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Tuesday, November 28th, 2017

Costa Rica Just Ran 300 Days On 100 Percent Renewable Electricity

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Source:     IFL Science
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Link: Costa Rica Just Ran 300 Days On 100 Percent Renewable Electricity
Stephan:   I am always looking for positive trends -- as opposed to happy one-off epi-phenomena -- a distinction I am not sure everyone appreciates. Such trends are getting harder to find in the U.S., but I am beginning to see more and more of them in other nations.  This one is a good news story about a little engine that could.

Geothermal energy plays a significant role, as does hydropower, wind, and solar in making Costa Rico a leader in non-carbon energy at a national level.
Credit: Shutterstock

Costa Rica may be a small country, but it aims high when it comes to clean energy. Back in 2015, it generated 100 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources for 299 days, and back in 2016, it ran for 271 days on anything but fossil fuels.

Now it appears it’s just bested its 2015 achievement, having run for 300 days on a mixture of hydro, wind, geothermal, biomass, and solar energy. This stellar record goes hand-in-hand with the government’s plan to become carbon neutral by 2021, a deadline that was set up more than 10 years ago.

According to a new report by the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity, (ICE), with six weeks left of 2017 to go, it looks likely the total number of clean energy-powered days will increase.

Carlos Manuel Obregón, the executive president of ICE, explains that improvements to the grid, and […]

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