Overall, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has traditionally been a world leader in the use of renewable energy sources for power generation (mainly hydro power), with important sub-regional differences, but the use of fossil fuels grew rapidly in the late 1900s. There have been many initiatives on renewables and energy efficiency on the part of governments and local organizations, supported by multilateral development banks, UN organizations, international NGOs.
The recent development of non-traditional renewable energies (wind, solar, geothermal, modern biomass) is helping meet important development goals (growth, access, affordability) with a lower impact on greenhouse gas emissions. There are still important challenges related to investment climate, business model financing, but there are many lessons to share, both on what works and what doesn´t work.
