In Warsaw, a coal summit has begun not far from where the United Nations are talking climate change. Poland is being taunted for refusing to make a real effort to cut its carbon footprint. Poland has long been a supporter of the world’s most carbon-intense fuel...coal.
Emissions are so bad in areas such as the ancient city of Krakow that one can barely make out structures in the distance. Emissions from the 35,000 households that burn coal for heat leave the city living in what looks like thick fog.
Andrzej Gula, a clean air advocate, says, "This is the situation we face during the entire winter season. It's why Krakow is one of the most heavily polluted cities in all of Europe.The statistics are very worrying. The air is so dirty that every man, woman and child breathes in the equivalent of 2,500 cigarettes every year.”
The people who call Krakow home have taken to the streets in protest. They feel betrayed by their government. The country’s leaders, however, are extremely reluctant to find alternatives and move beyond coal.
Tomasz Ulanowski, a journalist who calls Krakow home says, "The problem is that to change the law you have to go to the regional authority.Those politicians don't live in the city, and they are elected by people who live in mining communities. No sane politician would forget about those votes."
One of the issues stopping Poland’s leaders from stepping away from coal is that they see it as a national resource. At the rates coal is extracted there it could last for 600 years or more. 85% of Poland’s electricity is generated by coal.
Just last year the Polish government vetoed a EU proposal that would have seen them reduce its carbon emissions. Instead of focusing on alternate energy sources Poland is focusing on ‘clean coal.’
However, the term ‘clean coal’ is fundamentally misleading. Saying ‘clean coal’ is much like saying someone has invented clean mud. Clean coal actually refers to new technologies that limit coals environmental impact. Despite all of the world’s modern technologies the clean coal campaign was always more PR than reality. At the present time there is no way to capture and sequester carbon emissions from coal, and many experts doubt there ever will be. Yet Poland has made clean coal the most important energy topic there.
Poland is at the present time betting its environmental future on a reactor that resembles a space age iron lung. Prof Krzysztof Stanczyk, from the Central Mining Institute in Katowice, says the reactor is the only one of its type in the world. The machine once ready to use is supposed to bake coal under enormous pressure and extremely high heat and turn it into a gas that CO2 can be extracted from and stored.
"I think it will be a reality in 10 years," said Prof Stanczyk. However, many of the people who call the city of Krakow home, due to air they breathe may not have ten years to wait.
Edited by Ryan Sartor