A nice place to discuss rumors, happenings, innovations, and challenges in the technology sphere. We also welcome discussions on the intersections of technology and society. If it’s technological news or discussion of technology, it probably belongs here.
Remember the overriding ethos on Beehaw: Be(e) Nice. Each user you encounter here is a person, and should be treated with kindness (even if they’re wrong, or use a Linux distro you don’t like). Personal attacks will not be tolerated.
Subcommunities on Beehaw:
This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.
12% of Uruguay's GDP into renewables to get there. That's impressive.
12% of the US' GDP would be 2.7 trillion dollars. Or a bit more than 3 years of the US millitary budget.
It’s not even quite that - the article suggested they raised the commercial equivalent of the 12% through competitive auction. These allow the bidders a set price over 20 years.
So it’s cheaper than buying in fossil fuels, the suppliers get certainty, and they achieve close to complete decarbonisation using private investment.
How good is that?
I think private investment is awful but I'm being dogmatic in that stance.
If we want to split hairs, the US power grid is also privately owned and allowed bidders to set the price forever.
But one is decarbonizing and the other is not.
Additional sources:
International Trade Administration: https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/uruguay-renewable-energy-equipment
DW: https://www.dw.com/en/uruguay-leads-green-energy-charge-in-latin-america/a-59492982
NPR: https://www.tspr.org/2023-11-10/uruguay-is-a-renewable-energy-utopia-how-did-it-get-there