No. 6

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Sustainable Energy Sources and the EU

17 December 2002

Studies

RiTo No. 6, 2002

  • Jaan Tepp

    European studies, Master's student

Upon Estonia’s accession to the EU and in consideration of the ratified Kyoto agreement, the Riigikogu and government need to support electricity production from sustainable sources alongside oil shale-based production.

The main aim of the Republic’s energy policy is to furnish consumers with every type of fuel and energy source at the lowest possible price without harming the environment.

This will require economically justified compromises in terms of security of supply and price, and expenditures involved in cleaning up and preventing damage to the environment. The cheapest energy source is not necessarily the most environmentally friendly. Switching to cleaner energy sources in the required amounts without creating the necessary preconditions is not justified. The security of supply increases when the amount of in-bought fuels decreases.

Replacing domestic fossil fuels with cleaner imported fuels will reduce environmental harm in the energy sector, at the same time that it increases the state’s political dependence, as a result of economic dependence. At the same time, the state would be destabilized by unemployment from the jobs lost, which coupled with political dependence could jeopardize statehood. An unstable and codependent state will not meet EU conditions.

Estonia can increase its security of supply through the use of sustainable energy sources. Sustainable sources reduce environmental harm and ensure decentralization of the energy sector. The whole world is moving in a similar direction, a fact foreseen by the industry’s long-term action plan, which called for tax breaks for investors and producers of alternative energy.

Full article in Estonian

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