Sustainable energy topics: an overview from Central America

The Economics and Environment for Development Program (EEfD) carry out a review of policy relevant documents and countries initiatives on environment and development topics in Central America. The policy review addresses the issue of sustainable energy from two different perspectives. One approach considers energy in its broad spectrum and as a national sector of relevance, while the other one focuses on the relevance of implementing sustainable energies under a climate change context (EEfD 2016)1. Despite the difficulty of separating these two perspectives, this brief focus first on energy as an independent sector and the implications it has at national and regional levels while describing the diversification of the energy matrix and electrification of rural areas. Then, we address the relevance of implementing renewable energies under the context of extreme weather events. We conclude the brief with an example of the implementation of EEfD research in Costa Rica.