Energy, economic and emissions avoided contribution of domestic solar water heating systems for Mexico, Costa Rica and the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Garcı́a-Valladares, O.; Ituna-Yudonago, J.F.

doi:10.1016/j.seta.2020.100721

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Interestingly, the consumption of natural gas related to water heating is the most significant driver of GHG emissions in Isidro Fabela, with 1356 kg CO 2 eq (50%) (2169 kg CO 2 eq [40%] in Mexico City). Therefore, this finding agrees with past GHG assessments in residential buildings [35,49,50] that found that solar water heaters offer the best GHG mitigation potential in Mexico City [18,40,41,50]. The cold mornings in Mexico City increase the demand for hot water, which complicates the ability of families to save natural gas for daily showers.…”

Section: Life-cycle Assessment and Ghg Emissionssupporting

confidence: 88%

Revealing the Contribution of Informal Settlements to Climate Change Mitigation in Latin America: A Case Study of Isidro Fabela, Mexico City

Reyes

2021

Sustainability

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Given the implications of energy use in housing units for global warming, life cycle assessment (LCA) has been used to examine greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Although informal settlements, currently known as colonias populares, or barrios, house most of the urban population in Latin America, there is a poor understanding of how people in these communities use energy and contribute to GHG emissions. This investigation provides a comprehensive analysis of resource consumption in Mexico City’s colonia popular, including self-help housing, household energy consumption, and transportation. As there is no spatially specific data on energy use, the author conducted field research in the informal community of Isidro Fabela, founded in the 1960s. Isidro Fabela is an illuminating community that helps understand the energy use of informal settlements at advanced stages of urban consolidation. A mixed-method research approach served to collect empirical data through observations, household surveys, and in-depth interviews. Research sheds light on the efficient and sustainable ways in which families use energy, materials, and resources during self-help construction, and through their daily lives, in their community. The community-based LCA assessment finds that the contribution of Isidro Fabela to GHG emissions is 50% of the average impact in Mexico City. Natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) consumption for water heating is the most significant contributor to GHG emissions because families use inefficient heaters. Interestingly, by using public transportation and even walking, residents moderate the contribution of work commutes to GHG emissions. Therefore, climate change policy should enhance low-energy practices in informal settlements, by improving access to energy-efficient technologies and public transportation, to help families contribute further to GHG mitigation in Mexico City and elsewhere in Latin America.

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Section: Life-cycle Assessment and Ghg Emissionssupporting

confidence: 88%

Revealing the Contribution of Informal Settlements to Climate Change Mitigation in Latin America: A Case Study of Isidro Fabela, Mexico City

Reyes

2021

Sustainability

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“…The energy mix model sees households choose their energy sources through a portfolio or menu. The options of this portfolio or menu can be arranged either based on economic, cultural, and personal criteria [141]. Heltberg [127] emphasizes that the options of such portfolios or menus can be categorized because of their size, composition and diversification.…”

Section: Energy MIX Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most Mexican households use fuelwood and LPG simultaneously for maintaining their daily energy requirements. Some households even start using more traditional energy sources and cooking appliances not because of deterioration of their financial circumstances but because of the impact of cultural and personal factors [141]. All the aforementioned factors attest to the fact that the emergence of a new technologically advanced energy source, e.g., LPG, does not necessarily put an end to the usage of more conventional sources in households.…”

Section: Critique Of the Energy Ladder Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Overview of Household Energy Consumption and Carbon Dioxide Emissions in Iran

et al. 2020

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This review tends to obtain a deeper understanding of the methods used in household energy consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in Iran. Issues relating to energy consumption and CO2 emissions are very complex. This complexity arises from the fact that energy demand and energy consumption in Iran are influenced by many factors, such as income, household size, age, and gender. In Iran, the relevant energy sources mostly include liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and electricity, which are used for different sectors, such as transportation, industry, and residential. This overview looks at both the theories and empirical studies of household energy consumption and CO2 emissions in Iran. Since energy consumption typically results in air pollution, it is often used as an indicator of environmental degradation. Although Iran is recently faced to energy efficiency improvement from all sectors, household energy requirements have been significantly increased. In Iran, a prime motivator had been improving living standards. As Iran gradually turns into a consumer society, households have an enormous influence on the direct use of energy and related CO2 emissions as well as through indirect use, as embodied in goods and services. The findings of this study can help policymakers to focus on renewable energy projects in order to reduce energy consumption and mitigate CO2 emissions.

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“…For example, Lama et al estimated the job opportunities, the contribution of local entities, and the transfer of knowledge and skills with financial support from Chinese enterprises for solar energy in Sub-Saharan Africa [ 27 ]. García-Valladares and Ituna-Yudonago assessed the carbon footprint and economic co-benefits from solar energy for water heating systems in residential buildings in Mexico, Costa Rica, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) [ 28 ]. Ren et al looked at using the hybrid PV-battery system in residential units, showing that the households would effectively contribute to the self-consumption of on-site electricity generation or improve grid load control by providing additional grid electrical peak demand while improving the air quality, energy security, and load reduction [ 29 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Environmental-Health-Economic Co-Benefits from Solar Electricity and Thermal Heating in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Farzaneh

Dashti

Zusman

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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This article quantifies the environmental, health, and economic co-benefits from the use of solar electricity and heat generation in the Ger area (a sub-district of traditional residences and private houses) in Ulaanbaatar (UB), Mongolia. The quantification of the featured co-benefits is based on calculating emissions reductions from the installation of the solar photovoltaic (PV) and solar water heaters. A user-friendly spreadsheet tool is developed to shed much-needed light on the steps involved in estimating these co-benefits. The tool simulates the hourly electricity and thermal energy generation, taking into account local meteorological conditions, local geographical data, and technical specifications of the solar power and heat generation systems. The tool is then employed to evaluate two intervention scenarios: (1) Installing 100 MW solar electricity, including both rooftop PV and community grids, to reduce the peak-load burden on the grid; (2) Providing solar thermal heaters for 20,000 households to replace the heating load demand from the existing heat only boilers (HOBs) in UB. The modelling results reveal a significant reduction in GHG emissions and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (PM that is 2.5 microns or less in diameter) by 311,000 tons and 767 tons, respectively, as well as nearly 6500 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and an annual saving of USD 7.7 million for the local economy. The article concludes that the mainstreaming spreadsheet-based estimation tools like the one used in this article into decision-making processes can fill important research gaps (e.g., usability of assessment tools) and help translate co-benefits analyses into action in Mongolia and beyond.

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Energy, economic and emissions avoided contribution of domestic solar water heating systems for Mexico, Costa Rica and the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Cited by 6 publications

References 25 publications

Revealing the Contribution of Informal Settlements to Climate Change Mitigation in Latin America: A Case Study of Isidro Fabela, Mexico City

Revealing the Contribution of Informal Settlements to Climate Change Mitigation in Latin America: A Case Study of Isidro Fabela, Mexico City

An Overview of Household Energy Consumption and Carbon Dioxide Emissions in Iran

Assessing the Environmental-Health-Economic Co-Benefits from Solar Electricity and Thermal Heating in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

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