The Energy Digital Year in Stories: June

December 28, 2024

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Mexico's President-Elect Claudia Sheinbaum voting in the 2024 election alongside her husband Jesús María Tarriba. Credit: Twitter

We look at the articles that made the news across the energy space 2024. Today, it is June's turn, featuring Glastonbury, Bechtel and GlobalData

Scientist Claudia Sheinbaum: Mexico’s First Female President

In a landmark day for Mexico, the country has elected its first female and Jewish president in Claudia Sheinbaum.

She is not just breaking political barriers with her record-breaking appointment, but is also spearheading a revolution in energy policy.

Claudia, who has a background in environmental science and a stellar commitment to sustainable development, is poised to transform Mexico's energy landscape throughout her tenure.

Her leadership promises to blend innovation with sustainability, aiming to reduce Mexico’s carbon footprint and boost renewable energy initiatives.

Formerly Head of Government of Mexico City, Morena party politician Claudia Sheinbaum is an environmental scientist by training and, in her political career and presidential campaign, has pledged to invest billions of dollars in renewable energy alongside plans to cap private sector investment in the electricity market.

She aims to make the country’s electrical grid cleaner by leveraging her background in physics and environmental engineering. She has a PhD in Energy Engineering from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and has conducted significant research in environmental science, particularly in sustainable energy and climate change in the form of more than 100 articles and two books on energy, the environment and sustainable development.

It’s not just as president she hopes to forge a more energy-efficient and sustainable future. As Head of Government of Mexico City, Claudia implemented a number of policies in the hope of improving public transportation, reducing air pollution and increasing the use of renewable energy sources.

Glastonbury: Inside the Festival's Eco Energy Revolution

As global climate change continues to present the biggest threat to our planet, one of the world’s largest festivals is playing its part in ensuring its operations are as environmentally-conscious as possible.

Glastonbury Festival, hosted at Worthy Farm in England at the end of June, is committed to reducing greenhouse emissions and using clean energy sources whenever possible.

Its work so far focuses around these key areas:

Incentivising green travel
Prioritising clean energy
Improving infrastructure to cut down on transport emissions

In 2023, Glastonbury proudly announced that all of its power needs would be — and subsequently, were — met by renewable energy and renewable fuels, entirely eliminating the need for fossil fuels to power the festival.

This was no mean feat, and was the culmination of the festival’s long standing eco mission: since the festival was established in 1970, sustainability and respect for the environment has always been at the heart of its operations.

Since 1984, Glastonbury’s Green Fields — promoted as the beating heart of Glastonbury Festival that is an ever-present sanctuary from the hustle of the remaining festival bustle — has always run on solar, wind and pedal power.

Speaking to Access All Areas, festival Co-Organiser Emily Eavis said: “Being able to power the entire festival without having to rely on fossil fuels has been a real breakthrough, but it is the culmination of lots of baby steps that have seen us steadily increase our use of renewable energy — both from the grid as well as from our own onsite sources like our solar PV array on our cowshed roof and our anaerobic digester that turns waste cow manure into biogas.

“We’ve been trialling alternative and renewable fuels for over a decade and, after some successful trials with virgin, palm oil-free renewable HVO at the last couple of festivals, we decided to use it — in place of fossil oil-based fuel — in all our generators.”