Low-carbon society must be main national goal

Energy policy is being planned for the next twenty years, with consideration for forty years in the future, infrastructure minister Peter Gašperšič said, presenting the government’s draft Energy Concept of Slovenia at Ljubljana’s Faculty of Electrical Engineering. „We agreed with the transition to a low-carbon society when we accepted international obligations, however we must not see it as a demanding process of transforming the society, but as a challenge to create opportunities to develop welfare in the society,“ he was quoted in a report on his ministry’s website. It is necessary for the directions and measures in the energy sector to be harmonized with related policies as much as possible, Gašperčič said.

Transfer to a low-carbon society includes reducing total emissions by 80% through 2050, from the 1990 levels, the minister added, stressing that the plan is to achieve sustainable electricity generation, alter the structure and increase the share of renewable sources, increase energy efficiency, reduce dependence on fossil fuels imports and to switch from fossil to low-carbon energy sources. Energy concept of Slovenia will be finished by the end of the year, Gašperčič said. The draft document is in a process of public disclosure of opinions until mid-August and it includes a plan to reduce emissions by 40% through 2035.

National statistics bureau said that in 2013, the share of renewable sources was 17%, six percentage points more than in 2003, where wood and other biomass contributed with 51% in renewables. Hydropower is in second place with 35%, while the share of other sources was increasing. For instance, solar power generation increased 215-fold in five years, official statistics showed.