This morning, we said goodbye to La Fortuna and headed towards Monteverde. On our way, we made stops at a wind turbine farm and Life Monteverde, a coffee plantation. At the wind farm, we got an up close example of one of Costa Rica’s renewable energy methods. These include wind, geothermal, and hydroelectric energy systems. Currently, Costa Rica’s energy is 99% renewable, making it one of the world’s leading nations in clean energy. 

This achievement is massive, but it also comes with challenges. Hydroelectric dams, such as the one in Lake Arenal, offer long-term, massive natural batteries for energy. However, this system is vulnerable to droughts which can result in blackouts like the one in the Central Valley a couple years ago. Meanwhile, geothermal plants more consistently work and don’t take up as much land, but they do have high investment costs. Finally, wind turbines take up less space, but they’re also vulnerable to low winds and can cause noise.

Overall, Costa Rica’s renewable energy has been largely beneficial. However, officials face the challenge of implementing more of these systems without large impact to the environment.