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Coal burning quality standards temporarily suspended in Poland

Quality standards for the burning of coal for home heating have been suspended in Poland by the government, which says that the move is necessary due to the “current exceptional situation” caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine, which has seen Russian coal imports banned and prices surge.

Environmental groups, however, warn that the decision will cause great harm in a country that already has some of Europe’s most polluted air and where 70% of electricity is produced from coal and over 35% of households burn coal for heating.

The decision to suspend coal combustion standards was issued in a decree by the climate and environment ministry on 27 June, coming into force one day later.

The government says that the regulation is in line with a 2006 law, which allows standards to be waved for up to 60 days in the case of extraordinary events causing difficulties in complying with the requirements or threatening the energy security of Poland.

“The current exceptional situation directly affects the energy markets, with the risk of citizens not being able to purchase heating coal, which may contribute to an increase in fuel poverty,” the climate ministry wrote in an explanatory memorandum to the regulation.

Earlier in June, the ministry for state assets had asked the climate ministry to adopt such a regulation, arguing that the suspension of environmental standards was necessary to increase the supply of raw material and consequently reduce its price for households.

Last month, the government pledged to guarantee a maximum price of coal used for home heating, after costs soared following the decision in April to ban imports from Russia and amid the broader effects of the war in Ukraine, which have pushed up global energy and fuel prices.

Although Poland is the largest hard coal producer in the EU, it is also a net importer of coal. In particular, coal from Russia that met quality standards for burning in households was imported.

“We have a difficult situation, not only in Poland but throughout Europe, in terms of elementary security when it comes to heating,” said government spokesman Piotr Muller. “Therefore, in this situation, when one chooses between safety and certain pre-existing regulations, the latter have to be adjusted.”

In an opinion piece published by the Financial Times yesterday, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki argued that the EU should relax climate standards and reduce the costs of CO2 allowances in order to prevent a further rise in inflation that could send “millions of citizens into fuel poverty”.

“Even if a short-term return to coal means postponing our ambitious climate goals, it may be a necessary condition of maintaining a strong European community capable of resisting Russia and supporting Ukraine,” wrote Morawiecki.

“The green transition cannot come at the cost of basic security. And if the situation forces us to do so, then we must not hesitate to return temporarily to traditional sources of energy,” he added.

However, climate activists object to the government’s decision, arguing that the suspension of coal quality standards and permission for the sale of coal waste like coal sludge will not only be bad for the environment, but also threatens payouts from the EU’s Covid recovery fund.

That money is “badly needed to improve the energy efficiency of Polish homes and reduce heating bills”, says Andrzej Guła, the founder of Polish Smog Alarm, an NGO, quoted by the Rzeczpospolita daily.

Poland last year produced around 70% of its electricity from coal, down from 87% a decade earlier but still by far the highest figure in the EU. Meanwhile, coal heaters remain widely used in Polish households, despite local and national efforts to subsidise cleaner heating systems.

According to organisations campaigning for better air quality in Poland, the government’s decision means that local anti-smog resolutions, including the one already in force in Kraków, can be annulled or their provisions relaxed.

In 2019, Kraków became the first Polish city to ban the burning of coal (as well as wood) in homes. The Małopolska province that it is part of is also due to ban coal combusion heating from January 2023, while Warsaw recently adopted a resolution banning it from October 2023.