Smart energy planning for the decarbonization of Latin America and the Caribbean in 2050

Abstract

Latin America and the Caribbean is a region that has grown enormously in public policies and especially in the implementation of renewable energy generation plants, which is why it deserves to study its growth to provide long-term deep decarbonization routes. It has approximately 634 million inhabitants, and it is expected that by 2050 it will reach 784 million inhabitants, which worries researchers to establish a new model of energy supply in accordance with future demand. The concern does not end here, the new energy supply must be friendly to the environment and renewable energies are the appropriate option to avoid the increase in global temperature. The challenge of this research is to provide an adequate option for the decarbonization of Latin America and the Caribbean to achieve 100 % renewable energy by 2050. For this purpose, the energyPLAN tool is used, a flexible tool, very useful to transform large energy systems based on fossil fuels and achieve comprehensive 100 % renewable markets. Power systems are considered a challenging task and are widely studied around the world to avoid the great negative effects of altering the climate. Modeling the zero carbon energy system was implemented using the concept of smart energy. The combination shows that it is necessary to use a wide variety of energy sources and that no energy source more than 35 % stake, to increase energy security. The historic hydroelectric technology will continue to be an essential part of the Latin American energy mix. However, in 2050, the technologies that are destined to have the greatest participation will be wind turbines and solar photovoltaic with 32.7 % and 31 % respectively. Technologies with less participation such as renewable thermal and geothermal are also identified. Achieving a 100 % renewable energy mix by 2050 will prove to be economically beneficial. Based on the results obtained, it will be effective to achieve a 100 % renewable scenario when Latin America and the Caribbean form a solid regional alliance exclusive to fight for the environment and legislate favorably so that its member countries contemplate important budgets in a conscious, responsible and supportive way.