Croatian island town to become free of carbon dioxide emissions

Croatian northern Adriatic island of Krk would become the first town in Croatia to rely on energy free of carbon dioxide emissions, an energy company said on Wednesday.

The company "Ponikve Eco Island Krk" said it has a general plan to turn Krk into an island completely running on renewable sources of energy, mostly wind and solar power, by 2030.

A wind farm with the capacity of 36 MW will be constructed by 2018, while big solar panels will be put on 20 buildings, it said.

Meanwhile, the local authorities would promote the usage of electric cars, electric motorcycles and bicycles on the island as well.

So far 8,000 LED lamps were installed on streets and roads that would save up to 70 percent of energy and some 260 buildings on the island were renovated in order to improve their energy efficiency. according to the company.

Croatia now uses power from big hydroelectric power plants, mostly built on rivers and lakes before 1980s.

After entering the EU in 2013 Croatia has to meet EU's goal of 20 percent less greenhouse gas emission, 20 percent improvement in energy efficiency and 20 percent of energy from renewable sources by the year 2020. Endit