Costa Rica launches its “Green New Deal”, an economy-wide plan to decarbonise the country.
Costa Rica’s President, Carlos Alvarado, presented the “Green New Deal”, the national plan to achieve full decarbonisation by 2050.
Costa Rica, whose national electricity grid runs almost entirely on renewable energy, i.e. mostly hydroelectric power, but also wind, solar and geothermal sources, now needs to develop its passenger and freight transport system by introducing electric vehicles.
The cars and motorcycles crowding the nation’s roads are constantly growing in number and turn out to be highly polluting as they are also quite old with an average of 17 years per vehicle. It is in this context that the Deal plans for a third of the fleet of public buses to be electrical by 2035 (with the change-over to be completed by 2050). This will be made possible by setting up several recharging stations. Citizens will be granted significant incentives when purchasing electrical and hybrid vehicles, which will add up to what they are currently enjoying in terms of road tax exemption and reduced customs duties.
President Alvarado recently highlighted the significant results obtained by Costa Rica in terms of generating renewable energy-driven power, ranking the country as the world’s second-best.
BRAZIL LAUNCHES A CALL FOR TENDERS FOR THE PIRACICABA-PANORAMA HIGHAWAY CONCESSION
Joao Doria, governor of the Sao Paulo State, launched his mandate’s first call for tenders for a highway concession. The lot is to link the Campinas region and will go through 62 municipalities starting in the city of Piracicaba all the way to Panorama, a city on the border with Mato Grosso in the South.
The project entails an investment of approximately nine billion real over a 30 year-period. It envisages the expansion and modernization of the entire 1,201 km highway network .
The new call for tenders should cut current highway toll by up to 20%. The new concession holder will have to upgrade the network to structurally meet consumers’ demand, vehicle traffic and comply with security criteria.
The overarching goal is to upgrade the entire network through the installation of internet connectivity – WI-FI , cameras and a system allowing for the collection of information in real time with special reference to traffic volumes, weather conditions and vehicle speed.
