There is little doubt that the energy situation in Malta, with nearly a 100 per cent dependence on imported oil, needs to be tackled head on. The controversial water and electricity tariffs are only one aspect of this. Another important facet is the strategy to reduce dependence on foreign oil with all its ramifications, not least the wild variations in price, which sometimes not even the oil producers' cartel can control.
The measures proposed by the government and detailed in the National Energy Efficiency Plan submitted with the budget should go a long way to satisfy most of the EU guidelines on the targets for Malta to reduce the use of fossil fuels in the generation of energy. It should help to implement the government's policy of exploiting the potential of new and renewable sources of energy.
It is probable that if we re-direct and save rainwater rather than allow most of it to flow to the sea, and if a more aggressive use of solar energy is made, not only would we meet the EU targets; we may even surpass them.
The EU targets are not realistic for Malta as we were starting from scratch and our renewable energy sources are limited. The fact that the government did not give priority to renewable energy earlier and the lack of a comprehensive energy plan were the main criticisms made by the opposition during the budget debate. Yet rather than looking back, it would be more useful to be forward-looking and to exploit the better technologies now available to us.
The National Energy Efficiency Plan, together with the government's resolve for a strong renewable energy policy, could underpin a convincing comprehensive energy plan, which could take into consideration the EU's guidelines and strategies that were tailor-made for the Malta's circumstances.
A credible plan must start by tackling efficiency and waste particularly in conventional power generation and distribution. This should not be too difficult since energy efficiency is a stated key objective of the government's energy policy.
In the present circumstances this plan must place major emphasis on solar energy. The advanced technologies in this area must, when possible, be made available free to households and at an advantageous cost to industry, particularly SMEs and other commercial users of energy. Solar energy may be supplemented with other renewables, like wind, but not ignoring newer sea technologies like wave and algae.
After all, we only have two unlimited resources: the sun and the sea. Wind energy for us may not be as effective as some, including the EU, may believe - due to our size and the lack of consistency of the wind. This has nothing to do with the level of technology in wind energy generation.
In other European countries, it is proving better to generate energy from the wind than the sun. The Irish Republic and Northern Ireland may well depend on wind energy in a few years' time. Denmark, which at present uses wind for about 15 per cent of its total energy needs, expects to use wind for 50 per cent of its energy needs by 2020. Sweden and Germany may not be far behind.
It is therefore not surprising that the EU's recently issued Second Energy Strategic Review refers to offshore wind farms as the energy powerhouse of the next decade, adding that wind will play an essential role in meeting the EU target of 20 per cent renewable energy by 2020.
Malta may need to look beyond wind to make headway in reducing its dependency on fossil fuels (thereby its CO2 emissions) and more importantly to increase its energy self-sufficiency. The EU needs to consider a different formula for Malta, which should include more financial assistance to cover the relatively small surface area with solar panels.
This could start with every government building, including Beltissebħ, and possibly an experimental town or village that would be totally covered with the most advanced solar technology available, fully financed by the EU, which could later use the results to apply to other towns and villages in Malta and possibly elsewhere as well.
CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, says oil and natural gas will reach the limit of availability in approximately 50 years. While not ruling out the nuclear and coal options, and seeing the limitation of the renewables currently available to fully replace fossil fuels, it maintained that there is a new solar option, 'which is ready' and may be put to use to make up for the energy deficit of the future.