Renewable energy capacity in Hungary has increased four thousand times compared to 2010

By: Trademagazin Date: 2026. 03. 19. 09:40

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While the use of solar and wind energy in 2010 was five megawatts, it is now four thousand times that, with more than eight thousand megawatts of solar power capacity in Hungary, but the number of “dark, windless hours” when the sun is not shining and the wind is not blowing exceeds two thousand hours, which raises the issue of storage – said János Áder on Wednesday in Debrecen in his sustainability-themed lecture entitled “Protecting Our Created World”, which he gave to the students of the Debrecen Reformed College High School and Student Dormitory.

The former president of the republic, chairman of the board of trustees of the Blue Planet Climate Protection Foundation, spoke in the packed Oratory of the Reformed College, where Károly Fekete, the Reformed Bishop of Trans-Tiszántúl, was also present.

In connection with battery production and development, János Áder called the 15-year development of a new technology presented by researchers at Bay Zoltán Applied Research Nonprofit Kft. at Planet Budapest three weeks ago promising, which focused on the development of the anode, one of the components of batteries, in a way that is unique in the world. The chairman of the board of trustees of the Blue Planet Climate Protection Foundation expressed his hope that by the end of 2027, a Hungarian battery that is more environmentally friendly, cheaper, provides greater energy storage capacity, and can be adapted to current production lines will be ready for large-scale production, transforming battery production.

In his presentation, the former head of state also spoke about the significant increase in the number of extreme weather events in Europe. By way of comparison, he said that there were four record floods on the Danube in 25 years, the same number as there were in 200 years before.
In his opinion, Hungary can expect record floods on the Danube and Tisza every 5-8 years, while it is also necessary to protect itself against record low water levels, which requires significant infrastructure investments.

János Áder called mobile phones a gold mine in relation to discarded electrical and electrotechnical devices, noting that it does not matter whether they become waste or raw materials. He added that two grams of gold can be extracted from one ton of rock, and more than 300 grams from one ton of mobile phones. According to him, five years ago, 57 million tons of electronic devices were “thrown away” annually, and this number has only increased since then.

The situation is similar with PET bottles: plastic waste covers an area the size of India in the oceans, after the “throw away” culture, i.e. the “buy it, consume it, and throw away” mentality, became established.

In his lecture, János Áder also drew the attention of his students to the importance of maintaining biodiversity. He mentioned that while previously two out of 10,000 species became extinct every hundred years, this rate has now accelerated tenfold. Intő gave the example that a forest the size of Italy disappears from the Earth every year.

He gave the biosphere reserve referred to as the Amazon of Europe as a good example: the 700-kilometer-long section of the Mura, Drava and Danube rivers, along which the world’s first biosphere reserve covering five countries was established in 2021. The area, which encompasses one of the most significant rivers and wetlands in Europe, touches Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia in addition to Hungary, the former head of state listed in Debrecen.