Try turning off the computer screen when not at the desk, or switching off the lights when out of the room. The European Commission's Action Plan for Energy Efficiency, dating from October 19 2006, calls for a 20 per cent reduction in the use of energy by 2020, which would save about 100 billion euro a year union-wide.

With the October 31 decision to award the tender of Belene's construction to the Russian Atomstroyexport for 3.999 billion euro, Bulgaria is continuing in a vein that does not garner European Union favour.

At the BISE (Better Integration for Sustainable Energy) Forum III in Riga, Latvia, EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs addressed attendees on October 27. A question was asked of his view on nuclear energy. "I think, first of all, when you go for a big infrastructure project, you should really evaluate all other options. Because (once) you construct (the NPP), you don't have any chance for changes," he said, continuing that "using local resources should be looked at first of all, and possibilities for energy efficiency".

Piebalgs encouraged EU member states to "seriously address" the issues of energy efficiency and renewables.

At present, Bulgaria takes only about 2.5 to 3.5 per cent of its energy from renewable sources, and this mostly from micro hydropower plants of less than 10 MW, said Dimitar Doukov, deputy executive director of Bulgaria Energy Efficiency Fund, to The Sofia Echo at the forum. In contrast, traditional sources such as nuclear and coal provide about 43 and 47.7 per cent, respectively.

Zdravko Genchev, executive director of the centre for energy efficiency EnEffect, said that as concerns energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources in Bulgaria, "the main driving force is not climate change, but money. You can't convince the mayor (to support this) only by speaking about climate".

Genchev named a future in biomass, and noted the opportunity for bigger investments in the field of wind energy.

Any of these renewable sources would bring bigger returns on investments than would nuclear, at about 22 per cent.

Piebalgs said: "The only nuclear energy that is cheap is that which is coming from amortised power plants," specifying that while he was not contrary NPPs per se, a country should look for the "best opportunity", which might or might not be nuclear. "We know that big power companies do not always have the same interest as consumers," Piebalgs said.

In the case of Bulgaria, with the foundations of Belene already constructed, the return revenue will be augmented as compared with starting anew, but the negative environmental impact will continue. And as to how this fits into the EU's goal for member states to take at least 21 per cent of their energy from renewable sources by 2010 is anyone's guess.

(The BISE event was held parallel to a training course on sustainable energy journalism hosted by the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership, The Guardian Foundation and the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe.)