![]() ![]() Livestock activity helps to maintain their colonies and even expand them.Īs mentioned earlier, prairie dogs are an important source of food for local wildlife. The results of these campaigns have been counterproductive, as it has recently been discovered that prairie dogs help keep grasslands free of woody plants, preventing their transformation from grassland to shrubland, due to the dispersal of seeds of plants such as mesquite by domestic cattle and other native herbivores, in addition to providing high-quality forage for domestic cattle during the winter. At the end of the 19th century, they were classified as a pest in the United States due to the false belief that they compete with domestic livestock for available forage, and as a result, the government of the neighboring country has spent millions of dollars in extermination campaigns, achieving their eradication in more than 98% of the area they historically occupied. These rodents are relatives of squirrels, form colonies where they live in family groups and have a complex system of communication among themselves. Within the native grasslands of Janos, we can find one of the largest assemblages of prairie dog colonies in North America, as well as the fauna associated with these peculiar rodents. In 1937, the area between Janos and the municipality of Ascensión was named a Wildlife Refuge by Lázaro Cárdenas and later, in 1979, a ban was enacted on the opening of new agricultural wells because the aquifer was already overexploited. This is not the first protection decree it has deserved. This hitherto little-known region owes its recent decree of protection to the incredible biodiversity it harbors and to the problems of environmental degradation that it is currently facing and that threaten its survival. It has an area of 5,305 km2 and is composed of extensive valleys covered with native grasslands that, as they gain elevation, are transformed into forested mountains that give us extraordinary landscapes where the view is lost on the horizon. The Janos Biosphere Reserve is located in the northwestern part of the state of Chihuahua, within the municipality of the same name, bordering to the north with the state of New Mexico, in the United States to the west with the neighboring state of Sonora, to the east and south with the municipalities of Ascensión, Casas Grandes and Nuevo Casas Grandes, Chihuahua. Power generation through renewable sources is an effective alternative to mitigate climate change as its environmental impact is lower compared to fossil fuels.The Janos Biosphere Reserve is made up of extensive valleys covered with native grasslands that, as they gain elevation, are transformed into forested mountain ranges that offer extraordinary landscapes where the view is lost in the horizon. However, socioeconomic problems are constant in sites where power plants are installed, especially in developing countries. In this paper, an innovative methodology was developed to assess the suitability of electricity generation through solar, wind, and biomass energy. Unlike most studies found in scientific literature, this work considers social, environmental, and economic aspects as key to determine the suitability of energy projects. First, we carried out a comprehensive analysis on social acceptance and resilience towards renewable energy and the conditions for communities to benefit from these projects then, we analyzed the availability and capacity of renewable energy sources in Mexico, as a case study. Next, a set of indicators related to the three pillars of sustainability was developed to assess the conditions of each place with the best renewable resources in the country. The life cycle and capacity factor of each technology were also considered. Lastly, a mathematical model was developed to determine the most suitable locations and technologies for power generation. ![]() The results show a trend towards the states of northern Mexico, especially those bordering the United States, as the most viable for electricity generation. The most appropriate technology is wind energy. Finally, Oaxaca, the state with the best wind resources and current leader in wind power generation in Mexico is, by contrast, the least viable state for wind generation, as has been later confirmed by scientific evidence, as wind facilities are associated with severe socio-cultural and economic damage in host communities in this state. KEYWORDS: Mathematical model, Renewable energy, Wind energy, Solar energy, Biomass, Environmental indicators, Sustainable development, Social acceptance. La generación eléctrica mediante fuentes renovables es una alternativa eficaz para mitigar el cambio climático, pues su impacto ambiental es menor en comparación al de los combustibles fósiles. Sin embargo, hay problemas socioeconómicos constantes en los lugares donde se instalan las centrales eléctricas, especialmente en los países en desarrollo. ![]()
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