More efforts are needed to boost development of clean energy in Mexico even though a lot has been done at the legislative level, an energy specialist in the Latin American country said on Monday.
"The government has done a lot at the legislative level, but the problem remains in Mexico that we are tied to the petroleum industry at the financial and economic level," Miguel Garcia Reyes from Mexico's National Polytechnic Institute told Xinhua in an interview.
Laws designed to promote green energy include the alternative energy sources development law and the energy investment development law which were passed in 2008.
Mexico's biggest anti-greenhouse-gas program, ProArbol, started in 2007. The government has disbursed 4 billion pesos (299 million U.S. dollars) to plant nearly 290 million trees, covering 1.75 million hectares of land.
However, "the government cannot cut back on oil consumption, because our economy depends on it," Garcia said. "Our economy will be oil-based and alternative energy will be very limited."
Around 40 percent of the government's budget comes from state-run oil firm Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) and a further 15 percent from state-run power producers the Federal Electricity Commission and Central Light and Power (LyFC).
Therefore, these firms will continue to be backed by the government, Garcia said.
Even so, Garcia said that the nation enjoyed ideal geographical conditions to exploit low-carbon energy alternatives.
"We have a lot of solar energy in the Caribbean and northern Mexico, and in (the states of) Oaxaca, Guerrero and Baja California we have areas which get a lot of wind. We also have beaches extending 11,000 km which could develop tidal energy," Garcia said.
He also identified biogas, produced from citizens' organic waste, as a potential energy for Mexico City, which produces 12,000 tons of city waste a year.
"We have the resources, what is missing is the political will," said the expert.
The country could also benefit from international cooperation in this regard. U.S. President Barack Obama has offered cooperation with Mexico in developing green technology, Garcia said.
"Obama is promoting green energy with a business twist," he said.
