Why I started a blog
Hello, my full name is Carlos Gabriel Aguiar Hernandez (I know! It is a long Latino name), but Carlos Aguiar H works. I’m from Empalme, Sonora, Mexico, a small city in northwest Mexico; some people contemptuously describe Empalme as a “pueblo bicicletero” (bike town), but I enjoyed every bike ride across its streets (most of the unpaved at that time) with my childhood friends; we also played soccer, baseball, basketball, and a few video games, mostly Nintendo and arcade. Growing up in Empalme gave me a certain degree of freedom and peace of mind for my parents. In the late 80s and early 90s, sustainability was not a common word around me; I knew about air and water pollution because you could see the emissions from a power plant on the road and because our parents prohibited drinking water from the hose at some point. Still, it wasn’t a big concern at the time.
No, I didn’t have an epiphany; it took years to learn about sustainability and the importance of energy for a more sustainable future. I did my bachelor’s degree in business administration and then started working for the Sonoran Institute of Educational Infrastructure, where I discovered the importance of energy efficiency. After a few years, I was invited to join the Energy Commission of the State of Sonora, and without knowing, I started my sustainable energy path. My role in this government agency was to promote and develop energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. I had to learn about energy, emissions, the electricity grid, power plants, power utilities, electrification, energy policies, regulations, etc. The more I learned, the more passionate I became. This passion made me attend Arizona State University College of Global Futures and graduate with a Sustainable Energy Ph.D.; this experience was outstanding in many ways. Grad school enhanced my perspective, redefined my goals, and improved my craft. Now I’m working for a local government again (I’m lucky!); I’m collaborating with the City of Phoenix Office of Sustainability to achieve its clean energy goals, transitioning to low-carbon energy sources and reducing energy consumption.
As you can see, sustainable energy appeals to me; I find it fascinating because we need energy to survive as humankind (cooking, cooling and heating buildings, transportation, manufacturing, agriculture, etc.). Still, at the same time, the energy sector is the most significant contributor to GHG emissions. Using the definition of sustainability from the UN World Commission on Environment and Development, sustainable energy meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, considering the energy sector’s environmental, economic, and social aspects. So sustainable energy is about reducing emissions from energy to leave a better environment for future generations; and improving social and economic factors around energy to reduce energy poverty (the lack of access to clean, reliable, and affordable energy) today and tomorrow.
Yes! You are right; this blog is about my perspectives on sustainable energy, specifically energy transitions, resilience, and access to affordable and clean energy. I will share information, research, opinions, and knowledge that I consider valuable to improve our path to a more sustainable future. My primary motivation for creating this blog is to engage and collaborate with the main conversations around these topics, conversations we must take to transition to low-carbon energy sources and a more just and resilient energy sector. This is my take on topics I care about, work on daily, and expect to work on for the rest of my career; I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
I will do my best to have at least one new blog post weekly, classifying them into four categories: energy transitions, resilience, access to affordable and clean energy, and others. The latter is for posts like this, where the information doesn’t match the other categories. Please remember that everything you read here is my opinion and doesn’t reflect the position of the organizations I collaborate with.
I invite you to explore, engage and collaborate with me.
Carlos