Subsidies and tax cuts can buy a few days—perhaps ten days—in the mountains
ALPHANEWSLIVE
Subsidies and tax breaks bring a few days—perhaps ten days—of relief in the mountains
If you look closely at the houses in the villages—and probably also in your grandparents’ storage rooms in the cities—you’ll find kerosene lamps. These are the 20th-century lamps that lit up homes at night before the advent of electricity. Many kept them as mementos, but also as a backup in case of major power outages. Does life have the same fate in store for kerosene heaters as well?
It’s not just because Brent crude has surpassed $100 per barrel and diesel at gas stations has reached 2 euros per liter, with two simultaneous wars raging in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. It’s mainly because the electrification of the economy, new green technologies, environmental regulations, and environmental taxation are gradually consigning oil heating to the dustbin of history, right next to the kerosene lamp. So why, then, do we continue to subsidize it and reduce its taxes, as if it were the technology of the future?
I really don’t know how many new homes have had oil heating installed in the last ten, if not fifteen, years. Those who did so surely feel like they’ve been taken for a ride. Especially now that heating their homes this winter will cost two, maybe even three thousand euros. Even those who installed solar panels and eliminated their electricity bills are still stuck with oil heating. And let’s not kid ourselves. The subsidy and tax breaks save money for a few days—maybe ten days in the mountains. But what do we do for the remaining 120–140 days when it might be cold?
If the government’s assessment is that $100 per barrel is a temporary issue and that the green transition will end up in the trash, then we simply wait it out and do nothing else. Perhaps we’ll cut taxes a little more—with the EU’s tolerance—and provide a few more subsidies.
If, however, high costs are here to stay—with or without wars—then the government must instruct the Energy Agency, the Department of the Environment, and the Department of Town Planning to come back with a comprehensive plan for heating and cooling in Cyprus. A plan that addresses not only how we will cope with current costs, but also how we will permanently reduce households’ energy needs. If necessary, let’s entrust this to a team of experts and academics, as was done with the livestock sector, so that we can arrive at concrete, feasible, and inclusive solutions.
It’s not that the government doesn’t know what’s needed. Scientists have documented this many times, and the EU guidelines are already in place. Solar panels, green communities, and green energy storage, thermal insulation and everything else a building needs for its energy retrofit, heat pumps, and, in general, energy systems for cooling and heating.
What the report should tell us is how all of this can be implemented on a pan-Cypriot level and how much it will cost. Which measures should be implemented immediately, which gradually, and which should become mandatory over time? How will they be financed so that they are affordable for all households? And, most importantly, where should we start to ensure that priority is given to those most in need and that the energy transition is socially just?
Otherwise, we’ll end up with a society where some people will spend a fortune to stay warm in the winter and cool off in the summer, while others will freeze in the winter and overheat in the summer.
11.10.2026 08:27
