BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 23
By Fidan Babayeva - Trend:
The greenhouse gas emissions will decrease by 35 percent in Azerbaijan by 2030 compared to the main index of 1990, head of the environmental policy department of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources Rasim Sattarzade told Trend.
“Having sufficient resources of fossil fuels, Azerbaijan continues to develop the country's alternative energy to reduce emissions of toxic substances into the atmosphere,” Sattarzade added.
"We may quite easily produce energy for many years by using oil and gas, but nevertheless, the country's leadership constantly focuses on improvement of the environmental situation," head of the department said.
“The solar and wind energy plays an important role in reducing global emissions of greenhouse gases,” Sattarzade said. “This will reduce domestic consumption of "blue fuel" and thus release additional volumes for its export.”
"Azerbaijan has certain obligations within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gases to prevent air pollution," head of the department stressed.
Sattarzade reminded that Azerbaijan also cooperates with international companies in the field of ecology.
“For example, UK’s BP, the operator of the two biggest projects in the country's oil and gas sector (Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli and Shah Deniz), signed a letter of intent with the Azerbaijani Ministry of Energy to jointly explore the potential of renewable energy sources in the country,” head of the department said.
“A corresponding agreement has been concluded with French Total company and Norwegian Equinor company in the field of alternative energy,” Sattarzade said.
"Azerbaijan prioritizes the development of alternative energy sources,” head of the department said. “While maintaining an ecological balance, the country protects the environment and strives for socio-economic development."
There is a three-stage model of energy development, the initiator of which is the Azerbaijani State Agency on Alternative and Renewable Energy Sources.
The project “A Thousand Houses - A Thousand Power Plants” envisages equipping each house with an environmentally friendly and safe small power plant that may convert solar energy into electricity.
In accordance with the Buzovna Eco-Kend project, energy supply in this territory will be provided through solar panels.
The Gobustan 2020 project is one of the pilot projects that will be implemented through the Smart Network system. This will reduce energy loss. The consumers will be provided with more qualitative energy. Eleven reservoirs of various volumes and other economic, agricultural and industrial facilities are planned to be built.
The Agency has created an automatic lighting control system for roads and residential buildings, the purpose of which is to illuminate roads and residential buildings depending on the time. It is also possible to illuminate roads depending on the intensity of road traffic. This saves energy and reduces road maintenance costs.
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