IEA says Poland could improve its energy plans

The International Energy Agency reported on Thursday that the study it had tabulated on Poland’s energy sources for 2016 indicated that the country is very heavily reliant on coal. Amidst a winter that has seen air pollution levels in Polish cities, at times, reach dangerous levels, the IEA indicated continued dependency on the fossil fuel could be not only bad for the health of Polish people, but also that, given severely reduced demand for a highly antiquated energy source, coal is unsustainable economically. “Air pollution is one of the largest environmental health risks facing Poles […] the new energy strategy (being implemented by the Law and Justice administration) must determine if coal is going to sustain the economy over the longer term, or if it is to be a burden for its economy. It noted that 50,000 premature deaths each year – largely from respiratory illnesses – could be attributed to air pollution, caused in part by coal-fired generation plants and homes. Prime Minister Beata Szydło’s administration has set difficult regulations for the installation of wind turbines, which the IEA claims blocks competition from the renewables sector, which is a growing energy source in many European countries. The neighbouring Czech Republic, for instance, has already decreased its dependency on coal to about 60 percent of its electrical energy needs. Poland, according to the IEA, uses coal for 81 percent of its electricity generation (2015 figures). At the same time, the IEA commended the new government’s attempts to replace coal-fired electricity with more efficient and cleaner units. It recognized that, in a country where 100,000 jobs were dependent on the coal industry, the issue was highly politically-sensitive, and added that significant policy support would be needed to reach Warsaw's “very ambitious goal” of having one million electric vehicles on the roads by 2025.”