Ramón Mendez Galain is the man most responsible for Uruguay being the first country to consistently utilize over 90% renewable energy. He discusses how he ended up in that roll, the choices he made to succeed, and his determination to bring the same success to other nations, all a part of the interview with David Roberts on Volts.
Legend.
And I’m sure the remaining 20% can simply be eliminated by getting rid of excess and wasteful discretionary consumption.
Uruguay regularly gets to 98%, weather permitting. He believes most places are capable of that, and ALL places are capable of 80. Im inclined to agree. Mind you, Uruguay is not a rich country. But they are saving tons of money by cutting down their oil rents
Unfortunately that’s not how the other 20% works. Cleaning up the grid and eliminating wasteful energy are both important things to do but don’t always overlap in terms of outcomes.
When dealing with grids with lots of renewable energy, that first 80% is the easiest because you aren’t nearly as concerned with seasonal variations in availability.
Eliminating waste doesnt change the fact that you might see a week or more of clouds and low winds in the winter making it hard (not impossible, but exponentially more expensive) to close the gap.
And eliminating wasteful energy use in times of relative excess availability doesnt change the fact that you may still need to power your fridge or a heater in the winter.
That’s what you get if you chose actual scientists as ministers of energy. Proper politics directed towards decarbonizing in a sustainable way. I’m jealous.
But Uruguay has 55% renewable power of its primary energy demand.
