The thing that really pisses me off is that governments in the past worked SO HARD to argue that renewable energy could never work.
In this, possibly the best possible environment for it, it works 80% of the time.
Costa Rica Has Run on 100% Renewable Electricity for 299 Days
181–190 of 305 posts
Re: Costa Rica Has Run on 100% Renewable Electricity for 299 Days
#182We really need two words for renewables: one for types that scale but don't provide power on demand (wind, solar), and the other for types that provide power on demand but aren't available at scale everywhere (hydro, geothermal). Costa Rica is blessed with plenty of the second type and uses it. Because we lump it all into "renewables," it sounds like it should be easy for everyone to follow their example, and that's…
I'll concede it's not a typical country since the weather is pretty unique, but Scotland is ~97% renewable and ~75% wind. It's well suited for some parts of the world at least.
>but Scotland is ~97% renewable ...
They aren't. The 97% renewable claim is misleading. Scotland can generate huge amount of wind/solar energy at certain times of day that they cannot use, and therefore they have to rely on fossil fuels for evenings and nights and any time sun isn't shining and wind isn't blowing.
Their actual renewable *consumption* is on the order of 30%.
Re: Costa Rica Has Run on 100% Renewable Electricity for 299 Days
#183Earlier quoted context omitted.
Seems like an opportunity for a massive battery system similar to the Hornsdale Power Reserve in Australia that Tesla pulled out all the stops for.
"Massive" Honsdale battery is capable of supplying much less than 1% of grid power in Australia. An installation of that size could help at the margins to prevent some brownout events, but don't overestimate the capacity of batteries compared to grid demand. It looks like Costa Rica has about 3600 MW of generating capacity. The Hornsdale battery is good for 150 MW.
Worth noting that of that 150MW, only about 70MW over 10 minutes is available to the government to stabilize the grid. The remaining capacity is reserved for the Neoen (the privately owned energy company running the facility) to buffer energy prices by storing excess energy when prices are low.
Re: Costa Rica Has Run on 100% Renewable Electricity for 299 Days
#184Costa Rica is a small country with hardly any industry and abundant amounts of hydro power. The country’s whole electricity demand is about 1.82 GW according to electricitymap.org with around 1.5 GW from hydropower and the rest mostly from geothermal power. 1.82 GW is a little more than a single EPR reactor. Just for comparison.
Just for comparison, France has 25 GW of hydro electricity , it’s the second largest hydro producer in Europe behind Sweden.
Hydro only cover 15% of France total electricity demand.
It’s indeed all about scale.
Re: Costa Rica Has Run on 100% Renewable Electricity for 299 Days
#185Earlier quoted context omitted.
I haven't read those books, but a priori it sounds like cherry picking. Mexico for example had a revolution which gave the land to the people and is a country that, over a century later, is still struggling with corruption, ignorance, superstition, etc. I've been living in Mexico for 12 years and IMO it all comes down to poor education like the grandparent comment by belval suggested. As an example, take the current…
Systems of exploitation tend to be durable and adaptable over time, producing similar outcomes even if the overall shape appears to change drastically. For example, the U.S. Constitution’s 13th Amendment freed the slaves, but included an exception on forced labor for those convicted of a crime. Surprise surprise, former Confederate states make up crimes (like loitering) that are only enforced on Black people, and the…
> Systems of exploitation tend to be durable and adaptable over time, producing similar outcomes even if the overall shape appears to change drastically.
Yes, because the fundamental problem is changing the culture, not the "shape".
In Mexico (the example I know first hand) corruption is definitely a cultural problem. It happens at all levels because it is culturally acceptable to bend/ignore the rules for personal gain.
There's even a saying in Mexico which is "el que no transa no avanza". It translates to something like "the one who doesn't cheat, doesn't move forward in life".
Re: Costa Rica Has Run on 100% Renewable Electricity for 299 Days
#186Earlier quoted context omitted.
I haven't read those books, but a priori it sounds like cherry picking. Mexico for example had a revolution which gave the land to the people and is a country that, over a century later, is still struggling with corruption, ignorance, superstition, etc. I've been living in Mexico for 12 years and IMO it all comes down to poor education like the grandparent comment by belval suggested. As an example, take the current…
The book has sections about Mexico as well. The basic gist is that the fundamental institutions that result in the inequality have persisted, even if the government has been overturned several times. The overarching theme of the book is about what types of incentives result from various types of institutions, and how positive and negative feedback loops can form therein. Ultimately, Mexico has suffered significantly…
I would like to read more about this. Which of the two books has this chapter on Mexico?
Re: Costa Rica Has Run on 100% Renewable Electricity for 299 Days
#187Is there an easy answer as to why Costa Rica is doing so well? They seem to be a bit of an exception in Central/South America. EDIT: From Wikipedia "It is known for its long-standing and stable democracy, and for its highly educated workforce, most of whom speak English. The country spends roughly 6.9% of its budget (2016) on education, compared to a global average of 4.4%. Its economy, once heavily dependent on agri…
>Is there an easy answer as to why Costa Rica is doing so well? Yes. Anytime you see an article that says "X country runs on 100% renewable" ... it's hydro-electric power every time. So if your country is blessed with a type of geography that makes hydro electric power viable, you're golden! Solar and Wind cannot power a modern economy without fossil fuel back-up.
I'm ignorant - why can't solar and wind provide enough power? What about somewhere like Arizona/Nevada/Utah?
Re: Costa Rica Has Run on 100% Renewable Electricity for 299 Days
#1881) best possible natural conditions for renewables 2) import most things that require energy to make 3) transportation isn't electric 4) small population 5) works 80% of the year Sure. Sounds great. Doesn't seem generalisable?
Costa Rica’s answer to #2 is particularly high import taxes[0], discouraging an import consumption economy for most but the rich or tourists/expats.
Re: Costa Rica Has Run on 100% Renewable Electricity for 299 Days
#189The thing that really pisses me off is that governments in the past worked SO HARD to argue that renewable energy could never work.
>The thing that really pisses me off is that governments in the past worked SO HARD to argue that renewable energy could never work.
Nobody ever denied the fact that Hydro is viable. You're getting confused by the misleading title because you think that it's wind and solar that is powering Costa Rica .. it isn't. It's hydro.
Re: Costa Rica Has Run on 100% Renewable Electricity for 299 Days
#190Earlier quoted context omitted.
>So long as you can raise an army at some future point in time should the need arise, this issue seems moot. By the time you could cobble together an army any modern military would have already conquered you, especially if you have super strict civilian firearm laws like Costa Rica that make putting together defensive militias much, much harder.
But no one else has a standing army in this scenario so there is no such modern military that can conquer you before you can remilitarize. The moment one country starts militarizing in a world without militaries, you know their intentions and can start remilitarizing to counter. But let's say Costa Rica had a standing army - are they going to stop that modern military from conquering them? Probably not, so why waste…
Germany, between WWI & WWII, officially has no military to worry about. Was able to create a Europe-conquering army very quickly.