The government of Quintana Roo has expressed interest in joining the project to expand the Mayakán Gas Pipeline, which crosses the southeastern states. Led by the French company Engie, the proposal envisages more than 700 kilometers of pipeline in order to meet the growing demand for electricity in the region. However, it faces criticism for not considering environmental consequences or exploring more sustainable alternatives.
In August, the governor of Quintana Roo, Mara Lezama Espinosa, met with representatives of the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) to discuss the possibility of including the state in the gas pipeline project that crosses Chiapas, Campeche, Tabasco and Yucatán. For this incorporation to be viable, it is essential to carry out an Environmental Impact Statement (MIA), an environmental risk study and an accident prevention program.
Quintana Roo faces a paradox: it is the state with the lowest energy production in the Yucatan Peninsula, with 0.04% of the national total, but its energy consumption is significant due to the boom in tourism and economic expansion.
According to the State's Transverse Energy Program for 2020, the entity's per capita electricity consumption (in megawatt-hours per person) represents 2.12% of national consumption, higher than that of Campeche (0.63%) and Yucatán (1.65%), underlining its dependence on external sources to meet its growing demand.
Although the state government suggests that the solution is to import more natural gas, Dr. Jesús Antonio del Río, an expert in renewable energy, warns that this is not the best option in terms of sustainability and the environment.
Del Rio questions the logic of investing in fossil fuel infrastructure, particularly natural gas.
“It's simply meaningless to invest the money of the entire Mexican population in non-renewable sources. Gas was—and although some people say it's still a transition energy source—less dirty than fuel, that's true, it's less dirty, like that, in those words: less dirty than fuel and also less dirty than coal; but it's not clean at all,” said Del Rio.
According to a 2017 study published in the journal Nature Energy, solar energy has a lower carbon footprint than other sources: six grams of carbon dioxide per kilowatt-hour compared to 78 grams of natural gas. This shows that solar energy is a cleaner option for the region.
Environmental Impact
The Mayakán Gas Pipeline expansion project envisages a seven-year construction phase; 30 years of operation and maintenance; and five years until its closure, according to its MIA with log number 09/DLA0265/12/21.
If proper maintenance is performed, the lifespan of the project could be extended up to 60 years. However, environmental impacts, such as leaks and emissions related to their maintenance, could have long-term consequences that have not yet been fully evaluated.
Natural gas leaks are harmful. Despite its “natural” name, this gas is harmful to the environment. Its main component, methane, has a heat absorption capacity 80 times greater than carbon dioxide, accelerating global warming and aggravating climate change.
Energy-related methane gas emissions in Mexico according to the 2019 National Inventory of Greenhouse Gas and Compound Emissions (Inegycei) were 736.63 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, of which 21% is methane. This places the country in tenth position among methane gas emitters, according to the International Energy Agency.
“As environmental benefits, the Mayakán Energy Expansion project will prevent the emission of 4.6 million tons of CO2 equivalent in Yucatán, which is equivalent to taking 185,404 vehicles out of circulation per year,” says the company Engie for Causa Natura.
However, the preliminary results of Inegycei show that emissions are growing in our country and the sector that contributes the most is energy, with 64%, mainly due to the consumption of fossil fuels. The expansion of the gas pipeline would add to this increase.
Natural Gas Route
The natural gas route to the Yucatan Peninsula encompasses several interconnected projects, explains Arturo Carranza, director of energy projects at the consulting firm AXA Advisors. Natural gas is transported from Texas to Veracruz through an undersea gas pipeline operated by Canadian company TC Energy. From Veracruz, an extension known as the Gateway to the Southeast is being built, which will connect the gas pipeline to Ciudad Pemex, in Macuspana, Tabasco.
In addition, the extension of the Mayacán Gas Pipeline is being developed from Ciudad Pemex, by the French company Engie and the investment fund McGuire, which will transport natural gas from Texas to Valladolid in the peninsula.
Finally, in the long term, it is planned to include Quintana Roo in this expansion.
This system, Carranza clarifies, aims to take advantage of low natural gas prices in Texas to generate the necessary electrical energy to meet the growing demand in the peninsula, especially in the tourism sector and in the new combined cycle power plants that are being built in the region.
Gas pipelines involved in transporting natural gas from Texas to Yucatán. Image obtained from the presentation at the “Morning Conference of the Presidency of the Republic” on Monday, January 30, 2023.
Distributed Generation
An alternative to fossil fuels is for homes and businesses to sell energy generated from renewable sources to the CFE, a practice known as “distributed generation”. Although it's already legal in Mexico, it faces regulatory and economic challenges.
According to Del Rio, who has been doing this practice for 12 years, which would decentralize the energy system and also reduce dependence on polluting sources.
“I can go to the CFE and say 'I'll sell you my energy' and they pay for it. Or in the contract I have it says that if I produce more, CFE uses it and at night it returns it to me, and it takes stock of how much I put in, how much I got”, he concludes.
On the other hand, the director of energy projects has defended the gas pipeline as an immediate solution to the growing energy demand in the Southeast, where tourism and economic development have boosted energy consumption.
According to Carranza, natural gas is more efficient and less polluting than oil and coal, making it a viable alternative for maintaining energy stability in the peninsula. “It's a transition energy, but it's not exempt from environmental impacts,” he acknowledges.
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