Our researchers were key in the development of the two main energy planning models used by Mexico’s Ministry of Energy (SENER): TIMES-MXR and SIMISE.
In the first model they participated as principal researchers on behalf of University College London, whilst in the second model as part of the modelling team at UNAM.
Besides, the Transition Modelling Lab team has extensive experience working in research and consultancy projects both in Mexico and abroad. Our modellers have collaborated with about multiple international organisations, universities, governments and companies. Our experience includes:
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Climate policy assessment.
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Energy systems research articles.
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Energy system model development.
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Transition risk assessment.
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Modelling of national and sectoral decarbonisation strategies.
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Development of technology roadmaps.
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Analysis of company and asset decarbonisation strategies.
Baltazar Solano Rodríguez – Co-founder and Director
Baltazar specialises in the use and development of global, national and sectoral energy models for the analysis of decarbonisation strategies and transition risk assessments.
In industry and consultancy, he has worked for Schlumberger, UK National Nuclear Laboratory, AEA Technology, Cervest and Baringa. In academia, he was a Senior Research Fellow in Energy Systems Modelling at University College London for a decade. Over the past few years, Baltazar has developed models and generated scenarios to inform the climate strategies of the British government, the European Union and Mexico.
Most recently he led the energy systems modelling activities for the Mexican government’s forthcoming National Climate Change Strategy (ENCC) update. As a consultant, he’s done modelling-related work for the International Energy Agency (IEA), International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Danish Energy Agency and BlackRock among many others. He has presented his work at the most reputable international energy modelling forums, including the International Energy Workshop, Stanford Energy Modelling Forum, International Association of Energy Economists and International Energy Agency – ETSAP. He has contributed to more than 30 publications, including book chapters, scientific journal articles and consultancy reports.
Baltazar holds degrees in Engineering Physics, Industrial Systems and Operations Research from ITESM, Cambridge University and Edinburgh University. He has also studied Climate Change related Financial Risks at Oxford University.
Giovanni Hernández – Co-founder and Energy Systems Modelling Advisor
Giovanni Hernández is an experienced Energy Systems Modeller and Energy Consultant. He studied Chemical Engineering at UNAM and a Masters in Energy Systems Engineering at the same institution.
He also graduated from the 18th cohort of the Real World Risk Institute (RWRI) in New York, where he earned a certificate in Decision Making under Uncertainty. As an energy consultant, he has worked mostly with academic institutions (UNAM and ITESM), international development agencies (ECLAC, GIZ, IADB, Danish Energy Agency) and governmental institutions (SENER, PEMEX, INECC) to develop and implement petroleum product supply chain models including petrochemicals, natural gas transportation networks and electricity infrastructure expansion models for energy and climate policy formulation in Mexico.
Giovanni’s technical expertise focuses on mathematical-computational tools for modeling energy systems. In particular, he has developed simultaneous optimisation models for capacity expansion of oil, petroleum, petrochemical, natural gas and electricity supply chains, programmed in modelling languages and platforms such as GAMS, Python, TIMES and BALMOREL. In addition, he has developed technological tools for robust decision making in environments of deep uncertainty (RDM).
He is currently an independent consultant, co-founder of the Transition Modelling Lab and technological ally of the Energy Planning Unit at UNAM.
Oscar Alejandro Esquivel Flores – Head of Data Science
Oscar has a PhD in Computer Science and Engineering from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and holds a master’s degree in Computer Science from Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM). He also has a bachelor’s degree in Applied Mathematics and Computing from UNAM.
In 2014, he began a postdoctoral research fellowship at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center carrying out work in the area of parallel and high-performance computing. In 2016, he completed a second postdoctoral research fellowship at Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM), where he supported projects related to teaching and research in data science and machine learning. He also collaborated as a postdoctoral researcher in an energy policy formulation project carried out by the School of Government and Public Transformation at ITESM, in which he implemented a robust decision making methodology (RDM).
Oscar has worked as researcher in scientific computing and data science since 2018 at UNAM, where he has research and teaching responsibilities. His research and teaching interests involve the mathematical and computational modelling of systems, high-performance computing, use and evaluation of machine learning algorithms and the management of infrastructure for the analysis of large amounts of data.
