Search

In the light of European energy-climate package and its measures for increasing security of supply, decreasing the impact on environment and stimulating sustainability, Croatia as a new EU (European Union) member state needs to reconsider and develop new energy policy towards energy efficiency and renewable energy sources. Croatian long-term energy demand and its effect on the future national GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions are analysed in this paper. For that purpose the NeD model was constructed (National energy demand model). The model is comprised out of six modules, each representing one sector: industry, transport, households, services, agriculture and construction. The model is based on bottom up approach. The analysis has shown that energy policy measures, identified through this paper, can potentially achieve energy savings up to 157 PJ in the year 2050, which presents a 40% decrease to referent (frozen efficiency) scenario. Results obtained in this paper were also compared to the Croatian National Energy Strategy for the years 2020 and 2030. It was shown that if already implemented policies were properly taken into account the actual final energy demand for the year 2030 would be 43% lower than projected by the Croatian National Energy Strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The transport sector in Croatia represents one of the largest consumers of energy today, with a share of almost one third of the country's final energy demand. Considering this fact, it is very challenging to assess future trends influencing that demand. In this paper, long-term energy demand predictions for the Croatian transport sector are presented. Special emphasis is given to different influencing mechanisms, both legal and financial. The energy demand predictions presented in this paper are based on an end-use simulation model developed and tested with Croatia as a case study. The model incorporates the detailed modal structure of the Croatian transport sector, including road, rail, air, public and water transport modes. Four long-term energy demand scenarios were analysed till the year 2050; frozen efficiency, implementation of EU legislation, electrification and modal split. Based on that analysis, significant savings can be achieved through energy efficiency improvements, electrification of personal vehicles fleet as well as gradual modal split. Comparing the frozen efficiency scenario and electrification scenario for the year 2050, it can be concluded that energy consumption, with the heavy electrification of personal vehicles fleet, can be cut by half. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Following a strategic orientation towards sustainable development, the Government of the Republic of Croatia has changed its energy legislation and has put forward a framework for the systematic development and increased use of renewable energy sources and cogeneration. This paper focuses on changes in the regulatory context relevant to the cogeneration sector and also analyses the impact of energy market transition on cogeneration viability in municipal district heating, industry, services and the residential sector. Particular attention has been paid to the expected changes of heat, electricity and gas prices. We present a simple model for quantitative prediction of the cogeneration system profitability at different power levels under given national circumstances. Our findings support a need for a strong institutional support for initial penetration of the micro-cogeneration technologies into the Croatian energy system. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The effective and rational energy generation and supply is one of the main presumptions of sustainable development. Combined heat and power production, or co-generation, has clear environmental advantages by increasing energy efficiency and decreasing carbon emissions. However, higher investment cost and more complicated design and maintenance sometimes-present disadvantages from the economical viability point of view. As in the case of most of economies in transition in Central and Eastern Europe, Croatia has a strong but not very efficient co-generation sector, delivering 12% of the final energy consumption. District heating systems in the country''s capital Zagreb and in city of Osijek represent the large share of the overall co-generation capacity. Besides district heating, co-generation in industry sector is also relatively well developed. The paper presents an attempt to assess the sustainability of Croatian co-generation sector future development. The sustainability assessment requires multi-criteria assessment of specific scenarios to be taken into consideration. In this respect three scenarios of Croatian co-generation sector future development are taken into consideration and for each of them environmental, social and economic sustainability indicators are defined and calculated. The assessment of complex relationships between environmental, social and economic aspects of the system is based on the multi-criteria decision-making procedure. The sustainability assessment is based on the General Sustainability Index rating for different cases reflecting different criteria and their priority. The method of sustainability assessment is applied to the Croatian co-generation sector contributing to the evaluation of different strategies and definition of a foundation for policy related to the sustainable future cogeneration sector development. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]