Managing potential of alternative energy sources: The case of Çanakkale province

Depending on the technological developments, it became a certainty that fossil fuels with their limited lifetime can?t correspond the growing energy demand of developed and especially developing countries. Toxic gasses which are results of the consumption of these fossil resources cause global warming and irreversible environmental destruction. Especially environmental concerns in developed countries have led communities to look for alternative energy resources to fossil energy resources. In addition to this situation, depending on growing energy demands of countries that are not self-sufficient in terms of fossil energy resources forced to direct themselves to efficent use of alternative energy resources. Turkey is one of the examples of those countries.In this study, primarily reserves of fossil resources in Turkey, shares in total energy production and environmental problems caused by them are investigated. Then, Turkey?s alternative energy potential is discussed and explained how much of this potential is used efficiently and how much is idle. This study is concluded by examination of Çanakkale province which has high alternative energy potential.