Energy consumption, towards a sustainable future
Although there are sources whose generation and consumption of electricity do not affect the environment, it is important to be aware of those that do.
Enel’s electricity generation plant
Nowadays we’re living on the hyperconnected world. Cellphones, WiFi, Cloud Storage, countless digital services… How far are we from cave paintings! Even though evolution has had a positive impact in the world, generation of electricity is on demand. In fact, energy consumption is indispensable to our quality of life.
Companies, individuals, and any organization require an electrical source to develop on a daily basis. However, have we ever asked ourselves, where does the energy we use every day come from? What impact does its generation have on the planet? Here is an overview of the issue at hand:
Does electric energy generate pollutants?
The immediate answer is not all of it. Those that burn fossil fuels are. In fact, polluting particles from 3 main agents are found in the atmosphere. Here we list them:
Sulfur oxides (SOx): produced in the burning of coal and oil or their derivatives.
Carbon monoxide (CO): generated in the burning of fuels such as natural gas, propane gas, gasoline, oil, kerosene, wood or coal.
Nitrogen oxides (NOx): derived from the combustion process present in the generation of electricity, internal combustion vehicles and heating production.
How does electric energy production cause pollution?
Let's get a little chemical: the mixture between NOx and SOx produces very powerful acids. What do you think happens if we take this mixture to a humid environment like the sky? Exactly, we give place to acid rains that affect an endless number of rivers, lakes, lagoons, dams, and with it, the vegetation that feeds on them. Watch out for the water disasters such as the current drought in the north of the country.
Besides the negative impact on the environment, air pollutants have great repercussions on health. In fact, constant exposure to these particles involves constant damage to the respiratory, cardiovascular, and urinary systems. As you can see, the generation and consumption of this type of electric energy affects more than we thought.
Electric energy and its pollution in Mexico
According to the Ministry of Energy (Sender), in the first 10 months of 2020, 75% of the energy used in Mexico came from the burning of fossil fuels (oil, coal and natural gas). To clarify this statistic, we must remember the 705 million 650 thousand tons of greenhouse gases emitted to the atmosphere in 2015 (latest study available from the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change).
Fortunately, the expectation to reduce such gases is quite strong, the key lies in the collaboration between public and private entities aimed towards green energy. Find out what this term is about and what efforts have been generated in the country in our other blog post.
Related posts