Renewable Energy Transition and Globalisation in the Latin American and Caribbean Region: A Five-Decade Picture

This chapter addressed the process of renewable energy transition and globalisation in the Latin American and Caribbean region. The energy transition process in the region began in the 1970s in Brazil, with the Proalcool programme starting in 1975 after the first oil shock in 1973. The region has the largest share of hydroelectricity over total electricity generation globally, where this kind of energy source represents 55% of the energy mix, and it is a sizable proportion compared with the world average of 17%. However, since the end of the 1990s, the share of hydroelectricity has declined due to the development of other green energy sources (e.g., geothermal, solar, small hydro, wave, wind, and waste). Indeed, the process of globalisation in the Latin American and Caribbean region began in the 1970s in Chile, with trade and financial liberalisation. On the other hand, in many other countries of the region, the implementation of the neoliberal economic model took place during the “Washington Consensus” process. This adjustment occurred between 1989 and 1992, where Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Mexico, Uruguay, and Venezuela passed schemes of far-reaching trade and financial liberalisation, with the privatisation of significant portions of the public sector, liberalisation of foreign investment, reduction of import barriers, and the development of economic stabilisation programmes. However, this process of globalisation that began in the 1970s with trade and financial liberalisation intensified with a “commodities boom” that occurred between 2004 and 2014.