Emission Inventory Development and Future Pathways for Mexico’s Energy Sector

Abstract:

Energy reform in Mexico in 2013 catalyzed transformational changes in the country’s energy sector. Characterization of emission sources along the border and within Mexico and air quality modeling that includes Mexico within its spatial domain are recognized as essential for air quality planning and management in Texas and at a national scale in the United States. As in the United States which has experienced profound changes in the energy sector, transitions in Mexico’s energy sector have the potential to transform the magnitude and spatial distribution of emissions. This work presents a bottom-up assessment of emissions at the spatial scale of individual sources for the upstream and midstream oil and gas sectors and electric power sector in Mexico for the specific purpose of supporting future air quality modeling applications. Emission sources include onshore and offshore oil and gas exploration and production well sites, well flaring, natural gas compressor stations, natural gas processing plants, and electricity generating units. Emissions estimates have been developed for 2016, the base year of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Collaborative Emissions Modeling Platform. Effects of the 2016 emissions estimates for Mexico’s energy sector as well as potential changes in emissions associated with future development pathways on air quality within Mexico and the United States are being examined using the Comprehensive Air Quality Model with Extensions (CAMx).