Burlington, USA was one of the first cities in the world to run on renewable energy and now Costa Rica has becomes the first country to do so.
This is a huge achievement for Costa Rica but a huge worry for traditional energy companies says author of new book iDisrupted.
An environmental milestone has been achieved for Costa Rica. The country has announced that it has only used renewable energy to generate power for the first 75 days of the year, a first for any country. John Straw, author of iDisrupted explains that his theory of traditional energy companies being demolished can be supported by the latest announcement by Costa Rica.
John Straw explained; “Even though Costa Rica is one of the smallest countries in the world, there’s clearly a determination and principle here. It’s been 75 days since Costa Rica’s power grid last had a sip of petroleum and thanks to heavy rainfall at the start of the year, the Central American nation has been able to provide 100% of its energy needs via renewable resources.”
John continued; “It doesn’t hurt that Costa Rica has invested heavily national power grid. 80% of Costa Rica’s entire energy budget comes from its four hydroelectric plants with another 13% derived from geothermal stations and solar, wind and fossil fuels round out the remaining seven percent.”
Of course, fossil fuel alternatives are not without drawbacks. The nation’s hydro-electric dams may be working at capacity right now, thanks to those heavy rains at the start of the year, but should the country face drought (or even just seasonal water shortages), Costa Rica may have to revert back to petroleum power in order to keep the lights on.
This certainly represents a major milestone in green energy production but the author also recognises that at this moment in time there’s no guarantee that other nations will be able to replicate this.
However, thanks to advancements in energy storage and battery technology, John is confident that countries will follow suit in the future and demolish the balance sheets of traditional energy businesses.
Recently Burlington in the USA made history by becoming the first city to run 100%,on renewable energy. According to an article from Fastcoexist,“The city runs on a mix of biomass, wind, solar, hydro, a little bit of landfill gas, and a few other renewable sources. At a given time, if the renewable plants aren’t producing enough power, the utility might buy traditional power. But they also produce and sell enough extra green power that, over the course of a year, the total is 100% renewable.”
John concluded; “The energy advancements from Burlington and Costa Rica have come a lot sooner than sceptics would have imagined. When new battery technology becomes mainstream it won’t be long until other cities and countries are practically a 100% green energy producer.”
