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Wind energy is the fastest growing renewable energy source in Europe. Europe accounted for 69% of the total installed capacity and 70% of the annual market growth during 2005. The wind energy sector would have preferred a strengthening of existing, successful, legislation, and is concerned that a new legislative package could take years to adopt at a crucial time in the development of large scale wind power. The main objective of this study is to summarize the strategies and activities of the EU countries toward sustainable development goals. In addition, this paper describes the environmental and economic impacts of wind power technology in the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the article is to investigate the present status and future prospects of wind energy and its potential to make significant contributions to the future energy needs of the European Union (EU). Wind energy has the potential to be the cheapest power source in Europe, but like any emerging technology, it faces significant barriers. At the same time, the EU wind manufacturing industry is booming with two-thirds of the world market share. In 2005, the EU has seen another record year with installations above 6,000 MW, thereby reaffirming its undisputed status as the world's biggest wind market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is considered to be one of the greatest environmental threats. In response to this threat, developed countries agreed in Kyoto to legally binding targets, which will reduce their atmospheric emissions. Climate change, and avoiding its potential consequences, is addressed by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and remains a high priority in the European Union. Despite considerable reductions in the United Kingdom and Germany, by 2000 many European Union countries had difficulty slowing and reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. Systematic investments in technology development were found to yield substantial benefits in the long term by decreasing emissions reduction costs and by facilitating more ambitious reduction targets. The main objective of this article is to investigate greenhouse gas emissions, trends and reduction strategies in the European Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

World primary energy demand is expected to continue to grow steadily, as it has over the last two decades. To meet this need, the world will have to make the best possible use of the various energy sources available, including coal, the most abundant and affordable of the fossil fuels. Coal is often the only alternative when low-cost, cleaner energy sources are inadequate to meet growing energy demand. Developing countries use about 55% of the world's coal today; this share is expected to grow to 65% over the next 15 years. In the year 2050, coal will account for more than 34% of the world's primary energy demand. The aim of the present article is to investigate the contribution of coal to global energy demand and coal perspectives for several countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural gas is the second fastest growing energy source after nonhydro renewables. The role of natural gas in the world's energy supply is growing rapidly. Natural gas is one of the most widely used forms of energy today. Natural gas prices are developed for the residential, commercial, industrial, transportation, and electric utility sectors. Natural gas is found around the world, but the largest reserves are in the former Soviet Union and the Middle East. The history of natural gas production and use in the industrial era is dominated by the United States, which accounted for well over 95% of global gas production and use well into the 1930s. The main objective of the present study is to investigate global natural gas demand, supplies, and its share in global energy sources by presenting its historical development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the beginning of this new century, the rational use of energy becomes a keyword for the world sustainable development both in developed and developing countries. Geothermal resources have the potential of contributing significantly to sustainable energy use in many parts of the world. Geothermal energy has been used commercially for about one century and its large-scale utilization (hundreds of MW) started about 40 years ago, both for electricity generation and for direct application as space heating and combined with heat pumps. The technology, reliability, economics, and environmental acceptability of direct use of geothermal energy have been demonstrated throughout the world. The aim of the present article is to investigate the contribution of geothermal energy to global energy demand and utilization of geothermal energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present article is to investigate the increasing electricity consumption with the growth of the economy in Turkey. With its emerging and rapidly growing economy and with a population of 73 million people, Turkey has today become the world's 17th largest economy. The country's electricity consumption has risen rapidly as a result of social and economic development. The electricity industry is a large, high-growth sector in the Turkish economy. The industry contributes significantly to the country's GDP and is a 12 billion US dollars industry at current end-user prices. The sector's share in the Turkish economy has been growing rapidly, given the 8% per annum growth in electricity demand over the past two decades. Total investment required for power plants and distribution lines up until the year 2010 is expected to be around US$45 billion, US$19 billion of which will be under the Build, Operate and Transfer and Build, Own, Operate models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, development of worldwide green electricity in the past decade period were investigated. Green electricity products have become more attractive recently because of its environmental benefits and the fact that it can be derived from renewable energy resources. Renewable energy resources that use domestic resources have the potential to provide energy services with zero or almost zero emissions of both air pollutants and greenhouse gases. Renewable energy resources are the third largest contributor to global electricity production. Apart from the electricity sector, renewable energy resources for the generation of heat and the use of environmental friendly bio-fuels for the transport sector will become more and more important in the future. Approximately 14% of the world's energy supply comes from renewable energy resources. Renewable energy resources are the third largest contributor to global electricity production. In 2004, global electricity production has reached about 17,387 TWh, 18.2% of this is produced from renewable energy resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present article is to investigate Turkey's energy demand and the contribution of domestic energy sources to energy consumption. Turkey, the 17th largest economy in the world, is an emerging country with a buoyant economy challenged by a growing demand for energy. Turkey's energy consumption has grown and will continue to grow along with its economy. Turkey's energy consumption is high, but its domestic primary energy sources are oil and natural gas reserves and their production is low. Total primary energy production met about 27% of the total primary energy demand in 2005. Oil has the biggest share in total primary energy consumption. Lignite has the biggest share in Turkey's primary energy production at 45%. Domestic production should be to be nearly doubled by 2010, mainly in coal (lignite), which, at present, accounts for almost half of the total energy production. The hydropower should also increase two-fold over the same period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biodiesel started to be widely produced in the early 1990s and since then production has been increasing steadily. The global biodiesel industry is among the fastest-growing markets the chemical industry has ever seen. World capacity, production, and consumption of biodiesel grew on average by 32% per year during 2000-2005, and the industry looks set for even faster growth rates—115% per year for capacity, and 101% per year for demand—in the years to 2008 and beyond. Germany, the largest biodiesel market, has excluded biofuels from taxation altogether. The main characteristic of Germany is to market 100% pure biodiesel, which is on sale in Germany at over 1,500 public filling stations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to determine the lignite use for Turkey's energy necessity. Lignite is the most important energy resource of Turkey when compared with others according to the amount of reserves. Lignite is the dominant source of energy produced (43%) in Turkey. Lignite deposits are encountered in almost every region of Turkey. Total lignite reserves are estimated at 8,375 million tons, of which 7,340 million tons (88%) is economically feasible. Share of lignite reserves of Turkey are 2% in the world. Lignite deposits are encountered in almost every region of Turkey. Afsin-Elbistan, Mugla, Soma, Tuncbilek, Seyitomer, Beypazari and Sivas basins constitutes the most important known lignite reserves. The biggest lignite deposits, 40% of the total, are in Afsin-Elbistan. Lignite extraction is expected to increase as the government feels pressure to close down unprofitable hard coal mines that are geologically difficult, increasing the cost of extraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of present paper is to investigate wind power capacity, markets, and regional plans in the European Union. Wind energy is a clean and renewable source of electricity. The technically available wind potential greatly exceeds current electricity demand worldwide. Wind energy is already in use in many parts of the world at a price competitive with conventional technologies. The latest technologies can produce electricity at 4.4 c/kWh, comparable to many conventional sources. Wind technology converts the energy available in wind to electricity or mechanical power through the use of wind turbines. A major achievement of the European Union wind industry is that about 10 megawatt scale wind turbines are now commercially available. By the end of 2004, the capacity of wind energy installed globally had reached a level of almost 48,000 MW. Europe accounts for 72% of the total installed capacity and for 73% of the annual market growth during 2004. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Turkey's energy consumption has been growing much faster than its energy production, making Turkey a rapidly growing energy importer. Crude oil remains the main energy source. Oil provides nearly half of Turkey's total energy requirements, but its share is declining. Around 90% of Turkey's oil supplies are imported, mainly from the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Syria) and Russia. Exploration and production and importing of crude oil and petroleum products are liberalized. Indigenous and foreign companies are also allowed to operate refineries and to distribute oil products. Until recently, there were six petroleum refineries in Turkey with a total production capacity of 32 million tons/year for crude oil. Most of the oil refining in Turkey is done by the Turkish Petroleum Refineries Corporation (TUPRAS), which owns four of the six oil refineries in Turkey. Turkey's petroleum products consumption quantity also grew 36% and increased from 21.7 million tons (Mt) in 1990 to 29.6 Mt in 2004. The consumption share of diesel fuel among all petroleum derivatives was 36.9% in 2004, which is the biggest share when compared to other petroleum products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nuclear technology plays an important role in medicine, industry, science, food and agriculture, and power generation. Nuclear power plants (NPPs) are structured like other power plants, except that they use energy from nuclear fission to produce electricity. Nuclear energy is a very clean energy if it is well designed, well built, well operated, and well managed. It has no atmospheric emissions or pollution (or close to none), is compact, produces little waste (and this is confined and self-degradable), and avoids increasing the greenhouse effect. Although fewer NPPs are being built now than during the 1970s and 1980s, those operating are producing more electricity. Advocates of nuclear energy for sustainable development argue that it is a well-established noncarbon technology, as demonstrated by its 16% share of the world's electricity supply and even higher share in specific countries, e.g., 78.5% in France. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this work is to investigate influence of fossil energy applications on the environmental pollution. Turkey's high rate of economic growth experienced during much of the 1990s, besides resulting in booming industrial production, also led to higher levels of energy consumption, imports, air and water pollution, and greater risks to the country's environment. Air pollution is a major problem in Turkey, with key pollutants including sulfur dioxide, suspended particulates, nitrogen oxides, and carbon dioxide. In Turkey, carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels totaled about 50.07 million tons in 2001. However, fuel share of carbon emissions in 2001 was oil 44.2%, coal 38.8%, and natural gas 16.9%. Total carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels are expected to be 104 million tons in 2025. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biofuels are liquid or gaseous fuels made from plant matter and residues, such as agricultural crops, municipal wastes and agricultural and forestry by-products. The term biofuels can refer to fuels for direct combustion for electricity production, but is generally used for liquid fuels for transportation. Biofuels are made from biomass through biochemical or thermochemical processes. Currently much attention is fo cused on utilization of ethanol, methanol, biodiesel, biocrude, and methane as biofuels. The European Union is on the third rank of biofuel production world wide, behind Brazil and the United States. In Europe, Germany is the largest, and France the second largest producer of biofuels. Most biofuels in commercial production in Europe today are based on sugar beet, wheat and rapeseed, which are converted to bioethanol/ETBE and biodiesel. The European Commission has set as a goal that by the end of 2005, 2% of the energy used in transportation shall be biofuels. The use of biofuels is then to grow by 0.75% annually. The ambition is to have 5.75% biofuels in transportation by 2010. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen is not a primary fuel; it must be manufactured from water with either fossil or nonfossil energy sources. Benefits include cleaner air, cleaner water, and better health. Hydrogen can be used as a engine fuel, whereas neither nuclear nor solar energy can be used directly. It has good properties as a fuel for internal combustion engines in automobiles. The main disadvantages of using hydrogen as a fuel for automobiles are huge on-board storage tanks which are required because of hydrogen's extremely low density. Hydrogen will also solve air pollution and planet-warming problems in the future. The combustion of hydrogen does not produce CO2, CO, SO2, VOC and particles, but entails emission of vapor and NOx. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article deals with recently status of global fossil energy sources. Fossil energy sources have been split into three categories: oil, coal, and natural gas. Fossil fuels are highly efficient and cheap. Currently oil is the fastest primary energy source in the world (39% of world energy consumption). Coal will be a major source of energy for the world for the foreseeable future (24% of world energy consumption). In 2030, coal covers 45% of world energy needs. Natural gas is expected to be the fastest growing component of world energy consumption (23% of world energy consumption). Fossil fuel extraction and conversion to usable energy has several environmental impacts. They could be a major contributor to global warming and greenhouse gases and a cause of acid rain; therefore, expensive air pollution controls are required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]