Improving energy efficiency and building a low-emission economy based on example of Lesser Poland Voivodeship

The correlation between the state of the natural environment and socioeconomic development was first observed in the sixties of the past century. It was found that the activities carried out at the time resulted in environmental degradation and translated into the weak state of the economy and affected the prospects for its development. The idea of “sustainable development” appeared for the first time in 1980. It was used in a document entitled “World Conservation Strategy – Living Resource Conservation for Sustainable Development”, drawn up by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, which primarily concerned environmental aspects. Then, the World Commission on Environment and Development referred to sustainable development in terms of both environmental and economic issues. The current definition was disseminated at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, in Rio de Janeiro, in 1992. According to the explanation, sustainable development is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. The transformation process, ensuring that the current generation satisfies its needs without diminishing the opportunities for further development, should be implemented by integrating the following developmental activities:

One of the activities undertaken for sustainable development was to define an ambitious plan aimed at improving the lives of people anywhere in the world. It happened in 2015, during the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit. Targets contained in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development are presented in Table 1. Implementation of the agenda aims to reduce social inequalities, combat climate change, and ensure a consistent and sustainable economic growth.

The concept of sustainable development is implemented through strategic documents at the levels of regions, cities, and rural areas in Poland. The information included in this paper is consistent with the following national and European Union (EU) strategic documents:

All mentioned documents indicate the requirement to create economic growth scenarios using the sustainable development concept. Accordingly, it is possible to use the entire potential of each area. On the other hand, on analyzing the practice of regional development, the aim of increasing each region’s competitiveness is stressed, which seems to be somewhat contradictory to the idea of sustainable development [Czarnecka et al., 2017].

Considering the negative effects of satisfying the energy demand in the field of energy production and consumption, the sustainable development concept has also been implemented in the energy sector. The term “sustainable energy development” means energy management in such a way as to ensure access to a sufficient amount of energy, both current generation and future, eliminating the negative impact on the environment.

Sustainable development is also one of the factors affecting the improvement of energy security. Other factors used to assess energy security can be found in a previous work [Staśko and Kaliski, 2006]. The authors make an attempt to assess energy security by assigning weights to specific indicators.

A multitude of activities have been undertaken to improve energy efficiency and build a low-emission economy, because of the insufficient quality of air, especially in the autumn and winter seasons. There are notorious exceedances of the permissible concentrations of the following pollutants: particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), benzo(a)pyrene, and nitrogen dioxide. The highest exceedances occur in the case of benzo(a)pyrene (85% of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship, which is inhabited by 94% of the population).

The occurrence of these pollutants results in low emissions in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. This phenomenon is defined as the emission of harmful dusts and gases from emitters located at heights of up to 40 m, and this is the biggest problem regarding the quality of air in this area. The source of pollutants is primarily the inefficient combustion process in residential and public buildings. The buildings usually require thermomodernization and exchange of boilers [Mirowski and Orzechowska, 2015]. In addition, residents also burn prohibited items, such as garbage, industrial waste, or fuel of very poor quality. Pollution from the transport sector is accountable for the formation of low emissions as well.

There has been an intensification of activities aimed at improving air quality in this region in recent years because the low emissions have negative effects on the health and life of residents. The purpose of this article is to enumerate the actions taken and provide a qualitative assessment of their implementation. The first section contains the analysis of the legal acts in the field of air protection at the EU, national, and provincial levels. An analysis of the implemented repair programs is provided in the second section. The third section contains a summary and indication of further directions for activities in this field.

A common practice in combating low emissions is to use district heat for space heating. However, it should be borne in mind that hard coal is the main fuel for heat production in heat and power plants in the Małopolskie Voivodeship. Nevertheless, the combined heat and power (CHP) operators are obliged to fully report their activities, so that there are data on the amount of pollutants emitted by them to the atmosphere. This information is not available for the combustion of solid fuels in residential buildings.

The next step in the combat against low emissions is the use of natural gas for space heating. The Lesser Poland Voivodeship has the best-developed infrastructure of gas network in Poland [Łysik and Zyśk, 2017]. The gasification rate in this case amounts to 85% (for Poland, it is 58%). The Polish gas distribution system operator Polska Spółka Gazownictwa (PSG) declares that, by 2022, gas will flow to municipalities, which it does not yet reach. According to the plan, PSG will implement five large investment projects, under which 150 km of gas network and six gas stations will be built. The company is planning to gasify 74 municipalities in Małopolska. In connection with this plan, residents of the new areas will have the opportunity to choose a more environment-friendly fuel than coal.

In the combat against low emissions, installations based on RESs also play an important role. Currently, there are 141 RES installations in Małopolska. The number of installations and the installed capacity depending on the kind of RES is presented in Table 2. The largest number of installations generates energy from solar radiation.

The signing of the mentioned legal acts at the European, national, and provincial levels means that local governments are obliged to take actions in the field of air protection. Conducting thermomodernization investments, installing RESs, or introducing low-emission transport requires high financial outlays, which cannot be covered from the own resources of communes. Therefore, a very important task for local authorities is to raise funds for the implementation of planned projects. In previous years, many support mechanisms for these investments have been launched. Measures to improve air quality could be obtained from both domestic and international funds. Table 3 contains a summary of the implemented programs, along with the effects achieved. The acquired funds were intended primarily for thermomodernization tasks, such as replacement of windows and doors, insulation of walls, and replacement of heat sources. The financial support extended included both public utility buildings and the residential sector. Reduced energy demand as a consequence of thermal modernization translates into a reduction in the emission of harmful compounds to the atmosphere and, thus, leads to improved air quality. Part of the funds was earmarked for the installation of RESs, mainly solar collectors. The smallest support was intended for low-emission transport.

Since 2009, in Małopolska, the concentration of activities related to building a low-emission economy and improving energy efficiency in areas where air-quality standards are exceeded, as well as monitoring of the effects of these activities, is noticeable. The Regional Operational Program for the Małopolska Region implemented in 2007–2013, present for 2014–2020, and the WFOŚiGW programs in Kraków supported the financing of proecological investments in local government units, enterprises, and households. The next step should be the rational management of energy and fuels in order to improve local energy security.

Effective implementation of the principle of sustainable development in Poland should take place at the level of municipal governments, which are responsible under the Energy Law for preparing the draft assumptions for the program for the supply of heat, electricity, and natural gas. In particular, the drafts should contain the following:

In many cases, municipalities lack a strategy to implement energy and environmental projects. It should be assumed that the energy clusters that will be created will complement these gaps and will contribute to better achievement of the assumed objectives [Sołtysik et al., 2018] and development new technology, such as RESs, hydrogen-based energy market [Stygar and Brylewski, 2015], or energy storage.