Slavonia Districts Don’t Stimulate Use of Renewable Energy

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The survey on renewable energy sources in Slavonia, presented on October 11, 2012, in Osijek, shows that the local self-government units in the five districts in Slavonia (the easternmost region in Croatia) don’t offer sufficient stimulation for renewable energy projects and that the renewable energy potentials in the region are seriously underused.

Danijel Rodik from the Society for Sustainable Development Design said that the survey demonstrates that Slavonian districts don't offer subsidies for individuals who want to build sollar collectors and biomass powerplant installations, which is regular practice in several other districts in Croatia. He added that Slavonia lacks proper administration bodies and agencies that could co-finance such projects.

"In the districts in this region there are not enough such agencies. Those which are active have not started implementing such projects yet, and we recommend to them to use the funds available from European facilities and Croatian Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund”, Rodik said at the presentation of the Survey.

Rodik added that just five cities and municipalities in the area covered by the survey - Beli Manastir, Belišće, Donji Miholjac, Osijek and Vinkovci – signed the European Convention on Sustainable Energy Action Plans which should lead to sustainable development in the energy sector.

Rodik called on the districts to recognize biomass energy as a great and underused renewable energy potential, and on all local self-government units to ensure greater participation of non-governmental organisations in the preparation of plans and programmes in the energy sector.

Kruno Kartus from the Osijek Environmental Press Centre said that such projects aim to stimulate public participation in local level decision-making processes and to ensure that local communities will base their development on renewable sources of energy.

The survey was conducted by the team of Energy Institute „Hrvoje Požar“, under the auspices of „Public Advocacy and Monitoring of Renewable Energy Sources Policies“ project, implemented by the Society for Sustainable Energy Design, in cooperation with several other associations. (Source: HINA/Zamirzine.net)