Optimist Daily: How Uruguay Achieved 98% Renewable Energy

During the 2000s, as global fossil fuel costs skyrocketed, Uruguay faced a tremendous issue. Uruguay, heavily reliant on foreign oil and paying exorbitant prices to for electricity from neighboring countries, found itself in an energy crisis. (Then) physicist Ramón Méndez Galain, spearheaded a radical shift towards clean energy - wind and hydropower. Today, Uruguay is a witness to a nearly complete transition away from fossil fuels in power production. Depending on weather conditions, the country generates between 90 and 95 percent of its power from renewable sources, sometimes even reaching 98 percent. Also, the concept of a ‘just transition‘ became essential in order to ensure that no one was left behind. Contrary to what people expected, rather than job losses, nearly 50,000 new work opportunities arose (and) poverty dropped from 40% to 10%. Read MORE.