Renewable energy in South America

South America is blessed with the greatest biodiversity on the planet, making it a very important place in terms of conservation and eco-friendliness. Currently, its model of economic development is based mainly on the intensive exploitation and export of natural resources, which leads to exhausted ecosystems. But things are slowly started to change.

When considering South American environmental issues, is important to have a clear understanding of the continent’s importance in the world. Latin America gives home to roughly 23% of the world’s total forests, 46% of the tropical forests, around 50% of the biodiversity, and is also responsible for 12% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. These are just a few of the important facts, but even these are more than enough to demonstrate that South America is a very significant region in regard to global environmental change. Especially when these changes manifest in the form of tropical deforestation, loss of biodiversity, and climate change.

Although South American countries are exempt from the restrictions of the Kyoto Protocol, green technologies and renewable energy are gaining more and more support, and are ever-increasingly shaping the future of the continent. Countries like Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Chile are already pioneering the way for an eco-friendly Latin America. For example, Brazil’s renewables market scale and proactive energy policies are steadily pushing Latin America from sporadic projects to stable market growth, especially in terms of wind power. To say the least, Brazil already generates 74% of its electrity from renewables.

South America remains a developing continent, with heavy economic and environmental issues, so a continental eco-movement should not be expected any time soon. Nonetheless, there are bursts of green-thinking here and there, and if countries like Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Chile continue their push for investments in renewables and eco-friendly solutions, the continent has all the potential needed to develop into a Latin America that’s so sustainable, that it’ll make all other continents green with eco envy.