Climate Change in Eastern Europe

CLIMATE CHANGE IN EASTERN EUROPE

The first wind-power unit in the USSR, and at the time the biggest in Europe, was built in Crimea in 1931. Ukraine has significant resources for the development of wind energy, with a potential of about 30 billion kWh, saving 20-30 billion tonnes of conventional fuel per year. The areas with high wind energy potential include the coasts of the Azov Sea and the Black Sea, the southern coast of Crimea, the Carpathian and Crimean mountains, and the Donbas region. The National Energy Programme of Ukraine envisages the construction of wind farms with an aggregate capacity of 2,000 MW. It is planned that from 2015 alternative energy sources would produce 5 billion kWh of electricity and save around 2 million tonnes of conventional fuel. The potential for solar energy in Ukraine is around 17 billion kWh of thermal power a year giving the opportunity to save 2.5 million tonnes of conventional fuel per year. The south of the country has the most potential for solar energy.

Methane emissions in Donetsk oblast

600 Thousands of tonnes

100 300 200 400 500

0

2005

2006

2007

2008 2009 Produced by ZOI Environment Network, 2011.

Source: State Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Donetsk oblast, 2011.

38

Donetsk, Ukraine

© Alban Kakulya