by Handan Kazanci
ISTANBUL
Renewable energy would not be more costly than coal power for Turkey, an analysis report released on Tuesday has revealed.
World Wildlife Found Turkey chairman Ugur Bayar said in a press conference in Istanbul that renewables, such as wind, could very well satisfy Turkey’s energy demand as efficiently as coal, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s analysis report “Turkey’s changing power markets.”
The research by the data company, which focuses on energy investment, on Turkey’s expenditures stipulates that the current system - of extracting coal and lignite to supply the country’s increasing demand of energy until 2030 - will cost the same amount as renewable energy alternatives: $400 billion.
The research predicts that such an approach would reduce Turkey’s dependency on fossil fuels and protect the country’s wildlife.
“We want to break Turkey’s dependence on imported fuels, particularly natural gas,” Bayar said.
According to Bayar, the analysis shows that renewable energy is neither costly nor inaccessible.
The director of the think tank European Climate Foundation’s International Energy Project, Matt Phillips pointed out that Turkey’s largest and main trade partner had recently agreed to a new climate energy pack to tackle the climate change issue.
Phillips was referring to the EU leaders’ agreement last Oct. on a climate change pact, which requires cutting greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 percent, by 2030.
“The direction is very clear, Turkey’s main partner is continuing to decarbonize its economy,” Phillips said.
“If Turkey isolates itself from that direction, it faces a risk that the tolerance shown by EU countries in accepting products that carry a high carbon footprint may wear out over time,” he added.
Another speaker from Bloomberg New Energy Finance, Angus McCrone said that the Turkish government was overestimating future energy demand.
“Although Turkish companies will continue to do well, the demand will be much weaker than the government is expecting,” McCrone said.
The U.S. and China also announced a “historic deal” on limiting their carbon emissions earlier last week.
The deal is seen by many as a change in global politics with regards to climate change ahead of the 2015 Paris talks, which aim to set new carbon emission regulations for countries, including Turkey.
Earlier this month the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change urged to increase the use of renewable energy to 80 percent, up from the current 30, by 2050, and to quit fossil energy by 2100, in order to have the slightest chance at limiting climate change effects.
In December, delegates from around the world will meet in Lima, Peru, to address the issue.
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