Ministry of Environment and
Water
State of the Environment Bulgaria 2003
How does the energy influence environment
What is being done to make the energy more environment-friendly
Local mineral solid fuels and South-Maritza Basin lignite in particular remain the main resources for the production of electric power in Bulgaria. This has its economic reasons though it leads to significant atmospheric pollution, due to low calorie content and high sulphur and ash content of these coals.
In the 2001 Overall Fuel Balance of the country the different types of fuels participate as follows: table1
With regard to quantity there was an increase of gross production (8,9 % increase) and a small growth of energy consumption (4,35 % increase) compared to 2000. There was no import of electric power, while there was a 20 % increase of export in comparison with 2000. table2
The structure of production by the Energy sector for 2001.
The above table allows for the conclusion that in 2001 there was a slight increase in the energy produced by thermo-electric power stations at the expense of the energy produced by nuclear power stations. It is well known that thermo-electric power stations play the most prominent part in polluting the environment. From this point of view, new ways of increasing the portion of electric power produced by nuclear power stations and especially by water power stations shall be sought while planning the structure of production.
Last update on March 2003