Stronger hurricanes driven by climate change are pushing Puerto Rico to hunt for better renewable energy options.
. While efforts are underway to restore power locally, there’s been a revival of interest in transitioning to renewable energy—from leaders igniting conversations to locals rallying protests. Experts say diversifying the grid will help to “climatize” the energy system, reducing the chances of another island-wide blackout while simultaneously cutting residents’ carbon footprint and energy costs.
“We had a very fragile grid before the hurricane, and we hadn’t made the long-term repairs that needed to be made,” explains , the policy director and general counsel at the Center for a New Economy in Puerto Rico. “But it’s old technology, and eventually the entire world needs to move to renewables due to climate change.”mandating 100 percent of the island’s electricity come from renewable sources like solar and wind-powered facilities by 2050. While that’s still decades away, the territory has struggled to ramp up renewable energy use and phase out fossil fuel.
However, Marxuach acknowledges there are some challenges to creating an interconnected energy grid. For one, there’s been debate on how much renewable energy can be incorporated to the island right now, and whether Puerto Rico has the energy storage technology to overturn the entire system. Another issue is the geography of the island.
“In Puerto Rico, everyone is talking about electricity, because people have been suffering from poor [utility] service all the time,” Lainfiesta explains. Costs are topping 30 cents per kilowatt hour for an unreliable grid, “and the most vulnerable population are mostly the ones paying for it,” he adds. The silver lining is that the recent hurricanes have motivated people in Puerto Rico, and possibly others worldwide, to talk and make real efforts to adopt renewable energy.
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