BRUSSELS: Faced with the prospect of his constituents freezing this winter, President Georgi Parvanov of Bulgaria said the best course of action was to restart a nuclear reactor - albeit one that dated from the Soviet era and had to be switched off when the country joined the European Union two years ago. Bulgaria's limited options in the middle of a bitterly cold winter highlight an issue that troubles many Europeans about the continuing fight over gas supplies between Gazprom of Russia and Naftogaz of Ukraine: Europe itself has done too little, too late, to develop workable alternatives. Today, as some EU countries deepen their reliance on Gazprom, the trade bloc faces mounting political and financial hurdles to make any change of course. Energy experts agree that what the EU needs is more natural gas storage capacity, more interconnectedness, more suppliers and more energy alternatives including nuclear and renewable sources like offshore wind - particularly at a time when gas production is becoming concentrated in countries where state-controlled companies like Gazprom dominate. Until recently, the main driver behind Europe's interest in alternatives to fossil fuels were the dangers posed by climate change and its ambition to lead the world in pioneering low-carbon technologies. The obvious, but dirtier, alternative to natural gas - coal - will become increasingly costly to burn in Western Europe because of legislation agreed to just last month. But now, rather than global warming, the wake-up call is coming from freezing apartment buildings.
BRUSSELS: Faced with the prospect of his constituents freezing this winter, President Georgi Parvanov of Bulgaria said the best course of action was to restart a nuclear reactor - albeit one that dated from the Soviet era and had to be switched off when the country joined the European Union two years ago.
Bulgaria's limited options in the middle of a bitterly cold winter highlight an issue that troubles many Europeans about the continuing fight over gas supplies between Gazprom of Russia and Naftogaz of Ukraine: Europe itself has done too little, too late, to develop workable alternatives. Today, as some EU countries deepen their reliance on Gazprom, the trade bloc faces mounting political and financial hurdles to make any change of course.
Energy experts agree that what the EU needs is more natural gas storage capacity, more interconnectedness, more suppliers and more energy alternatives including nuclear and renewable sources like offshore wind - particularly at a time when gas production is becoming concentrated in countries where state-controlled companies like Gazprom dominate.
Until recently, the main driver behind Europe's interest in alternatives to fossil fuels were the dangers posed by climate change and its ambition to lead the world in pioneering low-carbon technologies. The obvious, but dirtier, alternative to natural gas - coal - will become increasingly costly to burn in Western Europe because of legislation agreed to just last month. But now, rather than global warming, the wake-up call is coming from freezing apartment buildings.
It's a mountainous country with a colossal hydroelectric power potential. But the population simply won't allow dams to be built because nobody will live downstream of any dam built by corrupt contractors cos they know the dam will be shoddily built and they don't want to take the risk of a dam burst.
I've actually seen a dam in Sandanski built to capture drinking water and you wouldn't believe how uickly it's disintegrating. It's never been filled because it was dangerous before it was completre. keep to the Fen Causeway
