Costa Rica Achieved 99% Renewable Energy This Year

While it may often seem like we have a long way to go when it comes to global renewable energy generation, there are a few countries that are already closing in on being fully powered by renewables that give us hope that one day soon all countries will be able to boast the same results.

Costa Rica has shown the world what is possible this year by achieving 99 percent renewable energy generation. Michael wrote back in April that the country had not used any fossil fuels for electricity so far at that point in the year and, in fact, the Costa Rican Electricity Institute said in a statement that 285 days this year were fossil fuel-free.

Costa Rica is lucky to have a wealth of renewable energy sources to choose from. The bulk of its power generation comes from hydropower thanks to a large river system and heavy tropical rainfalls. The rest is made up of a mix of geothermal energy, which the country is also rich in, wind, biomass and solar power.

The institute said that even though 2015 was a very dry year, Costa Rica was still ahead of its renewable energy targets and goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2021. The country doesn’t just want to hit 100 percent renewable energy, but it also wants to clean up energy consumption in general like moving the transportation sector away from fossil fuels and becoming less dependent on hydropower by adding more geothermal energy plants and harnessing energy from other sources.

The citizens of the country have benefited from the cost of energy actually falling by 12% this year and the institute expects it to keep falling in the future.

The U.S. still has a long way to go before it will reach the same milestones, but renewable energy plants make up most of the new energy sources being added to the grid. It’s a larger country with a larger population, but we can still be inspired by Costa Rica and do our part to make sure renewable energy grows and prospers in the U.S.

Source: treehugger.com, Megan Treacy