Scandinavian Sustainability

Countries all over the world are making major strides in renewable energy. Many nations are investing in new clean energy infrastructure that is allowing them to supply enough power to meet their energy needs by great percentages, if not entirely.

On February 22nd, Denmark generated enough energy with its wind turbines to power the entire country for the day. An especially windy day allowed the turbines to generate 97 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of energy. 70 of those GWh came from onshore wind turbines and the remaining 27 GWh from offshore installations. All of this power, generated from a single type of renewable energy, is enough to power 10 million average EU homes.

This boost in wind power generation is partly thanks to a new offshore wind turbine installation that was able to break the record for the most energy generated by a single turbine in a 24-hour period.

Global Efforts

Many European countries have been sharing similar accomplishments. Wind Europe spokesman Oliver Joy said, “In 2016 we saw the UK was powered without coal for 12 and a half hours, Germany went some days on renewable, and Portugal went four straight days on renewable.

It shows energy transition is underway in Europe and arguably further ahead than anywhere else in the world.”

Scotland has also been investing heavily in renewable energy with wind turbines that could power every household for an entire month. Last year, the country also launched the world’s first large-scale tidal power farm that has to potential to power 175,000 homes.

Costa Rica is one of the most impressive countries to look at in terms of renewable energy. It’s is able to run entirely on renewable energy for months at a time. In fact, in 2015 the country met 99 percent of its total energy need from renewable sources alone.