Air pollution - Drivers and pressures (Slovenia)

The slow restructuring of the Slovenian economy and unsustainable consumer patterns are putting great pressure on the air in terms of pollution, especially from the transport and energy sectors, which are the main sources of air pollution. The last ten years have seen the relatively slow restructuring towards the strengthening and growth of services, together with a rapid decline in the importance of farming and a moderate decline in the share of industry in Slovenia’s economy. In the period 1995–2005, the proportion of services increased to 63.2 % of total value added. The reduced share of industry – 27.4 % in 2005 – was relatively smaller. Among the EU countries, Slovenia has a high proportion of manufacturing activities – 22.1 % – and within that the energy-intensive sectors – chemicals, non-metallurgical, metallurgical and paper – have a significant share. Particularly prominent are metal production with 4.4 % and the chemical industry contributing 3.1 %, ranking Slovenia, at 9.9 %, second amongst EU countries. In 2000–2008, Slovenia saw a reduction of 3.7 percentage points in the proportion of manufacturing and 0.4 percentage points in energy-intensive activities, indicating that in this period there were no major structural shifts in Slovenian industry (IMAD, 2009).

A consequence of the existing economic structure and non-sustainable consumer patterns is reflected in the increased end-use of energy. This rose from 1992 to 2008, mainly from growth in transport and broad consumption, but fell in industry. The high growth in energy end-use in transport is a consequence of the growing level of motorisation, the increasing number of kilometres driven per private vehicle, and, following entry into the EU, the pronounced growth of transit traffic. In 2007, with 37 % of energy end-use, the transport sector became the largest consumer of energy, and in 2008 it consolidated this position with a share of over 40 % (EN10). The reduction in the consumption of energy in industry was aided by lower energy consumption in the production of metals, fibres and paper, the result of changes to the quality system and reduced output. The reduced intensiveness continued in 2008, mainly through the adaptation of production to the Integrated Pollution Prevention Control (IPPC) Directive, causing the production of primary aluminium to fall by a quarter (IMAD, 2009).