Costa Rica’s Journey Towards Energy Independence: What Others Can Learn

Costa Rica, a vibrant country in Latin America and Tampa, a coastal heaven in the US have a number of things in common – spectacular scenery, rich flora and fauna, incredible sea-view, and above all, abundant sunshine. And both of them are keen on putting their natural resources to good use beyond tourism. How? Both these places have the option of using their abundant sunshine to generate green energy. Costa Rica, however, took one step ahead and tapped the other renewable energy sources such as the wind, biomass, and geothermal energy as well. The result? Costa Rica has become the first country in the world to run their electrical grid completely on green energy for over 100 days now. The inspiring tale of Costa Rica can be the eye opener for every city or country that has been trying to make its mark in the green energy space. The sun-kissed city of Tampa which boasts tremendous renewable energy potentials can take cues from its Latin American sister and learn how they can reach beyond solar and tap the other natural resources such as the wind power, biomass, and heavy rainfall to generate a continuous flow of green electricity. Following are the highlights of Costa Rica’s inspiring journey toward energy independence:

With an ambitious goal of attaining energy independence, the country has been restructuring its power supply grid for quite some time. In their quest for energy independence, the Caribbean beauty has accessed all natural resources that she is blessed with. Consequently, Costa Rica ended in leveraging a massive mix of natural resources comprising hydropower from large river system fed by heavy tropical rainfall, geothermal energy, wind, and biomass.

The small country is braced for a big and overly ambitious target. After touching the 100-day milestone, the country is now aiming for a year without fossil fuels. It is all set to run its power grid completely on green electricity for an entire year. Going forward, the country aspires to gradually eschew fossil fuels. And it does not at all seem unlikely given the country’s steady strides towards this goal. Last year, Costa Rica managed to power its grid on renewable energy for 285 days, which means green sources accounted for 99 per cent of the country's electricity during this time.

Obviously, things have not always been that bright and the country had to put a lot of efforts to reach the pinnacle in the global green energy space. It took the Republic long planning and a lot of strategic endeavors to gradually shake off its heavy dependence on coal and natural gas. And in a few years time, the struggling nation significantly ramped up its use of solar, wind, and hydro power. The land of volcanoes aims to emerge a fossil fuel free nation in five years time to celebrate its 200 years of independence in 2021. The country can teach an important lesson to many other nations and cities like Tampa that have a rich supply of renewable resources. Recently, 73 percent of nearly 2.65 million voters cast their votes for Amendment 4 that supported eliminating property and equipment taxes for homes and business properties that install solar panels. This indeed is a big leap in the right direction.

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