The energy dependency of Slovenia is high (52.1%), but it is a little lower than the average energy dependency in the EU 27 (53.8%). Slovenia imports all its petroleum products and natural gas and partly coal and electricity. The energy intensity of Slovenia is higher by about 50% than the average in the EU27. The target of the EU Directive on energy end-use efficiency and energy services adopted in 2006 is to achieve a 9% improvement of EE (energy efficiency) within the period 2008-2016. The new target of the EU climate and energy package Ć20-20-20 planĆ is a 20% increase in EE by 2020. Since 1991 theSlovenian government has been supporting energy efficiency activities. The improvement of EE was one of the targets of strategic energy documents ReSROE (Resolution on the Strategy of Use and Supply of Energy in Slovenia from 1996 and ReNEP (Resolution on the National Energy Programme) from 2004 adopted by the Slovenian National Assembly (Parliament) in previous years. The Energy Actadopted in 1999 defines the objective of energy policy as giving priority to EE and utilization of renewable energy sources. The goals of the ĆNational Energy Action Plan 2008-2016 (NEEAP)Ć adopted by the Slovenian government in 2008 include a set of energy efficiency improvement instruments in the residential, industrial, transport and tertiary sectors. The target of the NEEAP is to save final energy in the 2008-2016 period, amounting to at least 4261 GWh or 9% of baseline consumption. The indicators of energy efficiency trends show considerable improvement in the period from 1998 to 2007. The improvement of EE was reached in all sectorsČ manufacturing, transport and households. The paper analyses the structure, trends of energy consumption andenergy efficiency indicators by sectors of economic activity. A review of energy efficiency policy and measures is described in the paper.
COBISS.SI-ID: 24555815
Reduction of the emissions of greenhouses gases, increasing the share of renewable energy sources (RES) in the energy balance, increasing electricity production from renewable energy sources and decreasing energy dependency represent the main goals of all current strategies in Europe. Biomass co-firing in large coal-based thermal power plants provides a considerable opportunity to increase the share of RES in the primary energy balance and theshare of electricity from RES in gross electricity consumption in a country. Biomass-coal co-firing means reducing CO2 and SO2, emissions and it may also reduce NOx emissions, and also represents a near-term, low-risk, low-cost and sustainable energy development. Biomass-coal co-firing is the most effective measure to reduce CO2 emissions, because it substitutes coal, which has the most intensive CO2 emissions per kWh electricity production, by biomass, with a zero net emission of CO2. Biomass co-firing experience worldwide are reviewed in this paper. Biomass co-firing has been successfully demonstrated in over 150 installations worldwide for most combinations of fuels and boiler types in the range of 50-700 MWe, although a number of very small plants have also been involved. More than a hundred of these have been in Europe. A key indicator for the assessment of biomass co-firing is intrduced and used to evaluate all available biomass co-firing technologies.
COBISS.SI-ID: 23593511
Radiological doses to terrestrial wildlife were examined in this model inter-comparison study that emphasised factors causing variability in dose estimation. The study participants used varying modelling approaches and information sources to estimate dose rates and tissue concentrations for a range of biota types exposed to soil contamination at a shallow radionuclide waste burial site in Australia. Results indicated that the dominant factor causing variation in dose rate estimates (up to three orders of magnitude on mean total dose rates) was the soil-to-organism transfer of radionuclides that included variation in transfer parameter values as well as transfer calculation methods. Additional variation was associated with other modelling factors including: how participants conceptualised and modelled the exposure configurations (two orders of magnitude); which progeny to include with the parent radionuclide (typically less than one order of magnitude); and dose calculation parameters, including radiation weighting factors and dose conversion coefficients (typically less than one order of magnitude). Probabilistic approaches to model parameterisation were used to encompass and describe variable model parameters and outcomes. The study confirms the need for continued evaluation of the underlying mechanisms governing soil-toorganism transfer of radionuclides to improve estimation of dose rates to terrestrial wildlife. The exposure pathways and configurations available in most current codes are limited when considering instances where organisms access subsurface contamination through rooting, burrowing, or using different localised waste areas as part of their habitual routines.
COBISS.SI-ID: 26468391
Samples from six Scots pines (P. sylvestris), six Norway spruces (Picea abies)and one sycamore maple (Acer pseudoplatanus) tree, growing on the Borst uranium mill tailings waste pile in Slovenia were collected. 238U, 230Th, 226Ra and 210Pb activity concentrations in wood, shoots and 1-year-old needlesor leaves were determined. Particular radionuclides were separated fromthe samples by appropriate radiochemical procedures and their activity concentrations measured with an alpha spectrometry system. In addition, concentration ratios for different plant parts were calculated.
COBISS.SI-ID: 25251367
New data are presented on 238U concentrations in surface and ground waters sampled at selected uranium mining sites in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan and in water supplies of settlements located in the vicinity of these sites. Radiochemical neutron activation analysis (RNAA) was used for 238U determination in all cases. In addition, for data accuracy assessments purposes, a sub-set of these samples was analysed by high-resolution alpha spectrometry, following standard radiochemical separation and purification. Our data show that drinking waters sampled at various settlements located close to the uranium mining sites are characterised by relatively low uranium concentrations (1.9-35.9 Žg L-1) compared to surface waters sampled within thesame sites. The latter show high concentrations of total uranium, reflecting the influence from the radioactive waste generated as a result of uranium ore production.
COBISS.SI-ID: 25251111