An alternative to mitigate the consumption of fossil fuels is the use of biomass as an energy source. In this sense, the rural sector in Latin America has great potential due to its multiple biomass sources. For this reason, this study aims to analyze potential technologies related to the production of energy from biomass and its application in the Latin American rural sector. To achieve this, four key processes are analyzed. First is biomass conditioning through solar dryers. Next are the thermochemical processes that allow for their transformation into biofuels, for which the pyrolysis and the hydrothermal methods were selected due to the flexibility of the products obtained. Subsequently, cogeneration is studied to produce electrical and thermal energy from biomass or its derivatives. Finally, to close the CO₂ cycle, a balance of CO₂ fixation in a forest plantation is presented as an example of carbon accumulated in biomass. The literature systematic review allowed us to determine that the technologies mentioned in this work have different degrees of implementation in the Latin American rural sector. However, they have great potential to be applied on a large scale in the region, making it possible to adapt energy production to climate change and improve the life quality of its inhabitants.

The process of drying at the agroindustry level is considered the most important stage for the storage and conservation of food, but an inadequate sizing of the systems can generate an excessive consumption of fuel and energy. In the case of the agricultural sector, especially in small and medium producers in Ecuador, they tend to dry cereals outdoors, spreading the product over black plastics, asphalt floors, or cements called “tendal”. This process depends on the weather conditions of the area and can take between one or four days of drying, tending to damage the product by fungi. On the other hand, certain producers build dryers empirically, using as the main fuel gas for domestic use, diesel, or firewood. Among the problems presented for these types of dryers are heat losses in the drying chamber as it is not thermally insolated, a lack of temperature control (above 60 °C) and drying speed, excessive fuel use, and 10% burned product, which are essential to control to obtain a quality product and savings in the energy consumption of the dryer. With regard to the problem raised above, the design and construction of a hybrid dryer that worked with 80% of thermal solar and low enthalpy aerogeothermal energy and 20% with electric power was conducted to optimize the drying process and ensure a quality dry product. The work proposes the dimensioning of each component of the dryer. As a result, it was found that the efficiency of the equipment was around 60%, reaching a maximum operating temperature of 52 °C, with a stabilization time of the system in the first hour within 40 min. It should be noted that the design of the prototype is easy to adapt and replicate.

Drying is considered one of the industrial processes that requires more energy than other processes, being a topic of much interest to the agricultural sector, especially the evaluation of energy consumption for rice and corn dryers. To meet this goal, an overview survey matrix and protocols for temperature measurements of dryers were developed. The study evaluated 49 rice dryers and 14 yellow corn dryers. As a result, it was determined that the oversizing of the fan/extractor and the dryer engine generates a high energy consumption, added to the lack of insulation in the heat ducts. Therefore, the drying productivity index is very low in dryers using liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) being 0.14 dollar/quintal for rice and 0.27 dollar/quintal for corn and using biomass reaches 1.4 dollars/quintal. In relation to energy losses, these account for more than 55%. Inadequate energy management in drying processes directly influences the marketing chain of products, the losses of which are caused by fluctuations in the price of rice and corn on the domestic market, with the agricultural sector having to generate an energy efficiency plan.

This document presents a study of thermal inertia in the subsoil adjacent to the Civil Engineering laboratory of the Technological Institute of Sonora (ITSON) in the south of Sonora, Mexico, in service of the development of a solution proposal of a ground-coupled air heat exchanger for the cooling months. The research was divided into three phases: first, the monitoring of temperature in 10 layers of the ground; second, the analysis of thermal ground properties; and last, the design and simulation of a ground-coupled air heat exchanger. The objectives were to determine the variation in the thermal inertia of the soil with depth and over time and to determine the optimum depth for a ground-coupled heat exchanger system. The second objective was to develop a design proposal for a ground-coupled heat exchanger for the university laboratory. We found that the optimum depth is 3.0 m in a soil with high-compressibility clay with 21% humidity and 0.152 W/mK of thermal conductivity. However, the proposed design identified the best depth for the cooling system as 3 m considering a ground-coupled heat exchanger for a volume of 222.2 m³, corresponding to the volume of the classrooms of the building. With this design, the approach was to reduce the temperature by at least 10 °C on the hottest day (41 °C) of the year studied. We concluded that with this kind of system, the climate of the building studied could reduce the thermal load of active AC systems and reduce the energy load by 59%.

El presente trabajo muestra los resultados parciales obtenidos en el proyecto de vinculación con la sociedad titulado" Educación para el desarrollo sostenible (EDS) dirigida a centros enseñanza secundaria en la ciudad de Guayaquil" perteneciente a la "Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral". El proyecto está enmarcado en el campo de la sostenibilidad energética domiciliaria considerando los objetivos específicos de aprendizaje de los ODS descritos en los dominios cognitivo, socioemocional y conductual. El proyecto se basa en el desarrollo de planes de capacitación en energías renovables y de formación en la gestión de energía en el hogar, basados en un modelo de aprendizaje constructivista y la elaboración de prototipos educacionales, considerando los objetivos de aprendizajes descritos en el objetivo 7 de los ODS como un mecanismo de transferencia de conocimiento energético en áreas urbanas marginales de la ciudad de Guayaquil. En los talleres, los estudiantes aprendieron conceptos de energías renovables; criterios asociados de la gestión de la energía en el hogar; incluyendo los criterios de sostenibilidad y resistencia ambiental. Los resultados obtenidos de los ciclos de enseñanza han identificado que se puede lograr una reducción media de consumo de energía residencial al menos 10% por parte de los beneficiarios, además se logrado el rediseño de los contenidos y las herramientas de aprendizaje considerando las competencias, dimensiones y las variables del entorno local considerando las competencias, dimensiones y las variables del entorno local

Aplica filosofía pragmática combinando Competencias de Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS): Autoconciencia del valor ambiental con el fin de aportar con formas de reúso de Neumáticos Fuera de Uso (NFU) integrados al trabajo colaborativo en Proyecto Educativo Institucional (PEI) Tierra de Niños y Niñas y Adolescentes (TINI); en unidades educativas de nivel medio en Ecuador contribuyendo con mejoramiento del entorno. El Programa Reúsa Llanta del Ministerio de Industrias y Productividad Ecuador, estimó que 300 mil llantas son destinadas a botaderos u otros sitios y a partir de la ejecución del TINI se recuperó aprox el 2% sirviendo al ornamento de las unidades sujeto de investigación. Se aplicó prueba de Bartlett cuya significancia es (P<0,01), lo que permitió rechazar la hipótesis nula de que la matriz de correlaciones es igual a la matriz identidad, y se concluye que efectivamente existe asociación entre las variables originales y una reducción dimensional de las actividades del proyecto educativo de reúso pragmático de neumáticos usados considerados como desechos especiales en el Ecuador . El pragmatismo ambiental da lugar a la formación de multiplicadores logrando cambios significativos en hábito de reusar los desechos especiales, así como el fomento de trabajo colaborativo y estímulo de creatividad; alcanzando la concienciación ambiental.