Energy savings analysis of the city of Novi Sad

Abstract

Energy efficiency in the Republic of Serbia is two to three times lower than in the European Union countries. The largest consumer of energy is the housing sector, and some public buildings have energy consumption that is even 100% higher than in similar facilities at the EU level. Main goal of the study was directed towards a research of energy savings with the public buildings in City of Novi Sad after the energy efficiency measures were applied. The aim of this work as well was to define the financial and environmental savings following the application of energy efficiency measures. Key methodology that was used in researching was the Bottom-Up methodology (BU). It is a methodology that is widely accepted for this kind of exploratory works. The research results have shown that in the observed period from 2014 to 2016 significant savings were achieved by applying energy efficiency measures in public buildings in the City of Novi Sad. Specifically, the total annual savings of final energy amounted to 1,812,998 kWh/year, the savings in finances on an annual basis due to energy savings amounted to 77,718 /year, and the savings in reduced CO2 emissions on an annual basis amounted to 439 t CO2/year. The average annual growth of investments in the observed period for energy renovation of public buildings at the level of the City of Novi Sad was 211%. Analyses have shown that 0.48 worth of investments can generate final energy savings of 1 kWh/year. Analyses have also shown that for a 1 investment in energy renovation of buildings, we can achieve emission reduction of 5.04·10-4 tCO2/year. The energy savings research results, after the application of energy efficiency measures on the example of the City of Novi Sad, have shown that in 2015 they were: 14,1% above the average in comparison with the other observed cities in the Republic of Serbia, i.e. from 49.6% to 74.6% bellow the average compared to the observed cities from the region. Republic of Serbia in terms of energy efficiency in the housing construction sector lags significantly behind the developed EU countries. Among others, the following factors have contributed to such an occurrence: lagging behind with passing the legislation which regulates this area, technologically outdated equipment, low purchasing power of citizens, lack of state subsidies, low level of environmental awareness about the pollution and energy savings etc. The biggest motivational problem for energy savings with the citizens in Republic of Serbia today lies in a low price of electrical energy (which continues to be an instrument of social policy) compared to that at the EU level.