Energy and Environmental Policies in Turkey

Abstract

As would be expected, the rapid expansion of energy production and consumption has brought with it a wide range of environmental issues at the local, regional, and global levels. With respect to global environmental issues, Turkey's carbon dioxide emissions have grown along with its energy consumption. States have played a leading role in protecting the environment by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. In this regard, renewable energy resources appear to be the one of the most efficient and effective solutions for clean and sustainable energy development in Turkey. Turkey's geographical location has several advantages for extensive use of most of these renewable energy sources. This article presents a review of the energy and environmental policies in Turkey. Over the last few decades, a number of Turkish citizens who live in the eastern part of country have migrated to the western part of the country. This caused some problems in the energy utilization and environmental pollution in the western regions in Turkey. For this reason, in the coming decades, global environmental issues could significantly affect patterns of energy use in Turkey.

Keywords:

• energy utilization
• environmental issues
• hydropower
• renewable energy
• Turkey