Central Europe: Ethical Overlaps of Environmental and Economic Interests in Coming Years
Language English Country England, Great Britain Media print-electronic
Document type Journal Article
PubMed
29067625
DOI
10.1007/s11948-017-9982-3
PII: 10.1007/s11948-017-9982-3
Knihovny.cz E-resources
- Keywords
- Economics, Energy policy, Material flow analysis, Moral responsibility,
- MeSH
- Power Plants * economics ethics MeSH
- Electricity * MeSH
- Engineering * economics ethics MeSH
- Nuclear Power Plants economics ethics MeSH
- Climate Change MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Morals MeSH
- Costs and Cost Analysis MeSH
- Politics MeSH
- Income MeSH
- Coal * MeSH
- Public Policy * economics MeSH
- Government MeSH
- Conservation of Energy Resources * economics MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Geographicals
- Czech Republic MeSH
- Europe MeSH
- Names of Substances
- Coal * MeSH
Despite the size and thanks to the rich brown coal reserves, the Czech Republic is one of the leading energy producers in Europe, and the 7th biggest exporter of electricity in the world. However, following the climate change mitigation, the novel energy policy that enhances the reduction of coal mining is about to be implemented. A preliminary material flow analysis of the Czech energy sector was carried out. The data obtained confirmed that this government act would result in a dramatic reduction of revenues from electricity sales. Conversely, increased costs would be necessary in order to modernize nuclear power plants and promote the production of renewable energy. In addition, the economic analysis revealed that the act might be prejudicial to economic relations in Central and Western-European countries as some of them are significantly dependent on the electricity imported from the Czech Republic. Disputes between engineers and politicians were highlighted. The aforementioned interrelations were subsequently analyzed and a conclusion was made stating that global interests should have the highest moral priority.
