By Martin Hellicar
CYPRUS is a major global warming “villain”, producing almost twice as much carbon dioxide per capita as the US, Greenpeace revealed yesterday.
Greenpeace is now putting pressure on the government to do something about this “unacceptable” contribution to global warming.
For a start, the government should halt construction of the new Vasiliko power plant, which will otherwise add to the atmosphere’s growing burden of heat-trapping carbon dioxide, Greenpeace demanded.
The government should focus instead on developing renewable energy sources like wind and solar power, the international environmental pressure group suggested.
At a press conference in Nicosia yesterday, Anne Pyrstojarvi, Greenpeace Mediterranean’s energy expert, charged the Electricity Authority (EAC) with “deceiving” the public by claiming wind power was not a viable option for Cyprus. EAC spokesman Tassos Roussos, who attended the press conference, took exception to this and almost everything else Pyrstojarvi said.
Greenpeace presented a damning report on the country’s energy policy, the result of a three-month probe.
The report notes that Cyprus relies on imported fossil fuels for 96 per cent of its energy needs, with the result that the average Cypriot is responsible for the emission of nine tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. Per capita carbon dioxide emissions are much lower in major developed countries — 5.4 tonnes in the US, 2.9 tonnes in Germany and 1.7 tonnes in France, for example.
Without a major energy policy re-think, Cyprus has no hope of meeting its commitments to cut emissions of carbon dioxide, Greenpeace stated.
“It is unbelievable that the government can sign climate treaties and then do nothing except build Vasiliko, which will increase emissions for the next 20 years,” said.
Cyprus has ratified the UN Climate convention, accessed the UN Kyoto protocol and committed itself to substantial cuts in carbon dioxide emissions in order to join the EU.
Cyprus was already suffering the negative effects of global warming and things could only get worse if there wasn’t a shift to renewable, non- polluting, energy sources, the report states.
“It is now a fact that the climate is changing, and we are seeing the destructive effects of this in Cyprus too,” Irene Constantinou, of Greenpeace Cyprus, said.
The Greenpeace report cites Meteorological service figures which show an 0.5 degree rise in average temperatures on the island over the last 100 years. There has also been a 12 per cent decrease in average rainfall over the same period.
Pyrstojarvi warned of possible climate chaos. “Increased temperatures lead to climate chaos; all weather systems are connected to each other, so if you start playing with it at one end you will get effects at another end,” the expert said.
The Greenpeace scientist insisted there were viable, clean, alternatives to producing electricity by burning oil.
She noted that 62 per cent of Cyprus’s foreign exchange earnings went on fuel imports. “Cyprus is throwing away money when the country has ideal conditions for producing renewable energy,” Pyrstojarvi said.
Investment in wind and solar power and energy efficiency could produce and save enough energy to replace the generating power of the multi-million pound Vasiliko power station, she said.
The problem as Greenpeace see it is that the government refuses to consider alternatives and the EAC has a vested interest in selling oil-generated electricity.
The report notes that the EAC has overestimated future demand for electricity by 28 per cent for the last four years.
Roussos tried to take the Greenpeace scientist to task, denying that the EAC was anti-wind power and saying the new Vasiliko power station was necessary to meet increasing demand.
The EAC spokesman claimed Greenpeace was trying to “blame” Cyprus alone for the greenhouse effect.
“Don’t try to tell us two power stations in Cyprus will destroy the world,” he protested.
Pyrstojarvi’s argument in reply was that nothing would get done about global warming if every country sought to blame others for the problem.
“Cyprus is developing and needs energy,” Roussos retorted.
Pyrstojarvi said the completed phase 1 of Vasiliko could provide the energy supply “buffer” that could give the government the breathing space to develop renewable energy sources — making completion of phases 2 and 3 of the power station unnecessary.
