From Martin Hemingway, UK Nuclear Free Local Authorities
Leeds
In 1994 the British Department of the Environment’s Strategy for Sustainable
Development pointed to potential energy savings here of 20 per cent through
investment in energy efficiency measures that would pay for themselves within
three years. It also suggested a further 10 per cent saving on measures with a
payback period of five years. The potential for energy efficiency in Ukraine
must be colossal, yet the debate appears to be between nuclear or fossil
generation at a cost of one billion dollars, courtesy of European taxpayers and
care of Euratom and the EBRD.
If, as reported, the European Commission is keen to prop up European nuclear
business then it is a disgrace. Why does it not support European energy
efficiency business with accompanying education and skills programmes in
Ukraine? Is a billion dollars invested in this way not the obvious sustainable
strategy to improve the quality of life for Ukrainians and reduce their
dependence on energy imports from Russia?
