Green Minefield. Renewable sources of energy have both advantages and disadvantages

Despite being more expensive, renewable energy sources have profound advantages - they are more environment-friendly and help decrease Europe's dependence on foreign energy producers. As a result, the European Union set a target to cover 20% of its energy demand with renewable sources by 2020. Slovakia's target is 14% with the current proportion being barely 7%. Half of this green energy comes from conventional water power plants. The other half is covered by biomass. Other than that, Slovakia is housing some new facilities producing bio fuels from corn and rapeseed. Other energy sources are more expensive. So far, geothermal springs have been used mostly for recreation. Solar and wind energy have hardly shown any development. Some investments have been announced in biogas heating and electricity production. Renewable energy sources are typically subsidized as early as the construction phase. Up to half of the investment costs can be covered by taxpayers' money. Other incentives include tax exemption or guaranteed higher purchase prices. In this area, last year's change in legislation, guaranteeing energy prices for renewable for the next fifteen years, has been crucial. The disadvantage is that higher prices for renewable energy have to be paid by the consumers. In addition, solar and wind energies are highly volatile - depending on weather conditions. This jeopardizes the stability of the national electricity grid and, if left unregulated, could lead to blackouts. Slovakia registers applications for up to 3,500 MW worth of new renewable energy sources. (authors)