OREANDA-NEWS. October 20, 2009. Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis opened the conference -”Baltic Clean and Green Energy” addressing its participants. The conference takes place in Tallinn University of Technology and its main organizer is the US Department of Energy.

 V.Dombrovskis started his statement by emphasizing that”clean and green energy is a high priority for Latvia”. The Prime Minister indicated that Latvia has a significant share of renewable resources in the European Union – approximately 32%. ”However, we have to admit Latvia’s energy dependence because Latvia imports 65% of its primary energy resources. Therefore, both, governments and private organizations regard energy availability and the tight competition for energy resources as a highly significant area for policy decisions and investment strategy”, said V.Dombrovskis.

 As for objectives for the nearest future, V.Dombrovkis said:”One of the main challenges for Latvia will be reaching the renewable energy target of 40 % from the total final energy consumption in Latvia by 2020. It is one of the highest individual targets among all the EU Member States”.
 
V.Dombrovskis acknowledged the importance of biomass energy in attainment of this target and said that the development of new technologies plays an important role in use of biomass potential. V.Dombrovskis informed the participants of the conference that from October 1, 2009, a provision providing 5% addition of biofuel to diesel and 5% of bio ethanol to gasoline comes into force in Latvia. V.Dombrovskis emphasized the importance of a single climate and energy policy of the European Union, the new Climate and Energy Directive being one of its priority elements. A single European Union policy is needed to face the global challenges of climate change, to diversify energy sources and reduce dependence on changes in oil and gas prices.

V.Dombrovskis expressed his conviction that the EU will not resolve the climate dilemma on its own and a comprehensive international cooperation is essential, particularly in the areas of energy technology and energy efficiency.