Abstract
The residential, commercial, and public sectors consume between 20% and 30% of final energy demand worldwide. Due to the intensive use of fossil fuels and conventional electricity, they also have an important participation in the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG). Taking Mexico as a case study, this article develops an alternative scenario that considers that in these sectors, buildings can generate energy for self-consumption or to supply it to the power network—for which four solar energy options are analyzed. In addition, to manage and rationalize the energy demand of these buildings, eight energy efficiency measures are studied. These options were selected on the basis that they are technically and economically feasible to implement in buildings in Mexico. The results reveal that by 2030, in relation to the GHG trend scenario, this mitigation scenario reduces 23.5 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) in the residential (19 MtCO2e), commercial (2.6 MtCO2e), and public services sectors (1.9 MtCO2e), while by 2035 it reaches 45 MtCO2e; which far exceed the avoided emissions goals established in Mexico’s nationally determined contributions (NDC) for 2030 (5 MtCO2e) for the residential and commercial sectors. Therefore, it is possible to increase the ambition for mitigation in these sectors, as well as including the public sector, in a renewed Mexico’s NDC. This mitigation scenario generates a total economic benefit of $7.7 billion, which means that it does not generate an overall incremental cost, but requires an incremental investment of over $9 billion USD, which is a financing challenge to achieve this scenario.
Highlights
This article considers that a building can generate energy for self-consumption or to supply it to the power network, through options that reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from conventional systems
By installing an interconnected photovoltaic system (IPVS) on a building roof, it is possible to avoid a certain amount of the electricity that is supplied to the building from the power network, and that is generated within power plants that burn fossil fuels and produce significant amounts of GHG emissions
From this point of view, these measures are analyzed in this article as comparable and relevant measures for the fight against climate change, and that can empower the users of buildings, especially since these measures can be implemented in parallel
Summary
This article considers that a building can generate energy for self-consumption or to supply it to the power network, through options that reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from conventional systems. In a conceptual way, certain measures can develop an energy supply for buildings, while others can rationalize and manage the demand for energy consumed within buildings, but in the same way, both reduce GHG emissions. From this point of view, these measures are analyzed in this article as comparable and relevant measures for the fight against climate change, and that can empower the users of buildings, especially since these measures can be implemented in parallel. The residential, commercial, and public services sectors (RCPS), as a whole, have one of the highest final energy consumption in the world, and in turn, are those that directly satisfies the basic needs of the Energies 2020, 13, 5601; doi:10.3390/en13215601 www.mdpi.com/journal/energies
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