How Much of Costa Rica's Energy Comes From Renewable Sources?
Costa Rica has lots of renewable energy. In fact, until a couple of years ago, it got nearly 99 percent of all its electrical energy from clean sources. However, due to a drought in 2007, Costa Rica was forced to rely on fossil fuels to operate supplementary diesel power plants.
Still, Costa Rica is planning to become completely carbon neutral by 2021 and has plans to phase out diesel plants with additional hydroelectric plants. Costa Rica has oil deposits along its Caribbean coast, but has chosen not to develop the deposits due to environmental reasons.
The mountainous terrain and abundant rainfall has permitted Costa Rica to develop dozens of hydroelectric power plants, which account for 78 percent of all of Costa Rica's energy needs. Wind and bio-mass systems account for 3 percent, geothermal for 13 percent, and the remaining amount is derived from hydrocarbons. Currently Costa Rica is meeting about 94 percent of its energy needs from renewable sources.
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