This Tuesday I went to my first Clean TX Power Lunch at Austin’s Chamber of Commerce. The event ran from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM, featuring Jorge R. Piñon from the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy and UT Austin. Piñon did a great job running through Mexico’s rapidly evolving energy sector.
It was interesting to learn that natural gas imports in Mexico have doubled in the past ten years. The fact that natural gas prices have, in contrast, gone down has helped Mexico deal with this financially to some degree. However, the country’s increase in energy demand still results in a $1 billion negative impact on the nation’s chequebook, annually.
Piñon pointed out that, in reality, Mexico ranks 8th out of all the countries with technically recoverable shale oil resources, and 6th for shale gas resources. So why isn’t the nation producing more instead of importing from the US Gulf Coast? I liked the way Piñon put it: “Mexico knows where the treasure chest is, but they don’t have a shovel.” The challenge for Mexico is not the resource base, rather it’s the lack of a development model and the appropriate technology for its monetization.
The nation is working to change this situation. Piñon is sharp to point out that these reforms are not an overnight process with immediate results. He estimates that the development of this new energy strategy will have a five to ten year stretch, requiring a healthy sense of patience.
So where does clean energy fit into the picture? That’s just what I was thinking as another Power Lunch attendee raised the question. Frankly, renewables are not Mexico’s main priority, simply considering their monetary return in comparison to that of hydrocarbons. However, the nation does not plan to lose sight of renewables, according to Piñon. If anything the energy reform should give renewables a tailwind to ride.
In response to another question from the audience, Piñon clarified that contrary to what some might think Mexico’s environmental legislation is in fact existent. The real question is whether these regulations are being implemented or executed accordingly. I’d say that the role of clean energy is definitely worth bringing to the table as we further discuss Mexico’s energy future.
Katherine Portilla 
I was also very surprised that clean energy hardly made it into the discussion, considering the audience and event host. Even if renewable energy is not making a big splash in Mexico, it would be very interesting to better understand why and how that can change with energy reform.
Overall a very entertaining and worthwhile lecture, but disappointing that solar was mentioned less than twice.