Oil refinery in Spain
Denmark has introduced a series of policies related to renewable energy, energy efficiency and climate change. The country’s goal is to become completeley independent of fossil fuels by 2050.
Colombia is strong in energy security and economic growth and development. The country recently saw a large increase in investment and exploration among its oil and gas sector. Although these factors give Colombia high marks in self-sufficiency, its environmental sustainability score suffered as a result. Among the top ten countries in the index, Colombia achieved the lowest score in environmental sustainability.
Spain, Europe’s fifth-largest energy consumer, has made some big investments in wind and solar power. But it’s still a major consumer of fossil fuels and imports 99% of is oil and gas. Although not mentioned in the report, Spain has also made some moves toward shale gas production. It’s believed the country has vast shale resources.
“Costa Rica has established itself as a world leader in renewable energy, with considerable investment in developing and expanding renewable energy capacity, especially wind power,” the WEF report reads. This small Latin American country derives 52% of its total primary energy supply and 99% of its electricity from renewables. Costa Rica’s government has set itself the goal of becoming the world’s first carbon neutral country.
Latvia made its way to the index’s top-ten by reducing the overall energy intensity of the economy and by making energy affordable. It achieved this through liberalizations of the energy sector improvements in energy efficiency.