Poland could 'half coal usage by 2030'

photo - glowimages com

The research was carried out by independent environmental and renewable energy groups in Poland and Germany.

The “Energy revolution for Poland” report claims that a concerted move towards renewable energies could create 100,000 new jobs over the next 16 years.

The report was published before Poland hosts a two-week UN summit on climate change beginning on 11 November.

Poland currently generates about 90 percent of its electricity from coal, a factor which has made the country oppose deep cuts in CO2 emissions.

The new report estimates that a shift to renewable energies would require an investment of 264 billion US dollars, although the authors argue that the new methods would be cheaper in the long term.

However, Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated in September at the International Fair of Mining, Power Industry and Metallurgy in Katowice, southern Poland, that a revolution in the country's energy sphere was unlikely.

“Poland will continue to back coal and invest in the coal-mining industry,” he pledged.

“Poland's economy will continue to be based on coal, but in a more modern way,” he said, arguing that the country would reduce CO2 emissions, in line with EU targets, with the aid of new technology.

Poland has recently been investing in exploring its shale gas potential, and Tusk has declared that “the future of Polish energy is in brown and black coal, as well as shale gas.”

The new report on renewable energies was created by the Institute for Renewable Energy in Warsaw, German research centre DLR, the European Renewable Energy Council, the Global Wind Energy Council and Greenpeace. (nh/pg)

Source: Dziennik Gazeta Prawna