making it the region with the largest fraction of total electricity use. (18) This very high demand for electricity in the northern border states has a direct impact on the environment in the border region.
Consumption of energy by sector in Mexico for 1991 is shown in Figure 1.5. The transportation sector consumes the largest fraction of energy, 40%, followed by the industrial and residential/commercial sectors. (19) For the United States, in 1992, the largest consumer of energy was the industrial sector, that accounted for 37% of total energy consumption. The residential/commercial sectors used 35% and transportation used 27%. (20)
Part 2: California-Baja California Border Region
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Last updated 5/6/99