Abstract. The literature on social capital stresses the relations between social capital (trust, social norms and networks), government effectiveness and economic performance. In empirical investigations the relationship between aforementioned items was clarified by using various indicators of social capital and different country samples. Due to this reason the results are hardly comparable. In this article we aim to examine the strength of the relationship between social capital, governance quality and economic performance by using the same indicators of social capital and the same country sample (23 European countries). The study has indicated that both social capital and government indicators are related to economic performance and to each other. Results showed the positive correlation of two social capital dimensions, namely trust and networks, with economic performance indicators and governance indicators, while civism dimensions do not correlate either with economic performance or with governance indicators. In this paper we used three economic performance indicators, namely GDP per capita in Purchasing Power Standards, labour productivity per person employed and percentage of gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD) financed by industry.

Modern economic development is based on innovative ideas and new investments. The better resources are deployed in investment projects, the higher the level of innovation and return for the soci ety. On the other hand, both the efficiency of investment activities and the pace of economic growth are, to a great extent, conditioned by the quality of the system of selecting investment projects, which correspond to the existing and changing circumstances of econom ic functioning. The paper aims to identify and assess risk factors for renewable energy investment projects from stakeholders' perspec tive. to achieve this objective, the risk analysis methods were exam ined and factors affecting the investment risk of renewable energy sources and their types were identified and analysed from the point of view of the public sector, funder and investor. The qualitative expert assessment method was used to evaluate the risk factors.

Economic literature recognizes three “deep determinants” of economic development: institutions, geography and openness to trade. Discussion in the literature focuses on what part of the income per capita variation can be explained by institutions, geography and openness to trade. The empirical results can’t offer a clear answer, but there is a broader agreement in the literature that institutions play a more important role than geography and openness to trade. What is unclear whether the institutions also can explain variation in per capita income across countries, in which institutional environment is to some degree similar..This article aims to explore and quantify the relationship of the income level with institutional environment, geography and openness to trade across countries, grouped according their institutional environment quality.The results reveal that extent to which the variation in GDP per capita can be associated with the quality of institutional environment differs a lot between good and bad institutional environment samples. The results in good institutional environment sample come in line with series of studies in which the strong and positive link between various measures of institutions and economic development was established and support primacy of institutions over openness to trade and geography. I In bad institutional environment sample, on the contrary,no evidence was found that institutions mean a lot in respect of differences in GDP per capita. These results should not be interpreted so as to mean that institutional environment is not important, rather the degree of “badness” makes no difference.

Currently, such topics as improvement of energy efficiency of buildings and energy systems, development of sustainable building concepts, and promotion of renewable energy sources are in the focus of attention. The energy efficiency targets of the European Union are based on information regarding energy consumed by buildings. The amount of energy consumed by buildings depends on the main influencing factors (namely, climate parameters, building envelope, energy systems, building operation and maintenance, activities and behaviour of occupants), which have to be considered in order to identify energy efficiency potentials and opportunities. The article aims to investigate the total amount of energy consumed by a low energy house, built in Lithuania, using a combination of energy consumption data received from a simulation and measured energy consumption data. The energy performance analysis in the low energy house revealed some factors that have the main influence on the total figures of energy consumed by the house. The identified significant factors were used to find the optimal solutions for the design of low energy buildings.

Analizuojami du pagrindiniai paramos elektros energijos gamintojams, naudojantiems AEI, būdai: žalieji (supirkimo) tarifai ir supirkimo kvotos (žalieji sertifikatai), nurody ti abiejų būdų pranašumai ir trūkumai. Išnagrinėtos dažniausiai pasitaikančios elektros energijos gamintojų, naudojančių AEI, rėmimo, taikant žaliuosius tarifus, klaidos. Pateikti konkretūs klaidingo žaliųjų tarifų taikymo pavyzdžiai. Kritiškai įvertinti numatomi Lietu voje esamos AEI energetikos rėmimo tvarkos pakeitimai.Raktažodžiai: atsinaujinantieji energijos ištekliai, žalieji tarifai, žalieji sertifikatai ĮVADASBrangstant ir senkant iškastiniams energijos ištekliams, di dėjant susirūpinimui klimato kaita, vis daugiau dėmesio skiriama atsinaujinančiajai energetikai, jos plėtrai. Naudoti atsinaujinančiuosius energijos išteklius (AEI) skatinama dau gelyje šalių, tačiau Europos Sąjungos (ES) šalys turi didžiau sią pasaulyje patirtį pagal įvairių rėmimo būdų taikymą. Ši patirtis paskatino daugelį ES šalių, taip pat jos kaimynines šalis taikyti geriausiai užsirekomendavusį paramos meto dą -žaliuosius (supirkimo) tarifus, kai visa elektra, pagamin ta naudojant AEI, superkama pagal iš anksto nustatytą tarifą, kuris garantuojamas gana ilgą laiką. Žaliųjų tarifų metodas turi ne tik nemažai pranašumų, bet ir trūkumų -jo efektyvus taikymas priklauso nuo sėkmingai sukurtos schemos bei pa tikimos teisinės bazės. Kitas populiarus metodas -supirki mo kvotos arba žalieji sertifikatai -nors ir labiau orientuotas į rinką, tačiau ES šalyse taikomas gerokai rečiau.Šio straipsnio tikslas -išnagrinėti įvairias žaliųjų tarifų taikymo klaidas, aptarti konkrečius pavyzdžius iš ES šalių bei jos rytinių kaimynių. Konkrečius tyrimus autorius atli ko, dirbdamas ekspertu ES remiamame projekte, skirtame ES kaimyninių šalių (ES Kaimynystės programa) energe tikos pertvarkai skatinti, vadovaujantis ES normatyviniais dokumentais (Acquis Communautaire). Straipsnyje taip pat siekiama kritiškai įvertinti Lietuvoje paruoštą naująją žaliųjų tarifų taikymo schemą. ES PARAMOS ATSINAUJINANTIESIEMS ENERGIJOS IŠTEKLIAMS POLITIKAES prisiėmė ambicingus planus daugiau naudoti AEI ir sėk mingai juos įgyvendina, lyderiaudama pasaulyje pagal at 2) nustatytos taisyklės, susijusios su energijos kilmės garantijomis, elektrinių, naudojančių AEI, prijungimo prie tink lų principai;3) visos šalys narės buvo įpareigotos iki 2010 m. birželio parengti nacionalinius atsinaujinančiųjų energijos išteklių veiksmų planus [3].Norėdamos pasiekti tokių rezultatų, visos 27 ES šalys na rės turės 5,5 % padidinti AEI, palyginus su 2005 m. lygiu, o tolesnis didinimas siejamas su kiekvienos šalies bendruoju vidaus produktu, apskaičiuotu vienam gyventojui. Pažymėti na, kad ši Direktyva reikalauja padidinti AEI dalį ne tik elek tros energijos gamyboje (ji turėtų padidėti nuo 17 % 2006 m. iki 35 % 2020 m.), bet ir šildyme bei transporte. Kai kurių šalių užduotys parodytos 1 pav.Direktyva įtvirtina virtualią prekybą AEI, panaudojant vadinamąsias "kilmės garantijas", t. y. garantijas, kad elektra