As Jasmina Trstenjak/Novac writes on the 2nd of April, 2019, the Republic of Croatia must, and is, turning more and more strongly towards using its own renewable energy sources, this was the main message of the Minister of Environmental Protection and Energy of Tomislav Ćorić at the Wind Europe 2019 Conference & Exhibition, held April from the 2nd to the 4th of this month in Bilbao, Spain.

It's been three and a half years since the historic COP 21 in Paris, which was one of the most important first steps towards a global low-carbon transition. The goal is to limit global warming below 2 degrees celsius, up to a maximum of 1.5 degrees celsius.

"Although we've done a lot since then, there are still many challenges ahead of us," Ćorić stated at the beginning of his speech on the subject, held at the largest and the most significant European event in the area of ​​wind energy use, in which the Republic of Croatia participated for the very first time.

The conference is focused on clean energy for Europe and brings together key European institutions and the European economy in the wind industry, 8000 participants, 300 exhibitors from various countries and as many as 155 speakers, including Croatia's Tomislav Ćorić, who presented those present with Croatian experiences and further plans.

He recalled the fact that Croatia realised that, for security reasons, it has to turn much more towards its own sources of energy, primarily relying on hydropower, the sun and the wind.

''We will intensively support the development of geothermal, biomass and biogas projects, addressing the needs of the industry, agriculture, and all those sectors that need the synergistic effect of electricity and heat production in a highly efficient manner,'' he continued by briefly outlining Croatia's energy plans, adding that a very important segment of energy transition is the increased share of electricity in transport, such as in heating and cooling systems.

Additional space can be seen in Croatian tourism, which accounts for almost 20 percent of the country's GDP, and has a disadvantageous relationship between the supply and demand of electricity in summer tourist months, so we can see the need for, and the opportunity to introduce a micro solar system. Tourism will profit even more, Tomislav Ćorić believes, with the electrification of transport, he therefore believes that it would be good to open the story of corporate contracts on the purchase of electricity in tourism.

Adding to the issue of tourism, he pointed out that Croatia is known for its more than 1,000 islands and that the island's dependence on energy imports could be reduced by the greater use of renewable sources and innovative energy systems, which could also lead to welcome cost reductions. Accordingly, the European Commission has started its initiative on the energy transition of European islands with a view to seeing them eventually become sustainable, and Croatia is aiming to continue this work during the Croatian Presidency of the Council of Europe, so as to continue to ensure the development of the energy transition strategy on Croatia's many islands.

''Among the 26 European islands are the Cres-Lošinj archipelago and Korčula, Brač and Hvar. In the first phase, Cres will make its energy transition plan this summer, and next year, Hvar, Brač and Korčula will do the same,'' the minister stated.

He also took the opportunity to announce Croatia's new energy strategy which is being brought in as early as this year, in which one of the key goals will be to increase the production of both wind and sun-sourced electricity.

''In line with this, we expect more renewable energy sources than in the past ten years. The goal is to have three times more wind and twenty times more solar energy in the next ten years. With the wind and other choices of renewable energy, we will achieve 32 percent of our total energy needs by 2030 and at least 56 percent by 2050, and the transition to renewable energy will reduce harmful emissions. We believe that further growth in green energy investment will also affect the country's development itself, as well as [provide] new employment and industry growth,'' concluded Minister Tomislav Ćorić at the Bilbao conference.

Maja Pokrovac, the director of the Croatia Renewable Energy Association, added that with the aim of achieving 32 percent of renewable sources, Croatia will contribute 36.4 percent according to the National Climate Action Plan and Action Plan sent to Brussels in late 2018, while the director of WindEurope, Giles Dickson, expressed his pleasant surprise with the fact that Croatia is the most optimistic country in JI Europe when it comes to the share of renewables in consumption.

Make sure to follow our dedicated politics and lifestyle pages for much more. If it's the environment and ecology in Croatia you're interested in, give Total Eco Croatia a follow.

Click here for the original article by Jasmina Trstenjak for Novac/Jutarnji

The Clean Energy Secretariat on EU islands held an energy transition workshop attended by representatives from the Croatian islands of Brač, Cres, Hvar, Korčula and Lošinj last week.

As Morski writes on the 18th of March, 2019, Croatian islands officially launched an energetic transition up and down the coast. Back at the beginning of February this year, the Secretariat's initiative for clean energy for the EU's islands, which was initiated by the Croatian MEP Tonino Picula, announced a list of 26 European island communities that will receive expert and advisory support for the energy transition strategy in the coming period, writes Pokret otoka (Island movement).

Among the 26 selected islands are four Croatian island communities: The Cres-Lošinj archipelago and Brač, Hvar and Korčula. The two-day workshop, organised with the cooperation of the cities of Cres and Mali Lošinj, the OTRA Island Development Agency, LAG Kvarner Islands and Pokret otoka (Island movement) as local partners, gathered forty representatives of selected islands that, with expert assistance, will set the first foundations of energy transition plans. The gathering took place last weekend and this is the first of a total of ten workshops which will be carried out by the Secretariat for the EU islands in the forthcoming period.

Representatives of transition teams from all five islands participated in the workshop in Mali Lošinj, which will work on strategy development in cooperation with partners and experts in the coming period. The goal of the two-day workshop, besides transferring knowledge and experiences from different areas, has also been gathering, networking and strengthening the island's stakeholders for further cooperation in the energy transition process.

The Cres-Lošinj archipelago, set as one of the six European pilot projects, should have its energy transition plan should be ready by the end of summer 2019. The remaining twenty islands, including Brač, Hvar and Korčula, will have their plans in place by 2020. Despite the abundance of renewable energy sources, many islands currently depend on fossil fuels and energy imports from the mainland. The transition to clean energy can help the islands not only become more self-reliant and prosperous, but also open up new opportunities for employment in their communities and encourage further direct development of the islands.

The other islands that will be pilot projects in the initiative are the Irish Islands, Sifnos in Greece, Salina in Italy, La Palma in Spain and Culatra in Portugal. Twenty other islands will follow their development and enjoy the suppor of experts in the same direction. An expert team of the Secretariat for the islands will produce guides to initiate energy transition, encourage community involvement and discuss project financing in the forthcoming period.

Croatian islanders will have the opportunity to cooperate with each other, create a network of good practices, educate themselves and and participate in various events. It is important to emphasise the fact that the whole initiative is based on the "bottom up" approach, and the primary principle of transition success is based on the involvement of all local community stakeholders, which include the representatives of local self-government units, entrepreneurs, educational institutions, and of course civic initiatives.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for more information on Croatian islands and much, much more.

Click here for the original article by Ana Marija Jakas for Pokret otoka (Island movement)

An environmental tragedy for the island of Pag as one of the most beautiful, not to mention geologically and paleontologically interesting part of the island landscape, Ledenik, has sadly become part of an unregulated and unwanted landfill for discarded construction material and all kinds of waste. Ledenik is otherwise visited by thousands of tourists during the summer months and is a very popular area, but also a highly significant fossil site.

As Morski writes on the 21st of January, 2019, in addition to this area being of importance when it comes to prehistory, some of the oldest still standing sructures, more specifically examples of drywall construction on the island of Pag are located in Ledenik. Several films have also been filmed there. Unfortunately, this stunning area has fallen victim to people dumping all sorts of waste, as Radio Pag has reported.

Ledenik is extremely interesting in a geological sense. Namely, the island of Pag actually originated from billions of shells and skeletons of various dead and fossilised marine animals and is mostly composed of limestone, and it is precisely at Ledenik where a vast fossil site can be seen.

Geologists say that the basic geological structure of the island of Pag originated about 200 million years ago, while the actual formation of the island of Pag is considered by geologists to have occurred around 30 million years ago, when they believe what is now Ledenik was then initially formed. At that time, the island of Pag was connected with Velebit and didn't have the shape of an island as it has today.

The present shape of the island of Pag was created at the end of Pleistocene era, the last ice age, about 12,000 years ago, which isn't that long ago in the grand scheme of things. Then, transgression occurred and the sea level rose by about a hundred meters. The wetland area (part of the then Pag lake) saw the gap between the now island of Pag and Velebit filled by the sea and the Velebit channel was thus created. This marked the final act in the island's birth as we know and love it today.

The utterly bizarre, almost Mars-like landscape of the island of Pag has been regularly contributed by bura winds which have been shaping sedimentary rocks for centuries. This is particularly noticeable on Ledenik, which is, by far, entirely unique.

All in all, Ledenik should be the City of Pag's pride, but it seems that not everyone cares enough about the local environment to make sure it stays as precious and as unique as it is.

Make sure to stay up to date with our dedicated lifestyle page for more. If it's just Croatia's attitude to the environment and ecology you're interested in, give Total Eco Croatia a follow.

Click here for the original article by Radio Pag

A project for Medvednica, a mountain located in Central Croatia just north of Zagreb, will see trees planted. Medvednica nature park is a popular destination, located close to Zagreb with its highest peak being the much loved Sljeme.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 8th of January, 2019, the JYSK retail chain has launched a project which will see the shopping giant collect all the funds made from the sale of plastic bags containing 50 percent recyclable material from January the 2nd to March the 31st, 2019, and putting them to good use for the purpose of preserving the environment in the Republic of Croatia.

In close cooperation with Croatian forests (Hrvatske šume), the funds collected from the sale of the bags will be intended for the purchase of as many as 10,000 beech seedlings for the purpose of the afforestation of two zones of the popular Medvednica nature park near Zagreb. The goal of this praiseworthy and highly socially responsible project is to raise further awareness of the importance of the need for forests and of their development.

"As a large international company which is in daily contact with thousands of customers, suppliers and associates, we're aware of our roles in the development of socially responsible business, creating a new value for all participants. Our wish is to raise public awareness of the important issues and we're confident that we will encourage many to behave more conscientiously towards nature,'' said Vesna Kukić-Lončarić, JYSK's country manager for Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia.

JYSK has initiated a project on the basis of a new directive of the European Union which was introduced in Croatia on January the 1st, 2019. It is a measure to reduce the use of non-recyclable plastic bags. In addition to the effect the retail chain wants to have over regular citizens, JYSK wants to encourage its own employees to actively engage in afforestation in Croatia, and plans to plant the huge number of aforementioned beet seedlings after the end of the fundraising cycle, which will be in April 2019.

"We're pleased that JYSK has recognised the importance of forest care in Croatia. Planting on surfaces that have suffered several times after stormy weather is crucial to restoring the balance of nature. We hope this will also encourage other companies to launch similar initiatives,'' said Damir Miškulin, head of the Zagreb branch of Croatian forests.

Make sure to stay up to date with more news on Medvednica and much more by following our dedicated lifestyle page. If you fancy yourself as a bit of an eco warrior, give Total Eco Croatia a follow.

Ivica Poljičak, state secretary at the Croatian Ministry of Culture, has made sure to start off on the right note by doing his bit in cleaning up the beach, in an action he'd already organised and done back in August 2018.

The environment should be important to us all, however many of us consciously choose to ignore the fact that we all have a duty to keep our surroundings clean, especially when it comes to extremely harmful plastic waste which continues to threaten the world's seas and oceans, as well as the array of marine life living below the surface.

As Morski writes on the 2nd of January, 2019, Ivica Poljičak visited the small bay of Paklina, where strong bura had unfortunately dragged in yet more new waste, and he spent half an hour cleaning up that small part of the coast, and in just that short period of time he managed to fill up four entire bin bags, according to a report from SibenikIN.

''See you at the beginning of spring at the same place! I wish everyone a happy and successful 2019,'' Ivica Poljičak said.

Ivica Poljičak recalled the fact that the most diverse plastic waste from Paklina bay was picked up back in August last year when the bags were filled with lollipop sticks, lighters, plugs, bottles, packaging from various hygiene products and similar plastic waste that the sea had dragged up to the shoreline.

Otherwise, plastic waste makes up more than 70 percent of the waste in the whole of the Mediterranean sea, and is particularly dangerous because it can never completely disintegrate.

All plastics ever produced across the world still exist to this day since they can't naturally degrade over time like natural materials do. Therefore, plastics thrown into the sea never go away, and by the influence of light and natural phenomena, break into microparticles that, through the food chain and eating habits of numerous marine animals, find their way back to humans, creating toxic chemical compounds.

In the stomachs of marine mammals, scientists were able to find dozens of pounds of plastic bags and other plastic waste which had been shamefully dumped into the sea by humans.

Make sure to follow our lifestyle page for more. If you consider yourself a bit of an eco warrior yourself, follow Total Eco Croatia.

Click here for the original article by SibenikIN

With plastic pollution continuing to be an ever growing threat to the world's seas and oceans, the EU has ramped up its overall efforts to make sure member states do their jobs. Croatia has been carrying out numerous beach and sea bed cleanups up and down the coast, mainly in the pre and post season but also in the summer. The latest praiseworthy Dubrovnik eco action has seen some ever concerning items dragged from the sea.

As Morski writes on the 2nd of December, 2018, under the organisation of the Dubrovnik Tourist Board and the Dubrovnik Diving Club, yet another Dubrovnik eco action was held, this time at the location of the old town port, where the seabed was cleared of its various types of rubbish. The waste extracted from the sea bed was made up of a variety of plastic and glass bottles, all the way to much larger, bulkier items such as rubber tires and sponges, according to a report from the local portal Dubrovniknet.

One very concerning fact about this particular Dubrovnik eco action is that one of the most commonly found items were rubber tyres from various types of vehicles, this should no longer be the case since there is a recycling company in Croatia which deals specifically with old and unwanted tyres.

Old tyres such as those found during the latest Dubrovnik eco action in the medieval city's famous old port can be left for authorised regional collectors to come and get them, who then send such types of waste to have the rubber content recycled for many other items, as the further application of such material is largely beneficial in many different economic activities and sectors, including construction, infrastructure, playgrounds, and much more.

Make sure to keep up to date with our dedicated lifestyle page for more information like this. If you're interested in keeping up with just what Croatia is doing to protect the environment, follow Total Eco Croatia. If it's just the Pearl of the Adriatic you're interested in, stay up to date with Total Dubrovnik.

Click here for the original article by Dubrovniknet.hr

German statisticians released data on their export of used diesel cars in recent days, and Croatia has taken second place, after the Ukrainians, according to a report from Jutarnji list's Autoklub. Despite warnings from environmentalists and eco-warriors, which many experts claim to be false, it appears that Croats love diesel engines regardless.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 16th of November, 2018, with the growth of diesel imports from Germany in 2018, from 89.6 percent in relation to the same period last year, Croatia continues to hold onto the second most respectable position on the entire chart, while first place continues to be reserved by the Ukrainians, a country for which an incredible increase of 136.8 has been recorded.

The fact that these aren't just some fantasy figures is supported by the data of the Promocija plus agency, and according to them, in the first nine months of this year, a never before seen number of used cars entered Croatia, a massive 57,067 of them, which is equal to 16,732, or 41.5 percent more than were recorded during the same period last year. A large contribution to such a jump, which can be read clearly from the provided figures, was given mainly by diesel engine vehicles.

These are mostly, of course, imported from Germany, and there are as many as 15,434 more diesel engine cars on Croatia's roads than were recorded last year. Their share in the total number of imported used cars this year has jumped from 88.2 percent to 88.7 percent, a clear indicator that Croats love diesel engines.

This is likely to unnerve eco-warriors and those who make conscious steps to put the environment first, generally by aiming to reduce their carbon footprint. Is the propagated idea that Croatia is becoming a "dumping ground for old diesel engines from Europe" a remotely truthful one? According to some experts, no, it isn't, and believe it or not, there are some rather strong arguments to support that fact.

For starters, we need to look at good old excise duty. As is already very well known, in recent years, exise duty is ''counted'' against a vehicle's CO2 emissions and value, and excise tax tables are arranged as such so that they do not fall ''into the hands'' of favour of older cars which typically produce higher and unwanted emissions of harmful gases.

According to the obtained information, these imported diesel engine cars don't pose a negative effect on the average age of the domestic Croatian car fleet as would be the case with the import of a large number of brand new cars, and the same applies to the emission of harmful gases. These imports are still newer and cause considerably less pollution than the existing ones do, and therefore ecologists and environmentalists need not be afraid. The increase in diesel car imports is not a problem because Croatia has no particular air quality problems, whereas Germany, for example, definitely does.

Make sure to stay up to date with our lifestyle page for more. If you're into all things eco, follow Total Eco Croatia for info on just how the environment is put first by various organisations across the country.

Keeping on top of things and putting the environment first isn't always easy in the time in which we currently live, but a beach cleanup is a more than excellent way to start. In Croatia, such seabed and beach cleanup actions take place quite regularly up and down the coast, with the most emphasis being placed on the pre and post season.

During this somewhat turbulent time of year, it's typical for unstable weather conditions and strong winds and currents to wreak havoc to some degree or another, often bringing in unwanted rubbish from other parts of the coast, sometimes even dragging up piles of waste on currents from Albania to Dubrovnik.

Plastic pollution is an increasingly dangerous threat to the world's seas and oceans, and while various laws continue to be passed to either ban or at least limit the use of ''throw away'' plastic products, the issue remains a pressing one. A well organised beach cleanup is an excellent way to combat the problem.

As Morski writes on the 1st of November, 2018, beautiful Mljet has experienced a proverbial reincarnation this year, as 32 volunteers participated in a program to clean up as many as fifteen bays and coves on Mljet, which is otherwise one of the country's most breathtaking national parks, located not too far from Dubrovnik.

This year's volunteer program, developed by JUNP Mljet and the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Energy through the EU Integration Project Natura 2000, was successfully completed, with 71 volunteers participating in all of the four volunteer programs.

For the first time, NP Mljet welcomed international volunteers from Lithuania, Australia, America, and neighbouring Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina to help clean up the national park's many bays and coves. Over 400 plastic bags, sewage, glass and various other types of waste was successfully removed from Mljet's shoreline.

Want to keep up with more news about how the environment is taken care of in Croatia and how you might be able to help? Make sure to follow Total Eco Croatia.

Zlarin aims to put the environment first!

The Dubrovnik Diving Club announces another praiseworthy action, putting the underwater environment first.