Climate change is especially hard on islands. This can be seen from the increase in the number of hurricanes that occurred during the last decade. As a result, countries such as Puerto Rico and Jamaica are struggling with humanitarian crises. Luckily, the deployment of renewable energies is a way to make the situation better for all the people involved. Let’s take a look at the strategies that are being implemented in both the Caribbean islands.

At the moment, only around 3% of the power used by Puerto Rico comes from renewable energy sources. It has been estimated that the country has enough resources to satisfy over a third of its electricity demand using only wind and solar sources. But how would this help the country to solve the issues caused by climate change? First of all, using renewables would rid the island of its need for imported oil. Since this is extremely expensive, switching to cheaper renewable energies would provide the country with more resources to fight the humanitarian crises. Also, it would create more jobs that in turn would make Puerto Rico even more independent.

When it comes to Jamaica, the situation is even better. In 2009, it implemented a strategy that was devised by the government, the purpose of which was to increase the use of renewable energies by 30%. This is made possible by the fact that the island has enough wind, hydro and solar plants to generate 72 MW of energy. As a result, the country will be able to significantly reduce the amount it spends on imported petroleum, which is a whopping 9% of GDP. With $1.3 billion more each year, Jamaica will be able to transform its economy.

For both islands, the transition to renewable energy could be a real investment in the future of both the economy and the people living there.

Another interesting example of perfect geothermal power plant integration is the one made in conjunction by the Italian company Exergy and the Portuguese one CME for EDA RENOVÁVEIS on the stunning Terceira Island, Azores Islands, which demonstrates once again how geothermal can become a fundamental resource for more and more islands. To learn more visit the official Exergy website.


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