Suchergebnisse

How should the strategies and regulations of the Mexican laws be designed in order to trigger a country to go from a non-sustainable energy economy towards a sustainable energy economy? This paper proposes a classroom debate of the reformed Law of Public Electricity Service in Mexico (LSPEE, 1992: Ley del Servicio Publico de Energia Electrica), which, in 1992, opened new opportunities for private investment in the Mexican utility industry. The legal reforms allow the private sector to invest, operate, and be owners of part of the public utility system in Mexico, mainly, for power generation. Evaluating the dilemmas of the past, students are encouraged to debate present and future reforms considering political, economic and financial frameworks with a sustainable development approach and to evaluate the role of foreign and private investment in public utilities around the world.

Environmental, political, and economic events seem to conspire simultaneously towards the objective to erase coal-fired power plants. The most important events are: the increase of environmental regulations, the surge of natural gas as a cleaner fuel, the operative costs, the aging and the efficiency issue of the coal-fired power plants. However, the decision of the U.S.A. Supreme Court, the 29th of June 2015, suspended the regulation proposals presented by the U.S.A. Environmental Protection Agency concerning the mercury emissions of coal-fired power plants. This decision caused debate and controversy. The main objective of the sustainable approach for electricity generation is to find the blending of fuels that decrease contamination. However, the contradiction of different events in the world poses the challenge to evaluate if the XXI Century will see the end of the coal era. Could the technological breakthroughs like the Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) and the development of other Clean Energy Technologies on Coal (CCT) stop this trend or, will the financial and environmental profitability of coal help it to remain in the energy mix?

The development of the Mexican rural sector is vital because it is the source of raw materials needed for production in the manufacturing sector. Thus, it is indeed important that its development follow that of the industrial sector. The main objective of the present research is to evaluate the growth of the rural sector during the presidential term of Felipe Calderon (2007-2012) and to discover the lights and shadows that revolve around this suffering sector of the Mexican economy. The analyzed statistical evidence shows an important lag and stagnation of the development of the rural sector since 1960 in Mexico. Additionally, a decrease in the contributions of the rural sector to the entire economic development in Mexico in 2012, compared to the one registered 33 years ago (in 1979), is considered. The statistical evidence supports the conclusion that the Mexican rural sector has not been able to show any progress, regardless of the noble governmental initiatives and efforts. Financial government resources should not only be directed to pay salaries and subsidies, but through a more effective leadership, the agricultural government agencies could try to increase investment in infrastructure, development, and application of new technologies set in the context of civic responsibility, ethics, and a sustainable development approach.

This case presents the financial, political, and ethical dilemmas faced by an entrepreneur from London. His company, Shell Company of the Sudan Limited (Shell Sudan), is an indirectly wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell that no longer has operations in Sudan as of December 2008. Meanwhile, the Chinese National Petroleum Company (CNPC) has increased its exploitation of African oil in Darfur, Sudan. This paper introduces the reader to the new face that the black gold is giving to Chinese Foreign Trade Policy. The aim of the paper is to raise the debate about the world leadership that the emerging economy of China will develop during the XXI Century.