Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Costa Rica Has Gone 76 Straight Days Using 100% Renewable Electricity (vox.com)

Posted by msmash on from the affinity-for-renewable-energy dept.

Last year, Costa Rica powered itself using only renewable energy for 75 days. It has topped that feat this year. Vox reports: Costa Rica is pulling off a feat most countries just daydream about: For two straight months, the Central American country hasn't burned any fossil fuels to generate electricity. That's right: 100 percent renewable power. This isn't a blip, either. For 300 total days last year and 150 days so far this year, Costa Rica's electricity has come entirely from renewable sources, mostly hydropower and geothermal. Heavy rains have helped four big hydroelectric dams run above their usual capacity, letting the country turn off its diesel generators. Now, there's a huge, huge caveat here: Costa Rica hasn't eschewed all fossil fuels entirely. The country still has more than 1 million cars running on old-fashioned gasoline, which is why imported oil still supplies over half its total energy needs. The country also has cement plants that burn coal.

4 of 226 comments (clear)

  1. Re:gasoline == old fashioned?? by Flavianoep · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Don't be so pedantic, "hubris" comes from Ancient Greek, "hybris", therefore it is perfectly acceptable to write it with a y.

    --
    Linux is for people who don't mind RTFM.
  2. Re:gasoline == old fashioned?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Interesting

    And how is hydroelectric renewable? Can they make it rain? I used 100% renewable money last month, I won the lottery!

  3. So part 2: Iceland by JBMcB · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I think Iceland generates almost all of it's power from geothermal, to the point where most of the world's bauxite smelting is done there, and there's enough power left over for most citizens to pay a flat rate for electricity.

    --
    My Other Computer Is A Data General Nova III.
  4. A lot of people use generators in Central America by sdguero · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It is common for rural areas to be disconnected form the grid and many small communities in Central/South America run off generators. I stayed at a surf/yoga camp in 2011 that was run off candles and generators, even though a place to tie into the grid was only a couple miles away.

    When I ruminated about how a candle is probably a worse polluter than a 60W light bulb powered by a coal power plant, the crunchy ex-pat owner got pretty upset with me. I goolged it when we got home and sure enough, candles horrible for air pollution compared to light bulbs.