Uruguay lies between Argentina and Brazil on the Atlantic Ocean and is home to about 3.5 million people. But this small country has made it to the top 5 in wind and solar energy producers worldwide. Rebecca Bertram reports The International Energy Agency (IEA) announced in October that the country is in fourth place globally, producing 36 percent of its electricity from wind and solar energy. First place in the IEA ranking list goes to international renewables champion Denmark (50 percent), followed by Lithuania (41 percent) and Luxemburg (37 percent). Including hydropower, Uruguay now produces more than 97 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources. The country has undergone a remarkable change in its energy sector in recent years: only twenty years ago, oil accounted for almost 30 percent of Uruguay’s imports and large bulks of electricity were imported from neighboring Argentina. The rapid diversification of its electricity sector began under former President Mujica who led the country between 2010 and 2015. For him, renewables, especially wind energy, were a way to cut electricity … Continue reading Uruguay, Latin America’s Renewable Champion