Leaders from across the Caribbean are meeting in Washington this week for the first-ever Caribbean Energy Summit, hosted by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden. In an email interview, Johanna Mendelson Forman, senior adviser at the Stimson Center, scholar-in-residence at American University and founder of the Latin American and Caribbean Council on Renewable Energy, discussed renewable energy in Latin America.
WPR: How extensive is renewable energy infrastructure in Latin America, and what countries have been most active in pursuing renewable energy?
Johanna Mendelson Forman: With the greenest energy matrix in the world, mainly due to the extensive use of hydropower, South America, Central America and the Caribbean have all been expanding their capacity to generate electricity from wind and solar. Wind power generation in Mexico and Brazil, in particular, experienced its highest growth yet in 2014. Investment and interest in geothermal energy is also growing, especially in Mexico.