ENERGY SECURITY – AN IMPORTANT ASPECT OF NATIONAL SECURITY Marek Šolc Abstract: Energy security and energy policy is currently very actual issue. The importance of energy security is also growing because of fast shrinking world oil reserves and advancing climate changes, which create increasingly powerful pressure on the reorientation of energy from fossil fuels to other types of energy sources. Continuous growth of energy consumption raises the question of the use of renewable resources. Renewable resources in each country are higher than that of oil, coal, gas or uranium. Better use of renewables in the EU Commission proposed a legislative proposal in January 2008. The main objective is to make renewable energy sources accounted for 20% of overall EU energy consumption. Keywords: energy, security, policy, targets. 1. Introduction Growth in energy and raw material industries and increasing demands on people's quality of life, deepens dependence States on vital resources, including food and the likelihood of creation of raw materials and energy crises, could lead to armed conflict. Since most energy resources are finite, this dependence is even more highlighted. There is a high dependence on steady supplies of raw materials, non-renewable energy resources and their transportation. There may to occur a threat economic prosperity and stability, as well as national security. Imprudent and inefficient occupancy of natural resources can lead to exhaustion and irreversible damage to the environment. Security threats and challenges are dynamic, interconnected and subject to change depending on the internal, regional and global conditions. Therefore, it is necessary to perceive the issue of energy security in the Euro-Atlantic and trans-national context. 2. Energy security It should be noted that energy policy and energy security are particularly undoubtedly a very important topic for all states. The specifically, vulnerability countries of V4 is the fact, that these, countries are heavily dependent on energy supplies from a single source and lack sufficiently integrated energy market. The crisis in 2009, mainly in Slovakia proved that modernization and development projects in energy infrastructure requires less effort and money than the losses they cause interruption of energy supplies. Another very important energy challenge is the rising cost of greenhouse gas emissions, which can have very destabilizing effect on the economy based on the use of coal in electricity generation. Simply, we could define energy security as a state guarantee secure access to energy resources. Energy Security means reliable supply of energy and access to energy resources and fuel in the required quantity and quality at reasonable prices. Energy security depends on many variables. The global energy market is not only associated with domestic and international energy supplies, but also the reliability of business 82 partners. Because, there is a rapid loss of the world's oil reserves and rapidly progressing climate change, creating an increasingly powerful force for the reorientation of energy from fossil fuels to other types of energy resources, emphasizes the importance of energy security. Energy security can be seen as a separate aspect of the expanding security state, alongside the military, economic, and environmental safety, or as a complementary aspect of the subject. Perhaps the most noticeable difference in the perception of energy security between countries depends on their energetic and economic situation. [1,9,11] In the narrowest perception of energy security perspective aspect of military security is necessary to ensure that the military component of a crisis state to fulfill their responsibilities in the event of national emergency military attack or natural disaster. That means to allow sufficient fuel and energy so that it can operate the army, emergency services, hospitals, etc. In this case, it is mainly on technical assure of supply through the so-called protection. Critical infrastructure, and the establishment and maintenance of strategic reserves of raw materials (state material reserves). [1] In the case of wider perception we take into account in addition to the technical aspects of the security crisis also the economic, environmental and political aspects. In addition to these aspects of energy security, it also affects the economic interests and political groups across the length of the supply chain, by a customer, over transit to mining, using reminder and prioritization for promoting their own particular interests in the political arena. [1] Definitions of energy security for countries importing energy materials consist mostly of three aspects: - Access to an adequate amount of energy resources, - In an appropriate format, - For an adequate price. At first glance, it is clear that these three optimistic and embracing aspects are not very useful when we try their to use it for analysis. Adequate quantity and form can be analyzed according to historical data on consumption, but the adequate price is more or less misleading notion than economic or analytical term. Now we hear on the economic aspects and the application of the effort to logic security to market is a huge risk. As early as 1988 Giacomo Luciani [2] noted in relation to the primary issue of energy security “security implications of dependence on external sources is merely rhetorical means to achieve a political goal, it would be better to talk about simple economic or commercial risk”. We say about energy security, usually at the state level or the EU, especially in connection with the growth of costs for energy, stable energy supply and environmental protection. Slovakia is a country with high energy needs and is highly dependent on imported fossil fuels. Slovakia imports all coal, 98% oil, 98% natural gas and it's only significant domestic fossil source is lignite. Given the rapid decline of world oil reserves and rapidly progressing climate change there is increasing pressure for the reorientation of energy from fossil fuels to other forms of energy sources. This is called renewable energy, which is related to the importance of energy security. We conclude that energy security is a reliable supply of energy and access to energy resources and fuel in the required quantity, quality and reasonable prices. Energy security depends mainly on security of supply and the technical safety of energy facilities. Furthermore, depending on several variables, because the global energy market is not only associated with domestic and international energy supplies, but also the reliability of business partners.[3] 83 In a State that is dependent on imports of fossil fuels (SR), energy security depends mainly on external geopolitical aspects of storage options of energy sources and their replacement by other sources. These issues remain the responsibility of the governments of EU member states, but gradually switching energy markets in the EU in a strong block moves some of the issues of energy policy within the framework of the EU policy agenda. The EU estimates that in 2030, will be dependence on imports of fossil fuels as follows [3,12]: - 66 % coal consumption, - 90 % oil consumption, - 80 % gas consumption. These facts mean for the EU, particularly vulnerable and strategically disadvantageous future and forcing the Member States and seek to strengthen the tools to increase their own energy security. Such tools are particularly [3]: - Proper energy mix, - Reducing the energy intensity of the economy, - The use of indigenous and renewable energy sources, - Reducing the consumption of fossil fuels. The importance of energy security is increasing more and therefore it is necessary to emphasize that energy policy and energy security are very important and actual topics for all States. Uniform global energy policy does not exist because each state and the community of states to create their own energy policy, according to internal and external conditions. Today, there is a constant increase in electricity consumption. To minimize the loss of transmission power is appropriate to make close to where they will be consumed. The EU Commission has proposed a better use of renewable energy sources in the legislative proposal in January 2008. One of the goals is to make renewable energy sources accounted for up to 20% of total EU energy consumption. Renewable energy sources are much larger than most people think. The amount of usable energy from renewable sources in each country is higher than reserves of oil, coal, gas or uranium. Significant use of renewable sources, fuels, and natural gas expected to result from stricter emission limits of air pollutants will decrease coal consumption. 3. EU energy policy A renewed interest in the development of a new Energy Policy for Europe is supported by a number of factors including: continuing difficult situation on the oil and gas, growing dependence on imports and the resulting need to diversify, the growing importance of climate change, the need for increased transparency on energy markets and further integration of national energy markets. Under the influence of the increasing demand by the European Commission in March 2006 issued a "Green Paper on Secure, Competitive and Sustainable Energy for Europe", which laid the basis for a discussion on the future of European energy and It outlines the current and future challenges and possible solutions. Was intended three main objectives in the book [4,5]: - Increase security of supply, - Ensuring