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Judi Lynn

(160,211 posts)
Tue Aug 23, 2016, 09:58 PM Aug 2016

Costa Rica runs 100% renewable for 113 days in a row

Costa Rica runs 100% renewable for 113 days in a row



Sami Grover

Sami Grover (@samigrover)
Business / Environmental Policy
August 23, 2016

Costa Rica just ran its electricity grid for 113 days in a row entirely on renewable energy. Using a mix of wind, solar and its abundant supply of geothermal energy (a nice boon for anyone wanting to have dispatchable renewables!), this small nation is proving that fossil fuels are no longer necessary to keep the lights on.

That's just one snippet of news from Robert Llewellyn's Fully Charged news update, which also includes some cool information about gigantic, 180-meter (590-feet) high, 8MW wind turbines which are being positioned off the coast of France; Tesla Powerwalls being installed in Australia; and the fact that insurance companies are beginning to provide coverage for autonomous electric vehicles.

More:
http://www.treehugger.com/environmental-policy/costa-rica-runs-100-renewable-113-days-row.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+treehugger%2Fbusiness-politics+%28Business+%26+Politics%29

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Costa Rica runs 100% renewable for 113 days in a row (Original Post) Judi Lynn Aug 2016 OP
thank you for this!! niyad Aug 2016 #1
Most of Costa Rica's electricity is hydroelectric. hunter Aug 2016 #2
The country has depended for 80% or more of its electrical power on hydroelectricity... NNadir Aug 2016 #3
They have virtually no solar or wind generation FBaggins Aug 2016 #4
Did Costa Rica Really Use 99% Renewable Energy in 2015? OKIsItJustMe Aug 2016 #5

hunter

(38,263 posts)
2. Most of Costa Rica's electricity is hydroelectric.
Tue Aug 23, 2016, 10:40 PM
Aug 2016
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy_in_Costa_Rica

It's a nice place.

I'll bet they can make it work with electric vehicles too.

They're aiming to be carbon neutral.

NNadir

(33,368 posts)
3. The country has depended for 80% or more of its electrical power on hydroelectricity...
Tue Aug 23, 2016, 10:43 PM
Aug 2016

...for decades.

This isn't really news.

It has some geothermal resources, but it's an open question as to whether this is really "renewable."

So what?

It's a small country with a population smaller than the population of New York City.

We've been hearing this elevation of esoteric places for decades now, as some kind of hopeful but delusional propaganda.

For instance, we have people report that for two days, Scotland ran itself on wind power, as if this matters, but not a peep when Scotland produces no wind power.

When was the last time Germany generated no electricity for two days without burning dangerous fossil fuels and dumping the waste directly into the atmosphere?

On Planet Earth, the atmosphere now contains more than 400 ppm of carbon dioxide and it's not coming back. Since we bought into this absurd and very, very, very, very dangerous notion that so called "renewable energy" (after being abandoned in the early 19th century) would save the day, the rate of accumulation of climate change gases has accelerated, not decelerated.

FBaggins

(26,693 posts)
4. They have virtually no solar or wind generation
Wed Aug 24, 2016, 08:12 AM
Aug 2016

On what basis does the author say "Using a mix of wind, solar and its abundant supply of geothermal energy"?

OKIsItJustMe

(19,933 posts)
5. Did Costa Rica Really Use 99% Renewable Energy in 2015?
Thu Aug 25, 2016, 09:33 AM
Aug 2016
http://thecostaricanews.com/eco/energy/did-costa-rica-really-use-99-renewable-energy-in-2015/
[font face=Serif][font size=5]Did Costa Rica Really Use 99% Renewable Energy in 2015?[/font]

Jan 3, 2016

[font size=4]Recent developments call into question the validity of ICE’s claim.[/font]



[font size=4]Energy vs. Electricity[/font]

[font size=3]What happened in Costa Rica between announcing the country’s success with renewable resources at the start of the year and announcing new infrastructure for fossil fuels at the end? It turns out words matter.

On December 30, ICE claimed “99% renewable electricity generation” during 2015. That same day, the presidential office released the following energy breakdown according to Costa Rica’s energy matrix data:
  • 66% hydrocarbons
  • 18% electricity
  • 14% biomass
  • 2% coal
Sure, 99% renewable electricity looks impressive on its own, but when put into the context of Costa Rica’s energy usage on a whole, that’s 99% of 18% — meaning only 17.8% of Costa Rica’s energy came from renewable resources.[/font]

…[/font]


Costa Rica is a long way away from their goal of being 100% carbon neutral by 2021.
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