Officials from the Public Works and Transport Ministry hope the new solar-powered traffic lights will help prevent accidents and traffic jams in San José.
Following a record period of 94 days running exclusively on clean energy, the Costa Rican Electricity Institute was forced to burn fuel to generate electricity in August.
Costa Rica in 2014 earned some $3.6 million by selling its surplus electricity to other Central American countries, ARESEP reported. Business leaders hope ICE will again sell excess hydroenergy to neighboring countries, and in turn, lower electrity costs in Costa Rica.
Workers from the state-run Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) on Thursday finished placing the last layer of rock and earth that will support the Reventazón hydroelectric project, which when completed will become the largest in Central America.
In the ongoing process to provide all electricity consumers in Costa Rica the ability to generate energy from small-scale renewable sources and exchange it on the national grid for kilowatt credits, the Public Services Regulatory Authority (ARESEP) on Oct. 2 approved a methodology proposal for how to calculate rates at which those credits will be issued.
Despite Costa Rica’s talk of its commitment to promoting consumer-based renewable energy sources to produce electricity, the country is lagging in its efforts. One setback involves the country’s electricity distributors, who some say are dragging their feet on requirements to offer customers the option of connecting to the national grid with small-scale electricity generation projects from renewable sources.
Harley, the manufacturer of road hogs famous for roaring throttles, said in June it's considering selling a relatively quiet, electric motorcycle. It's now showcasing the bikes on a 30-city tour to seek feedback and drum up interest among people like Tyler Dean, who cares about the environment and can spread the word about his likes on social media like Twitter and Instagram.
This Sunday, people in 2,500 cities in 100 countries will march for action on climate change. Costa Ricans will join the “People’s Climate March,” as it’s being billed, with their own protest in front of the U.S. Embassy in San José. The event takes place ahead of the U.N. Climate Summit 2014 in New York.
Geothermal energy, the productive use of the vast quantity of thermal energy within Earth's crust, is one of the few renewable, low-carbon emission energy sources that can consistently generate power 24-hours a day, irrespective of the season.
