Hungarian renewable energy strategy and the uprise of the countryside

Gergely, Sándor

Keywords: renewable energy strategy, rural development, local benefits, Renewable Energy Advisory Service, uprise of the countryside

While the development, processing and logistics of fossil resources is extremely concentrated and monopolysed, the production and utilisation of renewable energy – with the exception of larger hydroelectric plants – is deconcentrated.
It is especially important that the renewable sources of energy available to us might play a decisive role in the uprise of the Hungarian countryside, as green energy production might be profitable even in areas where the land is less suitable for agriculture. There is a hot sea beneath 40% of the territory of the country. Energy derived from this sea could be used to attain various local and national goals. Utilising solar energy on a local scale is an opportunity to earn extra income, and opportunity which exists even in the most underprivileged villages and micro-regions.
The national renewable energy strategy developed by the author would allow Hungary to cover 38.2% of its then 1300 PJ of energy consumption from renewable sources by 2030. It would also create 192 176 new, permanently sustainable jobs.

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