Energy Efficiency Measures

The Romanian Environment Ministry announces the start of new programs aimed at reducing pollution and increasing energy efficiency

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Bogdan Matei, 18.01.2024, 01:50

At the beginning of an electoral year marked by all four types of elections that can be organized in Romania, the Liberal Minister of the Environment Mircea Fechet is among the most visible and, at least apparently, the most enterprising politicians. A declared supporter of energy efficiency, he has announced that the proposed budget for the pilot stove scrapping program is 500 million lei (the equivalent of one hundred million euros).

Funding is granted for devices with a minimum efficiency of 80% and low pollutant emissions, and the program is meant to reduce Romanians heating expenses and reduce pollution. Beneficiaries are the people from the villages of the 28 counties in the mountainous area of ​​the country. The Ministry will finance 70% of the costs of such a stove, but not more than 10,000 lei (two thousand euros) per person.

From the official data cited by the minister, on Thursday, in a live show on Radio Romania, the average efficiency of stoves that use solid biomass, mainly wood, is between 20 and 40%, depending on how old the stove is and how skilled was the craftsman who built it. Today, says Fechet, there are technologies that can transform 80% of a log into heat and only 20% into smoke. Thus, there will be less pressure on the forest fund, because it is one thing to burn three carts of wood and another to burn just one because you have an efficient stove, and of course the air will be cleaner – the minister claims .

He also promised that the „Photovoltaic Green House” Program will have a budget of two billion lei (400 million euros) for this year and that the authorities will not stop until such panels are on all roofs in the country. Mircea Fechet also admitted on Radio Romania that, for now, he has not found a solution for the roofs of the blocks of flats, because they are old, they are a common space and it is difficult to determine which of the tenants has the right to benefit first from the potential energy production.

The minister says that the roofs of houses, supermarkets and halls are now a priority, after which he promises to look for solutions so that photovoltaic panels can also be installed on the roofs of apartment buildings. Another program, which is currently in an early stage, is the scrapping program for tractors and agricultural machines, which aims, based on a maximum aid of 30,000 euros for each farmer, to finance the purchase of new equipment.

Also this week, Minister Fechet has participated, in Brussels, together with his counterparts from the other member countries of the European Union, in the Environment Council, organized by the Belgian half-yearly presidency. He said there that Romania aligned itself with the Unions efforts to promote circularity in the economy and other sustainable development objectives, contributing to economic growth and job creation. (MI)