engleski

Renewable energy as a driver of economic growth

The new European energy strategy, so called energy-climate package, sets up ambitious goals of having 20% renewable energy in gross energy demand, reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20% and improve energy efficiency by 20% by 2020. One of the goals of this is to use the necessary need to reduce the influence on environment and increase the security of energy supply for opening new and better quality jobs, regional development and reindustrialization of the European economy. This is also a potential for new development of Croatian, and also southeast European economies, based on future inevitable investments that may be used to spearhead the local economy growth. Countries should approach this in an integral way, best for their individual economies. It will be necessary to lay down financial support mechanisms that will create both, supply and demand for new technologies. On one side, financial mechanisms that open the way to increased investment in renewables and energy efficiency are being put in practice, like feed-in tariffs, but others are needed to support innovative development of new technologies which create jobs in industry and academia. New financial mechanisms, often used in countries that successfully gain from increasing both supply and demand of renewables, are suggested. They would help finance the development of new products, by bringing together the research capacities of academia and industry, while in the same time avoiding extra budgetary strains. Most of renewable energy technology, especially those that will stem from application of Buildings directive, are quite simple and can be produced locally. Meanwhile, those technologies have high development costs, due to need to constantly innovate, which can then be supported through the suggested financial mechanism.

energy strategy; renewable energy

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