Viviana Barquero

Viviana Barquero has recently achieved a full time professor position at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, the second most prestigious University in Mexico. She is working in the Engineering and Sciences Division developing projects on sustainable development and new urbanism. Her research currently focuses on smart and community energy communities which promote the adoption of sustainable energy strategies that enhance the relationship between energy and food production. She belongs to the Academic Observatory of the State of Guanajuato, where she promotes social innovation projects. She teaches Urban Theories and Design Methodologies at the School of Architecture and Design at the same University.

Graduation Date:  Summer 2016

Advisor:  Tim Finan, Ph.D.

Dissertation Title:  Livelihood Assessment for Rural Delicias Chihuahua as Means for Developing a Community Energy Model”

Abstract:

The electricity sector around the world is significantly changing towards the adoption of cleaner energy sources and its implementation through distributed generation technologies. The need to expand rural electrification to reduce energy poverty and the trends in decentralizing power generation are becoming major drivers of change. In Mexico, there are very few comprehensive studies on energy use and its impact on rural livelihoods. Energy studies in the development literature tend to analyze livelihoods that do not have access to modern energy services, and do not take into account that many rural communities, although connected to the grid, still may be considered energy poor.  This research presents findings of current livelihood conditions of three rural communities in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, in the context of livelihood diversification and energy poverty. This paper also presents a feasibility study for the development of a community energy model that will fulfill energy and vegetable intake requirements for each community analyzed.

Results show that these communities can potentially improve their livelihood conditions through the implementation of what this research calls a Community Integrated Sustainable Energy (CISE) model by reducing energy poverty and food insecurity.  By adopting a CISE model, communities will become healthier by becoming supporters of energy conservation and energy efficiency strategies. The adoption of this community energy model will also encourage climate change mitigation by increasing resilience to vulnerable communities through enhancing food and energy security.

The aim of this research is to inform stakeholders (including policy makers, urban planners, and community members themselves) of the current status of Chihuahua’s communities and to start a dialogue in Mexico about engaging in a community-led,  clean energy project that would generate electricity for those communities while preserving rural livelihoods.