Welcome to the Official page of the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic

Honourable President of INETI,
Honourable President of EDP,
Honourable President of GALP,
Honourable Auditors,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

In the 2nd Campaign of the Route to Science, dedicated to Clean Technologies, I announced that an Energy Audit would be carried out in the Palace of Belém.

This Audit was expertly carried out by INETI, EDP and GALP and the results have just been presented. I thank and congratulate these institutions and their engineers for their excellent achievement.

Both energy and the environment are, these days, in the centre of public international debate.

The need to answer the challenges:

- climatic change
- security in energy supply
- effective market organization

has mustered scientists, entrepreneurs and politicians.

Those objectives will have to be reached in a scenario of:

- political instability in some areas of the world
- physical limits of the reserves of fossil energy resources
- escalating global needs for the supply of energy.

Portugal has, in this area, one of its greater challenges due to:

- high energy intensity index
- very high intensity of transport in GDP – our excessive external energy dependency, particularly in the case of oil.

We require a new attitude in facing the energy issue.

We waste too much energy and we have not yet taken full advantage of our natural resources.

We must:

- invest in greater efficiency in the use of energy (buildings, industry and transport)
- invest in a more skilful use of fossil resources
- invest in greater production from renewable sources.

I have endeavoured to call attention to the circumstance that Portugal has unique conditions in the context of technological research and innovation in the energy sector.

We have reputable scientists and laboratories in the fields of engineering and energy.

We have privileged natural conditions for the development of innovative projects in:

- wave energy,
- wind energy,
- solar energy
- hydro electric power.

Our entrepreneurs are extremely dynamic in the search for new business opportunities linked to energy and the environment.

But the answer to the problems of climate change and of dependence from external energy does not start or end in research laboratories or in business enterprises.
It is also not consumed in the field of energy production.

It is time we took up these challenges, as well, in the search for energy, with the people as the motor of change.

We all have much to undertake in these issues.

The State must give the example with an environmentally friendlier use of public assets.

The people, by acquiring better behaviours in energy saving.

As President of the Republic I wanted to give the example.

The Audit which was carried out concluded that, in global terms, the Palace of Belém, with an area of 18,000 m2 in its various buildings uses, annually, 471 toe (tonnes of oil equivalent) in thermal and electric energy, emitting 771 tonnes of CO2, resulting in annual energy costs of 156,924 €.

With the energy efficiency measures recommended in the Report and which will be fully implemented, it will be possible in the Palace of Belém in 2008:
- Reduce the energy costs by 62,000€, that is, less 40% relative to 2007;
- Reduce the emissions of hothouse gases by 228 tonnes of CO2, that is, less 30% relative to 2007.

It is proven: energy efficiency is environmentally and economically compensating.

It is time each one of us, in his home or at work, undertakes the change in behaviour that is indispensable to sustain our development model.

In the name of the next generations.

I sincerely hope this good example is repeated in other public offices.