Dynamics of energy utilization patterns in Turkey for sustainable development

Abstract

Turkey has a very young population, high annual population growth rate, rapid urbanization and high economic growth rate. Turkey’s population has reached about 86 million in 2015. The country has faced with growing demand for energy during last two decades and primary energy demand is projected to reach 273 Mtoe in 2020. But primary energy supply met about 26% of energy demand in 2015. Increasing import dependency highlights the energy security problem for the country and also poses important burden on economy. Energy import increased nearly six folds for last two decades with 10% annual average growth rate. The share of energy in total import has exceeded 25% in recent years. Increasing GHG emissions is another issue has substantially increased due to energy utilization. Therefore, energy dependency and emissions entails investment in renewables such as wind, biomass, hydro and solar to both reducing energy dependency and GHG emissions. The study shows that renewables has more potential for energy security in Turkey.