Costa Rica's Electricity Has Run Entirely on Renewables For 300 Days in 2017

Costa Rica has done it again. In January, the Central American country announced it had powered its electricity for a stunning 250 days in 2016 without burning fossil fuels. Now its 2017 effort has already eclipsed that feat – and it's still only November.

So far this year, Costa Rica has clocked up 300 days where 100 percent of its electricity generation came from renewable energy sources – no small accomplishment for a nation comprised of some 5 million people.

According to figures provided by Costa Rica's National Centre for Energy Control, 99.62 percent of the country's electricity production is now generated from five renewable sources.

Leading the charge is hydropower, which provides 78.26 percent of Costa Rican electricity, followed by wind (10.29 percent), geothermal energy (10.23 percent), biomass and solar (0.84 percent), and hydrocarbons (0.38 percent).

Read the Science Alert story - “Costa Rica's Electricity Has Run Entirely on Renewables For 300 Days in 2017.”