Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Lake Peipus and Russia. The territory of Estonia consists of the mainland, the larger islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, and over 2,200 other islands and islets on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, covering a total area of 45,339 square kilometres (17,505 sq mi). The capital city Tallinn and Tartu are the two largest urban areas of the country. The Estonian language is the autochthonous and the official language of Estonia; it is the first language of the majority of its population, as well as the world's second most spoken Finnic language.
Environment quality[edit | edit source]
Community energy[edit | edit source]
As of 2020, Estonia has a wind power installed capacity of about 320 MW. All operational wind farms in the country are on land. Offshore wind farms are planned on Lake Peipus and in the Baltic Sea near the island of Hiiumaa.
Sustainable transport activism[edit | edit source]
Electric vehicles: Estonia is the first country in the EU and in the world to introduce a nation-wide, publicly serviced charging system for charging the batteries of electric vehicles. The 165 fast charging stations are equipped with connectors of the CHAdeMO standard. They are located throughout the entire country, including the islands, and have a maximum distance of 40–60 km in between. The charging stations can also be navigated via a smartphone app (currently only for Android). The relatively dense network and 30 minute quick charges are built to enable a country-wide electric vehicle network. The system offers a unitary booking service and several different tariffs, some of which appear attractively low priced. The charging station network puts Estonia at the forefront in Europe even though Norway actually has a higher penetration of electric vehicles. Estonia has a rate of 1 electric vehicle per 1000 capita, whereas Norway has 4 EVs per 1000 capita.[1]
News and comment[edit | edit source]
2014
Estonia one of three European Union member countries that have already met their renewable energy goals for 2020, March 12[2]
One year of free public transport in Tallinn, February 19[3]
The Largest Free Mass Transit Experiment in the World, January 29[4]
2012
Tallinn to have free public transport from 2013,[5] March 26
2008
50,000 Estonians clean up their country in one day,[6] May 28
External links[edit | edit source]
Wikipedia: Estonia