Costa Rica:

Guanacaste Geothermal Expansion Could Eliminate the Need to Burn Oil for Electricity in Costa Rica (Tico Times)

A crew works at a geothermal drilling site in Rincón de la Vieja National Park, in Guanacaste.
Workers handle machinery to remove cylinders from the site’s bore-hole. Alberto Font/The Tico Times

A proposal by lawmakers from Guanacaste seeks to build three geothermal plants inside the Rincón de la Vieja National Park. Opponents worry that drilling and producing geothermal energy there could damage the park’s protected land, and they are urging caution.

If all three plants are built, Costa Rica’s energy production could become 100 percent renewable. From 1990 to 2011, the Central American nation has averaged producing 6 percent of its energy from oil, according to the most recent data from the International Energy Agency (IEA). Since geothermal first came online in 1992 in Costa Rica, it has produced 12 percent of the country’s energy. Expansion proponents said the three sites would raise geothermal’s share by 10 percent, more than covering oil’s output. Costa Rica burns no other hydrocarbon for electricity. A major hurdle for the projects has been Costa Rica’s national park laws, which prohibit resource extraction.

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