Power plants continue to affect health while the state pays
21:17
The costs for public health caused by emissions from 11 Polish coal-fired power plants amounted to almost €11 billion in just four years. This amount, i.e. around PLN 50 billion, is the sum that allows the construction of over three (3.5 to be exact) large offshore wind farms (e.g. Orlen estimates the cost of one at PLN 14 billion) or connecting Warsaw with Łódź, Poznań, and Wrocław by high-speed rail speeding at a speed of 300 km / h.
For this amount, the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), a network of environmental NGOs, estimated the costs of a four-year failure to implement emission restrictions by large-scale industry (including lignite-fired power plants) in Poland.
As reported, this cost consists of the health consequences of emissions of nitrogen oxide (NOx) and sulfur (SO2), particulate matter, and mercury. These pollutants adversely affect human health in many ways, contributing to the development of serious diseases such as chronic bronchitis, asthma, heart disease, and stroke.
The organization estimated that the health consequences of emissions of these substances from the large-scale industry called LCP (Large Combustion Plants) are over 16,150 premature deaths, approximately 7,600 additional cases of chronic bronchitis, as well as more than 4.8 million working days lost each year in the EU and the Western Balkans.
Why were these costs avoidable? As the EU directive to reduce emissions sets the benchmark low for the industry, the EU has poorly enforced its implementation, and Member States and industry have tried to adapt to the changes as late as possible and at least cost.
