The role and impact of renewable energy sources on the Hungarian agro-economy

Magda, Róbert

Keywords: energy dependence, renewable energy, biomass, employment

Growing energy prices and the environmental pollution caused by fossil fuels have led to the increased use of renewable energy. The issue of energy is a critical one both for the EU and Hungary because of their extensive and increasing dependency on imported fossil energy resources.
Hungary’s renewable energy action plan points out one of the most excellent opportunities for the national economy.
“Hungary has excellent comparative assets in certain areas of energy sources, the exploitation of which will enable, in addition to the fulfilment of energy and climate policy objectives, economic development, job creation and the sustainable development of the countryside. The Government considers progress in renewable energy sources a part of complex green economy development, which is an integral part of the expansion of related industries (the environmental industry).”
By 2020 the production of renewable energy is expected to grow significantly. The structure of renewable energy resources will become more diversified. The use of biomass will increase in volume but its proportion will decrease from 81% in 2010 to 62 %. According to the forecasts the most significant proportional growth will be achieved by geothermal and solar energy as well as by the use of heat-pumps.
Besides the problem of energy supply, the question of employment, which poses great problems in many countries of the world including Hungary, must also be dealt with. Over the last two decades employment has decreased by 10% in Hungary, and the social and welfare implications of the growing unemployment have become obvious. This situation must be solved in the close future, and job creation is the only way out of the crisis. I consider the increased utilisation of renewable energy sources as one of the possibilities to create new jobs.

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