Poland in Europe's 'Dirty Thirty'

The 'Dirty Thirty' list shows the 30 biggest carbon-dioxide (CO2) emitters according to their level of efficiency (grams of CO2 per Kilowatt hour) in the EU's 25 member states. Germany is the worst offender, and is home to nine of the 30 filthiest factories. Poland comes in second with five plants, followed by Italy, Spain and the UK with four each. 

The worst offender in Poland is BOT Górnictwo i Energetyka (BOT Coal Mining and Energy). Its Turów plant burns lignite, a very dirty form of coal, and according to WWF it produces 14 million tonnes of CO2 in a typical year, which is the same as the annual emissions of 3.2 million cars. Another BOT plant, Bełchatów, also uses lignite and is ranked as the 13th dirtiest plant in Europe.

In 12th place is the Pątnów plant, which is owned by Zespół Elektrowni Pątnów-Adamów-Konin (ZE PAK). EDF's Rybnik plant, which uses hard-coal, is ranked fourth dirtiest and 21st in the EU, while PKE's Jaworzno facility, which also uses hard coal, is the EU's 24th filthiest factory.

"Our position on the Dirty Thirty list is not a reason to be proud. However, the construction of Pątnów is such that it uses lignite, which is why the CO2 emission indicator for the amount of the energy produced is higher," says Maciej Kabata, a director of the environmental protection department of ZE PAK's group.

"What has to be considered as well is the date of launching the plant. Pątnów started in 1969. Soon [it] will undergo modernization. Then the indicator should be different," he adds.

According to the WWF,  switching the polluting plants energy sources to "highly efficient gas in the decommissioned plants would slash CO2 emissions by 47.8 per cent by 2030. Replacing them with new coal plants would result in a mere 13.5 percent reduction of CO2, nowhere near the deep cuts required. Replacing the old plants with renewable energy sources would result in a massive 73.4 percent cut in CO2 emissions."