Abstract
In some urban areas in Mexico, the use of firewood and charcoal as fuel for meat grills in commercial establishments, has proliferated due to economic and cultural factors. Although this activity satisfies diverse human necessities, it also generates waste that impacts the environment to local and global scales. Such is the case of CO2 emissions produced by biomass burning in grills, whose sources are not recognized in municipal inventories of greenhouse effect gases (GEG) of the State of Veracruz. A theoretical estimation was made based in a census of establishments and an emission parameter, in order to establish a baseline on the amount of gas emitted to the atmosphere by commercial grills in Boca Del Río, Ver. It was concluded that 30 operating grills emit 134.56 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere, equivalent to the annual combustion of 59,016.43 L of gasoline. Hence, these grills must be considered as micro-fixed sources of GEG, which influence local marine acidification and global climate change. It is recommended that it should be included in municipal, state, and national inventories for subsequent professionalization and regulation.
Highlights
In Mexico, as it is worldwide, firewood and charcoal are traditional fuels used when preparing meals in rural and marginalized urban areas due to their low cost and availability [1]
Considering the above, the objective of the present study was to identify the different types of urban establishments that use forest biomass as fuel in the cooking of commercial meat foods as a micro-point source of greenhouse effect gases (GEG) emissions at municipal level, by determining the total magnitude of annual CO2 emissions produced by grills in Boca Del Río, Veracruz, through the theoretical determination of an emission factor, to establish a baseline for future research on urban emissions in micro sources of unrecognized CO2
We visited 30 establishments dedicated to a variety of commercial meat grills, characterized for using forest biomass as fuel and being located in the municipality of Boca del Río, Ver
Summary
In Mexico, as it is worldwide, firewood and charcoal are traditional fuels used when preparing meals in rural and marginalized urban areas due to their low cost and availability [1] These customs, energy qualities, and the supply of firewood without commercial value coming from degraded forest areas or forest waste [2] promoted its use as fuels in diverse businesses, among them, those that offer ready-to-eat foods. The consumption of meats from different animal origin is considered essential in the Mexican diet, that is why the modern urban offer of meat products aims to meet its weekly demand [4] Among these products, grilled meats in their different presentations are very popular [5], resulting in the proliferation of establishments that offer these products [6], additional to the domestic preparation and consumption option
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