DÜNYADAN Meeting the New Challenges A Social Democratic Approach to Turkey’s Future Energy Policy NECDET PAMİR July 2012 „„ Today, energy issues affect all sectors of society: the economy, employment, trans­portation, housing, the environment, foreign policy, peace and security, only to name a few. The goal of a strategic modern energy policy must therefore be to con­nect all these areas with an integrated approach. The challenges of the 21st cen­tury are to render countries more independent from increasingly scarce resources and to contribute to the international solution of the climate and energy crises. For Turkey, the important challenges to meet are the diversification of energy sources and energy production based on correct demand estimates. Local and renewable energy sources should be used to the maximum extent possible within the total en­ergy consumption profile. This is not only a necessity for energy independence but also a prerequisite for a cleaner mode of life and a responsible approach towards the world and future generations. „„ Turkey’s local energy resources have enormous potential, and most of them are re­newables. To add to this positive picture, it is worth attracting attention to the ad­ditional 58 billion kWh that Turkey could potentially save by improving energy ef­ficiency in buildings and industry over the next eight years. Rehabilitating existing power plants could increase the amount of electricity generated over the same time period by another 19 billion kWh per year. If we add these values together, the po­tential additional electricity that Turkey could generate in the next eight years rises to a significant value of 840 billion kWh. „„ A social democratic energy policy has to focus not only on the economic, environ­mental and security dimensions but also on the social dimension. Therefore, it has to focus on benefiting citizens and society in general. The exploitation and waste of limited resources, such as nuclear or fossil fuel energy sources, will not ultimate­ly promote citizens’ well-being and security. Economic welfare, peace and environ­mental preservation can only be secured with a more effective and intelligent use of energy, mainly through the development of renewable energy sources. Using less energy entails harming the environment less and saving money at the same time.