Source – sciencealert.com

– “…milestone(s) for renewable energy sources is also happening elsewhere. Germany for instance, has announced that they ran on alternative energy last May 15, turning power prices negative throughout the duration of the day. Denmark on the other hand, set a new world record after they harnessed 42 percent of their electricity through wind power”:

(Costa Rica powered with 100% renewable energy for 75 straight days)

Well done Costa Rica, well done.

The Cental American country has achieved a major clean energy milestone, meeting 100 percent of its power demand with renewable energy for 75 straight days.

“The year 2015 has been one of electricity totally friendly to the environment for Costa Rica,” the state-owned power supplier Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) said in a press release.

The ICE says the country’s zero-emission milestone was enabled thanks to heavy rainfalls at four hydroelectric power facilities in the first quarter of 2015. These downpours have meant that, for the months of January, February and so far March, there has been no need to burn fossil fuels to generate electricity.

Instead, Costa Rica has been powered primarily by hydro power – both pumped storage and run-of-the-river plants – and a mixture of geothermal, wind, biomass and solar energy.

It’s important to remember that Costa Rica is a small nation. It has a total area of about 51,000 square kilometres, which is about half the size of the US state of Kentucky, and it has a population of only 4.8 million people. Furthermore, its primary industries are tourism and agriculture, rather than heavy, more energy-intensive industries such as mining or manufacturing.

Still, Costa Rica has done an excellent job developing it electricity sector, and supplying affordable, reliable power to its citizens.

According to the World Economic Forum’s 2014 Global Competitiveness Index, Costa Rica ranks second in Latin American countries behind only Uruguay with regards to electricty and telecommunications infrastructure.

Reporter Sophie Vorrath from RenewEconomy writes that the country is “providing a household coverage rate of 99.4 percent at some of the region’s lowest prices”.

Costa Rica’s record on renewable generation also stands out. As recently as last year, hydropower accounted for 80 percent of all electricity production, while geothermal energy was reported back in 2010 to account for upwards of 13 percent of the country’s electricity profile.

And new geothermal projects are in the pipeline to help the volcano-rich country capitalise further on this subterranean energy source.

In mid-2014, the Costa Rican government approved a US$958 million geothermal energy project. According to Jake Richardson from CleanTechnica, “the first plants are expected to generate about 55 MW and cost approximately $333 million to build”, and two other 50 MW plants will also be built nearby.

It’s good news that more geothermal will be coming on board, as there are obvious downsides of being too reliant on hydropower, especially run-of-the-river systems, which can be hindered by seasonal changes in water flow. Droughts can also severely impact power supplies. And there are also some environmental downsides to hydroelectric dams more generally, namely the impact on riparian ecosystems and passing fish.

Nevertheless, 100 percent renewable energy generation, for any extended period of time, is an enviable achievement.

Good on you, Costa Rica!

Sources: RenewEconomy, CleanTechnica 

http://www.sciencealert.com/costa-rica-powered-with-100-renewable-energy-for-75-days

Related…

(For 107 hours, Portugal ran completely on renewable energy sources)

We all know how environmental-friendly renewable energy sources are. Be it through hydro, wind, or solar; renewable energy has the capacity to provide power to an entire nation without being harmful to the planet like most energy sources, say for example fossil fuels.

After Portugal proved just how good this alternative energy truly is by running on it for four days straight, those who oppose on making use of renewable sources entirely should be convinced that going this route is the right way to go. Unless, of course, people vote for Donald Trump who is adamant about bringing fossil fuels back.

And yes, Portugal ran on alternative renewable energy sources for four days – 107 hours to be exact, from 6:45 AM on May 7 to 5:45 PM on May 11. According to the data analyzed by the Portuguese Renewable Energy Association, in cooperation with the ZERO-System Sustainable Land Association, the country’s energy use came from renewable clean energy during that period, showing how far they have come since starting this campaign to go green.

Three years ago, the country was merely generating 7.5 percent of electricity from wind energy. Last year, that number went up to as high as 22 percent after they added 550 MW of wind capacity between 2013 and 2016.

Environmentalists would be happy to know too that this milestone for renewable energy sources is also happening elsewhere. Germany for instance, has announced that they ran on alternative energy last May 15, turning power prices negative throughout the duration of the day. Denmark on the other hand, set a new world record after they harnessed 42 percent of their electricity through wind power.

This article (Portugal Proved How Viable Renewable Energy Is, Ran On It For 4 Days) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author and TrueActivist.com.