Costa Rica is leading by example as it relates to limiting fossil fuel usage & replacing it with sustainable energy. Per sciencealert.com For the past two months the small Central American country has managed to run completely on renewable energy for 76 straight days between June and August this year. Their primary source of energy has been hydropower, which made up a little over 60% of its renewable electricity; while the rest was a combination of geothermal, wind, and solar energy. Geothermal plants are the second largest source of energy making up 12.62% of its renewable energy with plans to build more geothermal plants in the future. This is the second time that Costa Rica has managed to go over 2 months without using any type of fossil fuel energy. Furthermore, Costa Rican officials have announced the countries goal of being carbon neutral (A net zero carbon footprint in the atmosphere) by 2021, something that would make leaders of the Venus Project very happy.
Despite the major strides that Costa Rica has made in its use of sustainable energy; detractors in “First World” countries will claim that it’s not possible to emulate what Costa Rica has done due to the countries small size & population which does not demand the same amount of energy as larger countries like the US & Europe. Another factor that helps Costa Rica is it’s tropical environment with heavy rainfall that’s conducive to efficient hydropower. Unlike industrious countries like the US & China, Costa Rica doesn’t rely on major manufacturing businesses that require an excess amount of energy, primarily agriculture & tourism is what drives Costa Rica’s economy. Although larger capitalistic countries have a higher demand for energy use, it does not mean that the China’s & America’s of the world can’t learn from how Costa Rica operates not just in energy, but how it operates in other forms of government spending. For example, one thing about Costa Rica that might prove revolutionary in time is the fact that their country has no military. No seriously, Costa Rica does not have a military. Compare that to a country like America, which has a yearly military budget of $596 BILLION DOLLARS, Costa Rica is definitely doing some very smart & practical things to ensure their country remains peaceful & sufficient while being cognizant of climate change, which is something every country in the world should try to do.
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