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 School of Geography and the Environment

Doctoral Student: Debora Ley

Debora Ley

Position:

Dphil Student

Contact:

e: debora.ley@jesus.ox.ac.uk
t: +44 (0)777 025 2895

DPhil Topic:

Sustainable Development, Climate Change and Renewable Energy in Rural Central America

Academic Profile

From 1999 to 2001, I worked at Mexico's National Energy Savings Commission in the areas of cogeneration and renewable energy, providing technical assistance and supporting the implementation of international commitments. From 2001 to 2007, I worked at one of the US Department of Energy national laboratories, Sandia National Laboratories, and was Program Manager of the Central America and Mexico Regional Energy and Environment Development Program, where I implemented the international renewable energy and development projects of the US Department of Energy and the US Agency for International Development.

I've worked in rural development projects in Central America in both the technical and the non-technical aspects. At Sandia, I was also the coordinator for the energy efficiency and renewable energy activities under the North American Energy Working Group between the US, Canada and Mexico. My most recent job was with the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Mexico City Sub-regional office, in the Energy and Natural Resources Unit. I supported the implementation of regional energy projects and co-authored a sustainable energy strategy for Central America as well as a study on the role of energy for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

Voluntarily, I am a mentor and professional partner of Engineers Without Borders in the United States, and to date I continue to work on rural energy development projects in Guatemala. I've also been an advisor for thesis under the topics of renewable energy, development and climate change.

Current Research

Can rural renewable energy projects simultaneously meet the multiple goals of sustainable development, climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation? If so, under what conditions? Rural communities throughout Latin America have increasingly suffered the impacts of climate change and few policies exist to help them adapt to these impacts. The basic infrastructure and services that they frequently lack can be provided by low carbon technologies, potentially funded by international carbon finance flows that could enable the Millennium Development Goals of economic growth and poverty alleviation to be met while minimizing carbon emissions. This research will focus on this interrelationship among development, climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation policies and practices using political ecology to analyse common property renewable energy projects in rural Central America.

I propose to assess up to eight community-owned renewable energy projects in Guatemala, Nicaragua and Costa Rica to analyze whether current renewable energy projects are achieving these goals in an integrated way. Four of these projects were established primarily as development projects while the other four were established primarily as voluntary carbon offset projects. The projects will be evaluated on economic, development and climate change indicators that include sustainable development, poverty alleviation, emissions reductions, and climate vulnerability. I will examine how the type of common property governance, local historical and environmental background and project implementation process influence the project success in meeting multiple objectives of climate adaptation, mitigation and development. Methods include participatory poverty assessment techniques, semi-structured interviews, stakeholder analysis, and a combination of rapid and participatory methods. The analysis of sustainable development and vulnerability will use the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach methodologies and emissions reductions will be calculated using standard carbon reduction methodologies.

The results will contribute to the debate about 'mainstreaming' development with climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation by showing if, and under what conditions, renewable energy projects can simultaneously meet these three objectives. This research will also contribute to literature in Political Ecology and Common Property Resource, which has rarely included renewable energy.

Publications

  • Ley, D and H. Corsair (2008) "The role of human actors in the institutionalization and application of technological innovations for energy-based sustainable development projects" Presented at the 5th International Summer Academy "Energy and the Environment", Greifswald, Germany. Accepted for publication at "Realising the Paradigm Shift towards Energy Sustainability – Climate Change, Technological Innovation, and the Challenge of an Optimal Instrument Mix" by Lexxion Verlag Publishers, Berlin.
  • Ley, D and H. Corsair (2008) "Human motivation: the final driver of system success. Case study of a privately-owned solar photovoltaic system in Xenimajuyu, Chimaltenango, Guatemala". Case study for a solar energy text book – Publication in progress.
  • Corsair, H.J. and D. Ley (2008) "The Commercialization of Solar Energy as a Means for Rural Development" IEEE ENERGY2030 Proceedings. November, 2008. Atlanta, GA USA
  • Brian Smith and Debora Ley, "SUSTAINABLE TOURISM AND CLEAN WATER PROJECT FOR TWO GUATEMALAN COMMUNITIES: A CASE STUDY". Presented at the International Workshop in Water and Sanitation in International Development and Disaster Relief, Edinburgh, UK, May, 2008, Publication in progress for Desalination
  • Robert Foster, Debora Ley, Herminia Martinez, Luis Estrada, Elieneth Lara, "ENERGÍAS RENOVABLES EN NICARAGUA: PROGRAMA DE ELECTRIFICACIÓN RURAL EN ZONAS AISLADAS". Proceeding from the 26ª Semana Nacional de Energía Solar of the Asociación Nacional de Energía Solar, Zacatecas, Zacatecas, México, October, 2007
  • Debora Ley and Hope Corsair "OPORTUNIDADES PARA EL SECTOR PRIVADO EN PROGRAMAS DE ENERGIZACIÓN RURAL", Memorias del XII Seminario de Ahorro de Energía, Cogeneración y Energía Renovable, PowerMex 2006, Mexico City, September 2006 ("PRIVATE SECTOR OPPORTUNITIES IN RURAL ENERGY PROGRAMS", Proceedings. XII Seminar on Energy Savings, Cogeneration and Renewable Energy, PowerMex 2006, Mexico, September 2006)
  • Debora Ley and Hope Corsair "EL PAPEL DE LA ELECTRIFICACIÓN RURAL RENOVABLE EN EL DESARROLLO NACIONAL", Concurso de Ensayo El Hombre y la Tierra, Julio 2006
  • Robert Foster, Debora Ley, Herminia Martinez, Luis Estrada, Elieneth Lara, "NICARAGUAN RENEWABLE ENERGY FOR RURAL ZONES PROGRAM INITIATIVE". Proceeding from Solar 2006 of the American Solar Energy Society, ASME International Solar Energy Conference – Solar Engineering 2006, Denver, CO, USA, July 2006
  • Debora Ley, Charles Hanley, Robert Foster and Guillermo Mazariegos, "RURAL HONDURAN PV POWERED SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITY CENTERS". Proceeding from Solar 2006 of the American Solar Energy Society, ASME International Solar Energy Conference – Solar Engineering 2006, Denver, CO, USA, July 2006
  • Debora Ley and Blaise Stoltenberg, "HYBRID ELECTRIC SYSTEMS FOR THE GALAPAGOS". Proceedings from the 26ª Semana Nacional de Energía Solar of the Asociación Nacional de Energía Solar, Chetumal, Quintana Roo, México, November, 2002
  • Debora Ley and Carolina Fuentes, "ENERGÍAS RENOVABLES Y ECOTURISMO EN UNA RESERVA DE LA BIOSFERA DEL MAR DE CORTÉS". Proceedings from the V Congreso Nacional de la Asociacion Mexicana para la Economia Energetica, "Oferta de Energía para el Desarrollo de México. Políticas y Financiamiento", Mexico City, May, 2002 (Renewable Energy and Ecotourism in a Biosphere Reserve of the Sea of Cortes". Proceedings. V National Congress of the Mexican Association for Energy Economy. Energy Supply for the Development of Mexico. Policies and Financing". Mexico, May 2002)
  • Debora Ley and Carolina Fuentes, "ENERGÍAS RENOVABLES EN EL SIGLO XXI: MOTOR PARA EL DESARROLLO SOSTENIBLE". Memorias del IV Congreso Nacional de la Asociación Mexicana para la Economía Energética. "El Sector Energía en México de Cara al Siglo XXI: Tendencias, Política, Abastecimiento y Financiamiento", Mexico City, June, 2001 (‘Renewable Energy in the XXI Century: An Engine for Sustainable Development". Proceedings. IV National Congress of the Mexican Association for Energy Economy. ‘The Energy Sector in Mexico Looking Towards the XXI Century: Tendencies, Policies, Supply and Financing". Mexico, June 2001)
  • Francisco Márquez, Debora Ley, et. al., "RENEWABLE ENERGY IN MÉXICO: EXPERIENCES, ACTIONS AND PERSPECTIVES" Memorias del "2000-2001 APEC Energy R&D and Technology Transfer Seminar", Cuernavaca, Morelos, October, 2000
  • "USE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY FOR PRODUCTIVE USE APPLICATIONS IN RURAL OFF-GRID COMMUNITIES" Presented in the "Fifth Annual Symposium of Sandia National Laboratories", Albuquerque, Nuevo México, August 2000
  • "MUSEUM"S GET ENERGIZED SCIENCE SUMMER CAMP CASTS LIGHT ON SOLAR ENERGY" Sandia Lab News, Vol. 52, No. 16, August 11, 2000, pág. 12.
  • Francisco Márquez, Debora Ley, Carolina Fuentes "CONAE AND RENEWABLE ENERGY IN MEXICO" Memorias del "Mexico Renewable Energy Program Review Meeting", Cuernavaca, Morelos, May, 2000

Contributing author to:

  • CEPAL 2007, Estrategia Energetica Sustentable Centroamericana 2020, CEPAL, Mexico. (United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean)
  • CEPAL 2007, La Energia y las Metas del Milenio en Guatemala, Honduras y Nicaragua, CEPAL, Mexico. (United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean)
  • Chapter in: Renewable Energy and the Environment. (2008) CRC Press Energy Book Series/ Taylor and Francis. Eds Abbas Ghassemi