How did Bulgaria, one of the EU's poorest nations, reduce greenhouse gases by nearly a quarter in just 3 months?

Bulgaria, one of the EU's poorest countries, is apparently the bloc's champion in cutting greenhouse gas emissions. According to the latest data, in the second quarter of this year alone, Bulgaria reduced those emissions by almost 24 percent. 

But how are they doing it, one might ask? Well, the Bulgarian recipe for reducing emissions appears to hinge on the approach that one person's waste is another's cash cow. 

That's the philosophy behind a huge facility on the outskirts of the country's capital Sofia, where all kinds of organic waste are being collected from the entire city. If disposed of in a less green way, the waste would eventually rot in nature, usually emitting huge quantities of methane. 

But instead, here the greenhouse gases are collected and used as a source of energy, producing much-needed electricity and heating.

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Viktor Atanasov, Head Technologist at the Installation for Biological Treatment in Sofia, explains the process. He said: "The electricity and heat are produced by the means of cogeneration [the production of heat and electricity in the same place], for which we use food waste through applying anaerobic digestion," a process through which bacteria break down organic matter - such as animal manure, wastewater biosolids, and food wastes - in the absence of oxygen.

This produces methane. Part of that methane gas is used for heating, and part for electricity production. And that electricity, in the end, powers parts of the city's public transportation system, like its electric buses. 

There are also buses that use compressed natural gas, which are far greener and have replaced the old diesel ones. However, recently, the cost of their use jumped sharply, Kiril Georgiev, director of Sofia's Mlashevtsi bus garage told CGTN Europe.

"Until the end of 2021, we paid for natural gas at around $28 per megawatt hour. In 2022, it rose to almost $200 per megawatt hour. In practice, using natural gas-powered buses became much more expensive than using diesel ones."

Yet the Sofia authorities are undeterred in their goal of getting rid of diesel from public transportation, arguing that the eco benefits are far greater than the running costs. And it is all part of a long-running national strategy on fighting greenhouse gas emissions, Maria Nedina, chief of cabinet of the Minister of Environment and Waters of Bulgaria, said.

"The trend is actually pretty stable during the last 15 years, so we haven't done something particularly different this year, but we continue to make progress and efforts towards the cutting of our emissions," she said.

As an added bonus, the Bulgarian authorities say that by cutting these emissions, the country will also save a lot of money from the recently introduced EU's carbon tariffs.

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