Climate or rural development policy?

Sándor Kerekes () and Szilvia Luda ()
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Sándor Kerekes: Corvinus University of Budapest Department of Environmental Economics and Technology Budapest Hungary
Szilvia Luda: Corvinus University of Budapest Department of Environmental Economics and Technology Budapest Hungary

Society and Economy, 2011, vol. 33, issue 1, 145-159

Abstract: Being heavily energy dependent, it is not much of a surprise that Europe pays special attention to reducing the use of fossil fuels. Each one of the ten new member states is characterized by relatively low per capita energy consumption and relatively low energy efficiency, and the share of renewables in their energy mix tends to be low, too. The paper examines the problem when policy measures create a decrease in environmental capital instead of an increase. In this case it hardly seems justified to talk about environmental protection. The authors describe a case of a Hungarian rapeseed oil mill which would not be of too much interest on its own but given that almost all similar plants went bankrupt, there are some important lessons to learn from its survival. The enterprise the authors examined aimed at establishing a micro-regional network. They completed a brown-field development to establish a small plant on the premises of a former large agricultural cooperative. By partnering with the former employees and suppliers of the onetime cooperative, they enjoyed some benefits which all the other green-field businesses focusing on fuel production could not. The project improved food security, energy security and population retention as well.

Keywords: renewable energy; game theory; sustainable development in rural regions; EU climate policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: P48 Q16 R11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
Note: The research has been supported by the Norwegian Financial Mechanism (project HU-0056).
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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