BIOMASS ENERGY POTENTIAL AND RESEARCH INVESTMENT IN MEXICO

Renewable energy in 2011 supplied about 19 % of the global final energy consumption and 9.7% came from modern renewable energy. Particularly, biomass energy accounted for approximately 9.3% of total final energy. Oil production in Mexico has begun to decrease, as the Cantarell oil field production declines. The aim of this study is to show Mexico's bioenergy potential and its research investment by analyzing available reports, data bases and different sources of information. Mexico produced 219.5 million tons of oil equivalent energy during 2011. An estimated 88.69 % came from fossil fuels, 6.98 % from renewable sources, 3.17 % from charcoal and the remaining 1.16 % from nuclear sources. Biomass energy generation represents 54.3 % of renewable energy sources use. In Mexico, there were 59 reported operating projects for co-generation and power supply in 2012. Biomass power has installed capacity of 548 MW in operation from biogas and sugar cane bagasse biomass. A potential production of bioenergy is estimated between 2,635-3,771 PJ/year. Research investment in bioenergy in Mexico has been increasing during the last years. The summation of each year's approved budget during this period was 78.3 million USD.