Islandia, Uruguay, Costa Rica, and Norway are four countries that can already boast of generating all their energy from renewable sources. While it’s true that 100% isn’t yet achieved for every one of the 365 days of the year, indeed, dirty energy sources are already marginal in these countries!
In this post, we tell you which countries are leaders in renewable energy!
Iceland is a country that, first and foremost, consumes a lot of energy per capita, which is quite understandable considering the low temperatures throughout the year. It has also been a historically poor nation. In fact, until the 1970s, it was classified as a developing country by the United Nations.
Its economy has always been based on fishing and agriculture. And, as for energy sources, it has always been based on fossil fuels, mainly imported.
Thus, Iceland, with a population of 360,000, radically transformed its conventional energy mix to domestic renewable energy sources.
Renewables exceeded 99% of energy production in the 1980s and have continued to do so ever since. Today, all of Iceland’s electricity is generated by hydropower and geothermal energy!
Before we knew it, the energy was on the island itself, and it was free and clean. Volcanoes provide geothermal energy in abundant quantities. And, on the other hand, hydropower is the other most important source of supply.
It’s worth noting that Iceland is the first country in the world in per capita energy consumption, with 194.2 megawatts per hour (almost seven times more than Spain). And the first in the world in electricity demand per capita, with 54.7 (almost 10 times more than Spain).
Uruguay is a country of 3.4 million inhabitants that is setting an example to the world on how to take advantage of clean energy sources. Above all, it takes advantage of the potential of its rivers for hydroelectric generation and is also making a major investment effort in this area, as it dedicates 3% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annually to a global plan for energy reorientation towards renewable power sources.
As a result of all this, already in 2016, it exceeded 90% of renewable generation and in 2018, it was the first country in South America to electricity production from renewable sources, with 97%.
The latest data from Uruguay’s state-owned electricity company, UTE, are very encouraging, indicating that 98% of the electricity consumed in the country in 2019 came from renewable sources. Some 55.6% came from hydroelectric power plants, another 33.6% from wind and solar energy installations, 6% from biomass, 2.8% from photovoltaic energy, and 2% from solar power.
Costa Rica, a paradisiacal country blessed by nature, has 5.5 million inhabitants.
It currently generates more than 99% of its renewable electricity from five different renewable sources: hydroelectric (78%), wind power (10%), geothermal (10%), biomass, and solar energy (1%).
The main one is, as in the previous case, hydroelectric, which, according to the Costa Rican Electricity Institute, ICE, generates 78% of electricity.
Costa Rica has also opted to incentivize the purchase of electric cars by eliminating taxes.
It will also promote the creation of an infrastructure of charging stations throughout the country, hoping that the development of more autonomous and cheaper batteries will do the rest. In addition to optimizing the public transport service with the adoption of an electric train with a capacity of 250,000 people.
Norway (5 million inhabitants) is the European benchmark for sustainable energy sources. In 2018, Norway approached 100% year-round renewable production, and its main source is hydropower, responsible for more than 96% of the total generated.
It was the Norwegian fjords and energy from water power that started Norway on its successful clean energy path as early as the late 19th century.
The rest of the supply comes from wind, solar panels, and biofuels, albeit to a lesser extent.
Norway is also a world leader in green transport, not only by land but also by sea (some of the first electric ships operate there), and in less than a decade it has set out to completely turn its mobility around by going electric.
Were you surprised to see these countries on the list?
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