Letter from Poland.

 

Eco-Poland

04.02.2008

As the European Commission takes action against Poland for banning the sale of genetically modified plants, Anna Piwowarska asks how green the Polish consiousness really is.

By Anna Piwowarska

Environmental awareness is becoming a part of the Polish consciousness. The reason that I know this is because one of my neighbours has a bag full of plastic water bottles sitting outside his front door waiting to be placed in the recycling bin. Now, this may not seem particularly significant but let me point out that this is a person whose idea of recycling in the past was throwing glass vodka bottles out of his window after a party. The other local ecological development that I’ve witnessed is that the manager of my local grocery store has banned plastic bags. Amidst much grumbling, she is now offering eco-bags (for five zloty each) as well as New York style paper bags. Slowly, Powiśle is becoming as environmentally conscious as west London.
However, it seems that on a global level Poland is not necessarily an eco-warrior. With such a fast-growing economy Poland is using more and more energy. Unfortunately, it’s the wrong sort of energy. Poland has the largest coal deposits in the whole of Europe and 95 percent of the country’s electricity is dependent on them. With Europe trying to cut carbon emissions, coal is not exactly flavor of the month. However, with such a rich source of natural fuel deposits Poland isn’t going to give up on coal without a fight. That’s why Poland is opposed to the aim of reducing carbon emissions by 20 percent by 2020. The country has even taken the European Commission to court over this issue.
However, apart from coal, Poland has another natural source of energy waiting to be used. And this source of energy is going to get us in the ecology good books. Geothermal energy is becoming increasingly popular, mainly in Zakopane and the surrounding the Podhale region. The Tatra Mountains is the ideal landscape for the production of geothermal energy. The water that flows from the southern sides of the Tatra Mountains enters the water-bearing crevices of the rocks and as it descends deeper underground, it heats up. In the area of Bańska Niżna, two kilometres underground, the temperature reaches around 90 degrees. It was in the early nineties that the Polish Academy of Studies built their first experimental geothermal plant in Bańska Niżna, which utilised two openings in the ground to prove that heating houses from hot springs is possible. Then in 1993 the National Fund for the Protection of the Environment and Water balance (Narodowy Fundusz Ochrony Środowiska i Gospodarki Wodnej) was formed and geothermal energy really went into business. By 2001, a thirteen-kilometre heating mains with geothermal openings was producing water at a temperature of 88 degrees and 670 cubic metres per hour. It was the largest project of its kind in Europe. Ninety percent of hotels in Zakopane and around a quarter of a million private households utilise this form of energy. Currently 0,10 percent of renewable energy in Poland is geothermal. Perhaps that is the way to counterbalance the black mark caused by Polish coal?
Of course, the problem with geothermal energy, as with all renewable energies, is the cost. Particularly at the level of investment, it is enormous. However, EU and other foreign subventions are helpful and in the end it is the customer who benefits. In the Podhale region, heating using geothermal energy is 40 percent cheaper than gas. And one can feel the difference in the air – in Zakopane there is an 80 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.
So is Poland’s future eco-friendly? Well, our history gives reasons for optimism. Already in 1980, at the time of Solidarity’s first workings, the Polish Ecological Club was formed. It was the first institution of its kind in the Eastern bloc. It is interesting that even at the negotiations of the Round Table ecological matters were discussed. It seems to me that Poland has a certain ecological consciousness at its core. The long-running protest and subsequent success of environmental activists to halt a bypass being built through the Rospuda Valley shows that the environment is very much a part of the younger generation’s consciousness. Nature is an important part of childhood in Poland with young Poles picking mushrooms, camping and learning the names of plants and animals from an early age. As for grown-ups, Polish eco-tourism is developing at an incredible rate, seducing tourists from around the world to the undiscovered, green corners of our homeland. In the area of agriculture, Poles expect their food to be ‘organic’ so Polish potatoes are covered with mud without the organic price tag. In fact, Poland is the third country after Austria and Greece, to have been declared ‘GM free’. As for energy, we just need money to invest in it. This does not exclude coal if methods are developed for liquefying or gasifying it and for storing carbon emissions underground. Perhaps, if the government comes up with a clear energy policy, then Poland can become a leading European eco-warrior. It certain has the raw materials for it.