1. Ukraine is too poor to invest in green energy
Green energy is energy from the sun, wind, water and heat of the Earth – energy At the moment green
from the resources that are not exhaustible in the foreseeable future. Resource base energy production is not
of fossil fuels on the planet is constantly decreasing, so green energy is being competitive
discussed as one of the most effective alternatives to conventional energy in the
future. Moreover, green energy does not harm the environment, therefore, the
attention to it is growing.
Nevertheless at the moment the cost of green energy production is uncompetitive.
In Ukraine green energy costs on average 5 times as much as conventional one.
The difference is currently subsidized by the state budget. For the time being green
energy accounts for less than 1% in power balance of the country, and such
subsidies do not have an essential effect on the budget. But if we intend to provide
for real energy diversification, green energy share and consequently budgetary
burden should considerably increase.
Is investment of government funds in green energy reasonable at this point? Are
there better options available to ensure energy security for the country?
Arguments FOR the motion
Green energy is not the best choice if we want to ensure steady supply of energy. Nuclear power and energy
Capability of wind and solar energy production directly depends on uncertain efficiency improvement
climate conditions, and effective technologies for its conservation are not yet will ensure more
available. Such energy may be considered as additional benefit, but one can’t sustainable result for less
consider it as one of the main sources for providing citizens with heat and money
electricity. Furthermore, generation of energy from biomass is not a solution as
well, bearing in mind the fact that the energy return on energy invested ratio for
biofuels is close to one. The country has much more effective ways to solve the
problem. According to the World Bank, energy efficiency improvement taken
alone would provide for energy consumption reduction in Ukraine by 30%.
Moreover, cheap, stable and CO2- clean energy source already exists and this is
nuclear power.
Major costs of green energy generation require substantial capital expenditures. In Ukraine green power
The moment it is installed, further production does not cost anything (except should be developed only
maintenance costs). The price of such equipment constantly falls while new and after rich countries create
cheaper technologies are being developed. Thus it is reasonable to wait till rich cost-effective technologies
countries develop technologies which would provide for cost-effective generation for its generation and
of green energy and only then to start investing in it in Ukraine; then it won’t be conservation
necessary to pass on costs of technological underdevelopment on Ukrainian
taxpayers. Furthermore, by that time technologies on green energy conservation
may be also available.
The Foundation for Effective Governance
Kiev, 23F Kudrjavska Street, 04053, Ukraine, Tel: +380 44 501 41 00, Fax: + 380 44 501 41 05
feg@feg.org.ua
www.feg.org.ua, www.debaty.org

2. Arguments AGAINST the motion
There is no real alternative to green energy in the future. The problem with nuclear Green energy is the most
power is that it is neither safe nor low cost, contrary to popular belief. Accidents at secure and flexible
the Chernobyl power plant and Fukushima proved that it is impossible to foresee alternative to conventional
all force majeure circumstances during nuclear plant construction and the energy
consequences could be catastrophic. Moreover, while calculating nuclear energy
costs one usually does not take into account the costs of deactivation of time-
expired plants. If one includes those costs, then one can find nuclear energy to be
not so cheap. That is why it is not the best choice to compensate for a shortcoming
of carbon-based fuel by nuclear one. Green energy does not contain such risks, and
the price of its production soon will be significantly reduced. In addition the
advantage of green power plants is their flexibility: they can be turned on and off
much quicker in reflection of demand fluctuations.
It is of great importance to begin to develop green energy right now, so that it It is necessary to start
could compensate for conventional energy shortage in the future and people would developing green energy
not experience deficit of energy supply. While carbon-based fuel resources are now, there is no time to
running low, its price will be mounting. This will considerably increase expenses lose
on green power plants construction. Moreover it will inevitably cause energy
shortage until green capacities are put into operational use. For this reason it is
necessary to invest into green energy while standby capacities still exist.
Furthermore a multistep transformation of power infrastructure towards green
energy is required to ensure uninterrupted energy supply. It will require
elaboration of a long-term action plan, and its implementation should commence
straight away.
The question of whether it is worthwhile for Ukraine to develop green energy now will be discussed in the
course of the public debate organized by the Foundation for Effective Governance in partnership with
Intelligence Squared on the 1st of December, 2011 in Kiev.
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Additional Information
Gross Electricity Generation - EU-27, TWh Eco-friendly spending as % of total fiscal stimulus,
31.03.2009 estimates
0% 30% 60% 90%
$. bn
South Korea 79% 30,7
China 33% 200,8
France 22% 7,1
Germany 13% 13,8
United States 12% 94,1
Electricity generation by fuel, Ukraine, GWh Australia 9% 2,5
Canada 8% 2,6
United Kingdom 6% 2,1
Spain 5% 0,8
Japan 3% 12,4
The Foundation for Effective Governance
Kiev, 23F Kudrjavska Street, 04053, Ukraine, Tel: +380 44 501 41 00, Fax: + 380 44 501 41 05
feg@feg.org.ua
www.feg.org.ua, www.debaty.org