Environmental and Energy Studies

The environmental accident at the Ajka Alumina Plant has affected the lives of several thousand people, two minor rivers have suffered heavy alkaline pollution, and even the main course of the Danube has been affected. The international community is concerned about potential transboundary pollution problems arising from the accident.

Dr. Zoltan Illes, a professor at the Department of Environmental Sciences and Policy specialising in waste management, has been actively involved in the response to the environmental crisis in southwest Hungary caused by the collapse of a sludge reservoir at the Ajka aluminium plant. Dr. Illes, who was appointed State Secretary at the Environment Ministry earlier this year, visited the affected area soon after the accident took place. He described it as an "environmental disaster" and among other steps ordered an immediate suspension of operations at the Mal Rt aluminium plant.

Aleh Cherp, Andreas Goldthau, and Jessica Jewell present a new paper at the Standing Group on International relations. The paper argues that since the Energy System is a complex system the challenges it faces must be governed by striking a tenuous balance between exploitation (characterized by determination and efficiency) and exploration (characterized by diversity and flexibility).

While significantly reducing Hunga­rian greenhouse gas emissions and addressing other social problems at the same time, up to 130,000 jobs could be created in Hungary by the end of this decade through a large-scale program for energy-efficient building renovations. This has been revealed by a study carried out by the Center for Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Policy (3CSEP) at Central European University (CEU) in Budapest, which was released on June 8, 2010.