A bill pending in the Mexican Senate aims to boost alternative energy in this fossil-fuel-rich country by creating a renewables portfolio standard and other tools. Until now, clean-energy efforts have stalled at least in part on account of the many permits needed, a lack of accessible transmission lines and a dearth of incentives, according to experts at a U.S.-Mexico energy conference held here last month. The new legislation would create a US$55 million fund and other initiatives aimed at boosting renewable energy sources—specifically solar, wind, biomass, methane and small hydro—so they account for 12% of the country’s power generation by 2012. “We have been working to remove the barriers in the growth of wind energy,” says Oscar Galindo... [Log in to read more]