Bulgaria Archive

212 Energy Scouts trained after two years – a summary

The practical projects reduce emissions on average by 94 t CO₂

The sustainable results of Young Energy Europe are the practical projects of the Energy Scouts, which contribute to lower resource consumption and therefore to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The high implementation rate of the projects in the companies prove their practical relevance.

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So far, the Energy Scouts designed 94 efficiency projects with considerable potential for savings, most of them in the areas of compressed air and lighting but the topics of mobility, resource efficiency and water consumption also play a significant role. The projects of the first two years of European Energy Scouts showed a possible reduction of greenhouse gas emissions of about 8,800 t CO₂ per year. This represents potential savings of more than 10,000 MWh of electricity and considerable quantities of natural gas, heating oil and fuels, but also water, paper, batteries and plastics, which the companies now use to a lesser extent. Some projects started as pilot projects in individual branches or subsidiaries and can later be extended to other locations in order to broaden the scale of the expected savings.

More online trainings in the future

In 2020, Energy Scouts face additional challenges due to the corona crisis. Since March, many companies in the four countries have shut down and some have had to reduce personnel. Some of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CCI) have moved the training sessions to virtual rooms, but not everything can be done from the home office. For example, the scouts can only carry out energy consumption measurements when the companies are in actual operation again. The first positive signals in this regard are coming from Hungary and the Czech Republic.

In the future, the qualification as Energy Scout will be further optimized – from locally flexible webinars to individual advice by lecturers for separate project teams. With the Best Practices of outstanding projects and the increasing networking of the scouts, digital tools are already available to help ensure the future success of Young Energy Europe.

Energy Scout at work – Timea Kiss-Molnár measures the current intensity of a compressor with a current clamp in Hanságliget, Hungary (© Hipp Kft.)

The Energy Scouts Tomáš Fictum and Jakub Tauer from Kermi present their practical project in the CCI Czech Republic (©AHK Czech Republic)

Training courses form the base for the following practical projects of the scouts (©AHK Greece)

Energy Scout Vladislav Varbanov checking the light intensity in the warehouse of his company. (© Kaufland Bulgaria)

WWF Bulgaria: Just Transition for the Coal-Mining Regions in Southwest Bulgaria

Workers in the energy and coal industry and their trade unions face a serious challenge. On the one hand, they will have to take up much of the burden of the transition to a sustainable economy. A significant number of jobs will be transformed. This is a process that is already running due to the modernization and upgrading of current industrial technologies. On the other hand, trade unions as the driving force of social change have the best understanding of the potential and benefits of collective action. If they do not use their influence in the high carbon sectors to speed up and support the processes of modernization and upgrading during the transition to a low carbon economy, there is a risk many jobs to be closed down in the short-term. Now we are facing this problem in Southwest Bulgaria.

Decarbonisation policies and measures may in fact become the driving force for sustainable economic growth and social progress. This can be done with the active participation of the employees and workers who are most directly affected. There are various alternatives for achieving a just transition in Southwest Bulgaria. They were addressed a study conducted under the EUKI Project “Just Transition in Eastern and Southern Europe”. It outlines the possible scenarios for sustainable development beyond maintaining the current state (i.e. beyond the absence of concrete actions for change).

The analysis presents possible solutions to the problems related to the transition from coal industry to a sustainable economy in Southwest Bulgaria. It is an attempt to plan the future of coal regions in Bulgaria and can serve as a tool for policy planning and long-term strategic decision making in this region.

The documentary movie “Life After Coal” by WWF Bulgaria is presenting the situation in the focus coal region in Bulgaria and the perspectives of its current citizens.

Responsible for the content of this page is the named author / organisation:Just Transition

Project Study

Young Energy Europe Awards Innovative Energy Scouts in Bulgaria

Award ceremony in Sofia

The jury had a hard time deciding which project to honour. After a long discussion they finally chose one winning project and additionally awarded three special prizes. The best project of the Bulgarian Energy Scouts 2019 was developed by the start-up company Dronamics which produces transport drones. In the near future they plan to offer transport services in countries lacking in infrastructure. The project focuses on the efficient production of component parts by 3D printers and reduces the waste of carbon or glass fiber reinforced epoxy resin by 97%. Due to the project, Dronamics strengthens resource efficiency in the production process and not only reduces earlier material losses but also decreases CO₂-emisions by 67%.

Further Information

Young Energy Europe

AHK Bulgaria

Project Partners

The three special prizes were awarded to:

Spark Fitness & Spa for the implementation of a water filter system. This system replaces more than 23,000 disposable plastic bottles and cups per year, which previously were used by customers and employees. Additionally, the water has positive health effects.
Liebherr-Hausgeräte Marica EOOD won a prize for a compressed air project. By replacing an inefficient compressor combined with other measures they will save 296 tons of CO₂ per year.
Aurubis Bulgaria AD established a railway transport to move copper anodes to the nearest port. Thanks to the energy scouts, the company can replace the transport volume of 40 diesel-powered trucks per week with electric locomotives.

All energy scouts presented their projects with great commitment and based their vision on solid figures and calculations. They faced critical questions from the jury and the audience, which included Stefan Bundscherer and Ulrike Leis, two representatives of the EUKI secretariat. All participating projects contribute to making their companies more modern, more competitive, more climate-friendly, and help reduce their CO₂ footprints.

Responsible for the content of this page is the named author / organisation:Young Energy Europe