WARSAW: Poland plans to curb imports of low-quality coal as it tries to fight heavy smog, a move that could hit purchases from Russia.
The energy ministry, in a statement late on Wednesday, proposed a number of regulations aimed at cutting pollution, including monitoring the quality of solid fuel.
Poland’s air is the most polluted in Europe, due in part to extensive coal and garbage-burning by households, and causes the premature deaths of more than 40,000 people a year, climate activists say. Cities such as Warsaw, Katowice and Krakow as well as smaller winter resorts have choked with smog this winter, with pollution levels often exceeding those seen in cities like Beijing or New Delhi.
“Importers will be forced to allow imports to Poland only of sorted coal,” the ministry said in its statement. Sorted coal means it has been divided into different types of quality. Poland produces a lot of its own coal but some Polish companies also import cheaper coal from Russia and former Soviet states.
“According to energy ministry data, until November 2016 Poland imported 7.2 million tonnes of coal. The biggest chunk, 4.6 million tonnes, came from the Russian Federation,” the ministry said.
Environmentalists have urged the government to do more to tackle the pollution problem. Activist group Polski Alarm Smogowy has called on it to impose strict standards on coal used by households as well as on household coal and wood burners. It also wants the government to introduce subsidies to encourage people to replace outdated burners with new ones.
Keen to support a major industry and provider of jobs, the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party promotes coal as the basic source of energy and has taken actions to boost demand for coal.
Some ministers have downplayed the pollution problem. The environment minister blamed recent air pollution partly on particles emitted by soil and on the use of imported coal.
