Government expects success at the Copenhagen Summit and prepares Regional Plan for Climate Change
With regard to the 15th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the 5th session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, which are taking placing until December 18, the Government expects that the talks be successful and that the Kyoto Protocol be continued.
According to the Regional Secretary for the Environment “few decisions might be worse than any decision. It is a fact that the world cannot wait any longer, but there has to be rules and we have taken steps in the Azores that exemplify right environmental measures which economic generate capital gains.” The initiatives promoting the rational use of energy as well as the dissemination of alternative sources of electricity production based on endogenous and renewable resources are some examples of the aforementioned measures.
For Álamo Meneses “the Kyoto Protocol was indeed a landmark in the fight against global warming. The European Union, to which the Azores belong, has been at the forefront of the fight against climate change and of the compliance with that protocol, mainly through the adoption of a series of guidelines and measures to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency, as it is the case of the “climate-energy package” which was approved nearly a year ago, the directive on renewable energies and the energy certification of buildings. Nearly two thirds of the emissions of greenhouse gases are produced by the energy sector; therefore its production and consumption are the main concerns regarding the fight against global warming.”
In the case of the Azores, nearly a quarter of the electricity is produced from renewable sources and the Government expects to increase the production for three quarters by 2018. In order to accomplish this goal, the Regional Government counts on the support of the regional, national and international scientific system, having recently signed a protocol with the Foundation for Science and Technology, MIT-Portugal, the University of the Azores and the “Green Islands” project in order to develop an energy sustainable system.
Standards on the energy performance of buildings and on indoor air quality, which should increase the energy performance of buildings and their comfort, were also established. In addition, there were some changes in the incentive system Proenergia, which comprise the simplification of procedures, the inclusion of the eligibility of expenses resulting from legal impositions, the removal of the sale limit of the surplus to the public network, in the case of investments in electricity production and the fact the investments in solar panels will be supported according to the solar fraction of the equipments.
The Azoreans with a low voltage electricity purchase agreement may now apply for the Registration System of Microproduction, commonly known as Renewables in Time, becoming small energy producers from renewable sources with the possibility of selling the surplus to the public network.
The electrical mobility plays a fundamental and strategic role in the purposes of the Regional Government, which will soon be the subject of a Resolution of the Council of the Regional Government. With the introduction of the first energy charging stations, the pilot phase should start in 2010. The implementation of interfacial intelligence in the management of electrical systems in order to make them more efficient, flexible and interactive is another important goal.
With these all these measures, the Regional Government is consolidating our energy autonomy, our competitiveness and the sustainable development.
Moreover, according to the Secretary for the Environment “although the climate change scenario for the Azores is not clear, the consequences of climate change may include the occurrence of phenomena, such as increased coastal abrasion and the intensification of extreme weather phenomena (storms). Nonetheless, the emission of greenhouse gases has a global impact, thus we must join efforts in order to fight and win this battle, as it is expected to happen at the Copenhagen Summit. More than the one-off effects in our archipelago, global climate change are major risk for the stability of our planet, a risk that is not worth taking.”
Therefore, the Government has created, through the Resolution no. 109/2009 of June 30, the Commission for climate change in the Autonomous Region of the Azores (ComClima), which will draw up a proposal of the Plan for Climate Change to be submitted to the Regional Government.