The Prague Post Online: Opinion: A thirst for power

December 1st, 2008

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A thirst for power

The Czech Republic still has to come to grips with its future energy needs and options
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July 18th, 2007 issue

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By Libuše Bautzová

Is it possible for the Czech Republic to make greater use of solar power? Yes.

Is it possible to build more nuclear power plants? Yes.

At the end of January, officials switched on the greatest solar-powered power station in Eastern Europe in the Czech town of Bušanovice county Prachatice. It cost 85 million Kč (about $4 million) to build and is set to produce as much as 628 kilowatt hours of electricity a year. This is enough to power approximately 170 households.

But one can only laugh if comparing this with the nuclear power station at Temelín, which produces as much electricity in 25 minutes.

It’s an extremely unpopular idea to build new power stations in the countryside.

In neighboring Germany, there are considerably more solar power stations, not to mention numerous wind power stations. Paradoxically, we have all become used to seeing steam rising from nuclear power station chimneys, as well as smoke emanating from coal-fired power plants. The fact that more environmentally friendly means of generating electricity have not been forthcoming can largely be blamed on our unenlightened and often immovable political sphere.

We must change our thinking.

While discussions about clean energy are gaining momentum all around the globe, here there is a notable silence.

In February, Industry and Trade Minister Martin Říman went to an energy meeting in Brussels where member countries approved a measure to reduce CO2 emissions 20 percent by 2020.

However, countries failed to agree on a plan to concurrently increase energy production from renewable sources by the same figure of 20 percent. The target is there, but it remains nonbinding. The Czech Republic was among those countries that remained reluctant to tie themselves to these goals.

The coalition government, including the Green Party, may have agreed on moving in the right direction, but such ambitions remain fragile and vague. When Říman talks of broadening the use of nuclear and coal power, it sometimes seems he is directly mocking his Green Party coalition partners.

In addition, local politicians have talked of an ambitious plan to lower energy consumption in relation to gross domestic product 40 percent by 2020. Such a plan is feasible, but will require considerable investment and government action. Investment will be required into new clean and efficient technologies, the kind that today are already able to reduce waste by a third.

There should also be support for improving home insulation as well as tighter regulations for builders. Naturally, such plans cannot be put into practice in a matter of months. Furthermore, it can hardly be expected that the various sectors of domestic industry will heed the coalition plan by themselves.

There must be positive financial and economic incentives, or there must be a risk of financial penalties. So far, a system of how to implement these plans has not been forthcoming. It is clear that the fastest way forward would be to raise energy costs.

A special commission of experts, headed by Václav Pačes of the Czech Academy of Sciences will soon offer energy recommendations to the government.

One can only hope the commission will act responsibly.

Meanwhile, energy lobbyists and Říman are doing their analyses largely based on statistics provided by state-controlled ČEZ energy company. These state that electrical consumption is set to grow about 3 percent annually. If industry and households begin efficiency drives, the demand will apparently still grow to 100 tetrawatt hours, about 30 tetrawatt hours more than today. If they do not, demand will be even higher. At that point, however, certain power stations will need to be replaced. According to ČEZ, renewable energy will simply not be enough to fill the gap.

Power officials have deliberately stoked catastrophic scenarios about insufficient supplies, shutdowns, power outages and the inability to get electricity from abroad. Such scare stories mainly emanate from industry insiders who are protecting their interests and seek quick, clear plans from the government. But when such scenarios also come from members of the government the question must be raised: For whom exactly are these politicians speaking?

ČEZ’s calculations and predictions are difficult to reject, primarily because we don’t know how much the country will be able to save, and how much consumption will actually grow. Nonetheless, through simple logic, we can surmise that, by 2020, the balance between old- and new-style energy could easily be 50-50.

Clearly, the main problem any government faces is predicting and planning just how much energy can be produced from renewable sources.

Biofuels are another great hope. Even ČEZ has come up with a plan to use crops to create such fuels — but only so long as they are economically beneficial. Naturally, no one is going to farm biofuel crops if they are not profitable. Furthermore, several energy specialists warn that the environmental and economic costs of transporting biofuels to power stations will entirely cancel out their perceived benefits.

For the Czech Republic, however, the main problem remains that officials have postponed doing anything about the energy future at all. If new supplies were needed, two new blocks at Temelín nuclear power plant would suffice. But their construction would be expensive and controversial.

In much of Europe, there remains a strong popular objection to the increased use of nuclear power. Nonetheless, quiet discussions have begun as to the future growth of this energy source. Japan, despite its past, managed to resolve the issue without sentiment, and today operates more than 50 nuclear power stations, which account for almost a quarter of its energy needs. Even in the Czech Republic, building a new nuclear power station would arguably be better than producing more coal-fired power stations.

— The author is the deputy editor of the Czech economic weekly Ekonom.

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