NALAS Task Force on Energy Efficiency

Energy issues are high on the agendas of the policymakers, governments and international organizations. On 23 of January 2008, the European Commission presented Energy Package setting three objectives to be reached by the year 2020: 20% cut in CO2 emissions, 20% reduction in energy consumption and 20% of consumed energy to be from renewable energy. During its 15th Plenary Session, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities adopted the Recommendation 243 and Resolution 262 titled “Public local and regional action: for a new energy culture“. Numerous conferences focused on the energy issues, most importantly on the climate change and energy efficiency.

The energy challenges in the South-East Europe are not much different than in the rest of Europe. However, South-East Europe also suffers from severe economic and environmental problems caused by the inefficient and polluting energy systems in place. During the first meeting of the NALAS Task Force on Energy Efficiency, it was concluded that the deficits below are commonly present in the region. The group focuses on tackling those issues by proposing canges in the current legislation, encouraging better use of the available energy, collecting best practices and employing renewable energy sources.

Energy challenges commonly found in South East Europe

1. Current Legal framework is incomplete and partially contradictory;
2. Existing laws are not being implemented and many by-laws are missing;
3. Local energy strategies or plans are missing; there is no baseline data on current energy consumption;
4. Municipal district heating companies are overstaffed and undercapitalized with under-qualified management structures;
5. Energy prices are normally subsidized. Low prices encourage waste of energy and discourage many reasonable energy efficiency investments;
6. Collection rates (per cent of paid bills for delivered services) are unsatisfactory;
7. Air pollution from energy production is significantly above EU-standards;
8. Use of Renewable Energies is minimal due to lack of technical knowledge, missing legal provisions and subsidized prices for energy generated from fossil fuels;
9. Public awareness is low, specifically concerning the economic and environmental dimensions of energy efficiency;
10. Scientific capacity and expertise, which could be addressing the above deficits, is missing – especially regarding the legal and economic dimensions.