Phasing Out The Carbon And Uranium Policy In The Small Eastern And Central Europe Countries

Tatjana ODINECA Riga Technical University 1. Overview The construction of Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) in a small country is limited by the available financial resources. Therefore attempts are made to solve this problem by cooperating (for instance, in the Baltic countries; unfortunately, with little success). However, it is apparent that during the next 20 years it will not be implemented. There are no fossil energy resources in Latvia, which produce hothouse gas emissions. Consequently, the energy self-provision in this country is ensured by the renewable energy sources (RES). On the average, approximately 30% of the energy resources are imported every year. In Latvia the RES are mainly based on the wood biomass and agricultural biomass because the water power resources are practically completely exhausted, and the resources of the solar and wind energy, due to the weather conditions, are not great. The new technologies are being investigated for the use of the wood and agricultural biomass in order to achieve economically balanced costs. The present state support (subsidies) does not produce the necessary effect of development, and work is going on at an improved support system. Cheaper measures how to raise energy efficiency (EE) and to use the RES are being looked for in order to reduce the expenses connected with the state support, which have already started hindering the development of national economy.