Costa has gone 80 days straight using 100% renewable resources
September 14, 2016
Costa Rica is accomplishing a feat that keeps oil barons like the Koch brothers up at night. They have lasted over two straight months without burning any fossil fuels to generate power. This is the first time this happened in the history of the planet’s existence.
Costa Rica’s electricity comes mostly from hydropower and geothermal sources. Heavy rains have helped the nation’s four goliath hydroelectric dams run above their typical capacity, allowing the country to turn off the diesel generators that typically keep them running.
This all sounds well and good, but there’s a huge stipulation preventing them from true agronomical glory: Costa Rica hasn’t ditched fossil fuels entirely. The country still has more than 1 million cars running on gasoline, which is why fossil fuels still supply the nation with over half its total energy needs. This is the fact that gives the Koch brothers quiet comfort and lets them slip into slumber in their 500-count threaded vesicles. The country also has cement plants that burn coal.
But I digress; this should not devalue Costa Rica’s clear accomplishment. The fact that they’re even able to make 50 percent of their energy clean is astounding. It’s an idea that has been talked about and researched for decades. To see the concept alive in reality reaffirms my hope for humanity. It shows their dedication to an idea that is somehow still deemed “progressive” and not “absolutely necessary”, and they should be commended for their valiant efforts. I truly hope that other nations follow suit in these tumultuous times, as it’s the only way to save our planet.
Regardless, Costa Rica shows no signs of slowing down their improvements. A massive hydroelectric project called Reventazón, run by the Costa Rica Electricity Institute (ICE), is expected to come online later this month. This means even more hydro power is to come. According to Carlos Manuel Obregón, the executive president of ICE, the project will bring “stable and renewable energy for the benefit of all sectors in the country.”
Jon Harrington • Sep 15, 2016 at 11:27 am
Well written. As an alumni of COD, it was a surprise to see this on my alerts. There are so many poorly researched articles written around the world exclaiming how Costa Rica is running 100% renewable. Taking the press releases produced by the government run power company without researching it is just bad reporting. One bad reporter quotes another one. Then we are virally miscommunicating the relaties here. Many of these articles use the ICE supplied photos of the one small utility scale project in this country. It is the Miravalles plant that was donated by the Chinese government. The power company has waged a war against solar energy or any distributed generation that would cut into their monopoly. If solar was allowed to be an economic competitor across the spectrum of electrical customers, we could easily bring in the electric transportation solution. Keep up the good reporting. FYI, our electric rates were increased in July due to the $14.6M in dirty bunker fuel and diesel that was imported just to make up the shortfalls in the hydro power. Pura Vida