Renewable energy powers Chile’s subway system

A wind and solar power collaboration will soon provide Chile’s Metro de Santiago with 60 percent of its energy requirements.

We are seeing more and more sustainable energy initiatives designed for public consumption, such as traffic lights that give cyclists priority, and the world’s first wind-powered amusement park. California-based sustainable energy company SunPower recently announced its collaboration with Brazil-based Latin America Power. Together, they will provide Chile’s Metro de Santiago with clean energy, which will cover 60 percent of the transport system’s power needs.

SunPower will provide the solar power for 42 percent of the metro’s energy, and Latin America Power will provide wind power for 18 percent. Construction of the power plants is currently underway and is expected to finish in 2017, with the metro transitioning to renewable energy from 2018. The initial contract will supply Metro de Santiago with the renewable energy for 15 years. Transporting more than two million passengers per day, Santiago’s metro system is one of the longest in South America and will be a useful test of scale for a project of this type.

Is it possible for a city’s public transport to become completely carbon neutral?