Approaches and Perspectives About Biodiesel and Oil Production Using Algae in Mexico

Abstract

Oil extraction in México started during the Aztec kingdom with the exploitation of the ground deposits better known as “chapopoteras.” It has several uses such as for religious ceremonies, cleaning teeth, and sealing for construction. In 1783, the Spaniard crown declared the mineral rights to use just with a formal notice, but as part of the adjustments occurred after the independence war, several perforations happened in the late nineteenth century, and the transformations of the laws in the country led to the development of private companies to exploit the underground resources found around the Gulf of México, and the first foreign companies were developed (http://petroleo.colmex.mx/index.php/component/content/article/54). However, with the increment of oil production and the taxation of this activity by several Mexicans, a conflictive situation arose which was resolved with the nationalization of all foreign companies in 1938. After that period, the oil production increased in their volume and in the value hitting top values in the late 1970s and at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Oil and gas production represents the venue wherein the Mexican economy has developed over the last century (Gil-Valdivia and Chacon-Dominguez, 2008) in industrial, economic, monetary balance, and in many other political factors.