Costa Rica is a small country that has been powered with Renewable Energy, also called: “green energy” or “clean energy”, for the last five years and it´s looking forward to been fully decarbonized by 2050.
By the end of this year, Costa Rica will have run on more than 98% clean energy over five consecutive years, according to data from the National Center for Energy Control (CENCE).
Where do we get our Green Energy?
That energy comes directly from our natural resources a 67.5% comes from hydropower, 17% from wind, 13.5% from geothermal sources and 0.84% from biomass and solar panels.
By December 2018 Costa Rica had accomplished the big goal of getting 300 days generating electricity from green resources.
¨Numbers show that we have achieved stability at its highest point. The correct planning of the system, for instance with the integration of Reventazón (hydroelectric plant) has been vital in making us an example for the region and the world¨, clarified Luis Pacheco, corporate director of Electricity of the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE).
Well, off course this is not a competition with other countries, and we are not expecting to get honor or being prized.
This data is awesome and we feel proud; even though we are giving small steps, at least we feel pleased about someone taking the initiative of doing something.
Types of Renewable Energy Used in Costa Rica
The water is the main resource of renewable energy.
The heavy rains in our region have allowed the country to completely renounce fossil fuels to produce electricity.
It feeds almost the entire electricity generated from 4 hydroelectric plants.
The geothermal energy, which is also an important part of the renewable energies, comes from Volcanoes and also supports the electricity generation.
The solar renewable energy is getting very popular as well.
Many companies and homes are running by using just solar panels and even the government is expending solar panels with traffic lights.
The wind is also one of the main renewable energies in Costa Rica.
Costa Rica counts with more than 10 wind farms located especially in Guanacaste, Alajuelita and Los Santos, they are also an important part of our energy production.
Fossil Fuels our Achilles’ Heel
We are still fossil-fuel dependent, our transportation sector, which is responsible for 66% of hydrocarbon consumption and 54% of carbon dioxide emissions in Costa Rica, has the biggest role here.
Costa Rica’s decarbonization strategy includes a plan to introduce a modern transportation system in San José.
This transportation system promotes walking and biking, and of course, takes into a count fully electric trains by 2050.
Our country has been making big efforts to reduce our fossil fuel reliance, but they are still an issue.
We need to highly diminish our impact on nature and we recognize that we are still far from the goal, but at least we keep working on it.
Not a Regular School or Touristic Place
Perfect Sunset School is located in this awesome little country and we highlight the effort our nation is making to get really carbo-free.
When you visit Perfect Sunset School, you find that it is not only a touristic place, it is an eco-friendly school.
Thus, we understand that using Renewable Energy is not only part of the ecological agenda, it is also a good way to improve people´s life quality and boost the economy of a country.
Join us, come, enjoy, get in touch with our amazing nature and share with us, we want to know your opinion about this and other environmental issues.
See ya!
The Perfect Sunset School was founded by Gustavo Merlino in Playa Hermosa from Santa Teresa Beach,Puntarenas, who created the school to share his two strongest passion, surfing and Latin culture.
