Fall 2019 holding constant at 47 – 4 8 percent. Household heating also contributes the most Benzo[a]Pyrene, a highly carcino- genic pollutant. IN THE SPOTLIGHT: FIGURE B.1  Residential heating contributes Air Quality in Poland, the most to PM2.5 pollution Total national emissions of air pollutants and CO2 by key sectors in 2015 in Poland what are the issues 900 and what can be done? ¹ 800 Thousand tons; for CO2 million tons 700 600 500 400 300 Poland continues to be a European air industrial growth. But fine particu- pollution hotspot: 36 of the 50 most late emissions levels remain stubbornly 200 polluted cities in the European Union high. The earlier achievement of reduc- 100 (WHO, 2018). In some cities, average ing SO₂ and NOₓ emissions in the 1990s ambient concentration levels of fine were mainly due to power sector and 0 CO2 PM2.5 NOx particulate matter (PM₂.₅) are twice as heavy industry reforms, addressing Power generation Residential combustion high as the maximum levels allowed the large, pooled pollution sources. But Road transport Other under European Union (EU) law. progress in addressing disaggregated sources such as single-family housing Source: World Bank (2019) The impact of air pollution on health and transport has been limited. is substantial, particularly for chil- But coal is only part of the prob- dren and the elderly. Nearly one in Air quality is at its worst during lem facing the residential heating nine of the premature deaths linked winter heating season and varies by sector. Poland’s heating technolo- to fine particle pollution in the EU geography. For example, valley loca- gies and housing stock need upgrad- was found in Poland 2. Fine particulate tions can suffer the most, especially ing. Modern heating technology could matter are tiny particles in the air that when inversion layers further trapping significantly help to reduce emis- are dangerous to human health since emissions in these locations. Household sions from coal. But the use of ineffi- they can travel deeply into a person’s heating emissions make the winter sea- cient and outdated boilers also allows respiratory track. They have the poten- son significantly more vulnerable to air many households to mix fuels depend- tial to cause lung and heart diseases, pollution, especially in the South and ing on their availability, for example organ damage and to ultimately result Southwest due to more mountainous burning low-grade fuelwood and trash. in premature death. terrain and cities in valleys. For poorer households, this flexibility can cushion them from changing fuel Poor air quality contributes nearly At the center of Poland’s air qual- prices and can ease the financial bur- a quarter of bronchitis cases among ity challenge is a heavy depend- den. More effective insulation can help children — leading to over 200,000 ence on coal for heating. Significant but, as households switch fuel sources, cases every year. The morbidity bur- amounts of coal are used for both home poorer households den is highest in the voivodeships and commercial heating, and in indus- where residential heating triggers high try and power production. The amount Beyond supporting better air qual- levels of air pollution in the winter: of coal used has declined since the ity, improvements to the housing Śląskie, Wielkopolskie, Mazowieckie, 1980s, and there has been an increase stock has the added bonus of offer- Śląskie, Łódzkie, and Małopolskie. in natural gas and renewable energy ing thermal comfort to families, Pollution is also damaging for the econ- sources. However coal, which is gen- improving their health, reducing the omy, contributing to 8 percent of total erally a more highly polluting energy time spent feeding older boilers and lost workdays. source, is still dominant. Poland is lead to more valuable houses. Older expected to account for about 50 per- boilers need to be manually fed, requir- Poland has done well in reducing cent of hard coal use by small consum- ing a continuous need to replenish fuel the emissions of some air pollut- ers in Europe in 2020 3. feeders and the heat cannot be reg- ants — most notably sulphur diox- ulated in the same way as with more ide (SO₂) and nitrogen oxide (NOₓ). Household heating is the most impor- modern heating. Poland was one of the early reform- tant contributor fine particulate pol- ers under the Environmental Action lution. The residential sector is the Vehicles are also an important Plan in the 1990s, adopting economic most important source of air pollution sources of air pollution. This source of and institution strengthening that at the national level. Between 2005 and pollution rises in prominence during the severed the link between the emis- 2015, the share of PM₂.₅ emissions com- summer and may be particularly intense sion of air pollutants, economic and ing from households barely changed, in urban hot-spots. Despite the efforts to promote electric mobility, especially space. A good starting point is to ensure and good for air quality. through electric buses, Poland has the that each of these structures has the oldest and sixth largest vehicle fleet in resources, knowledge, and incentive In the transportation sector, cities the EU, with 24.3 million cars. Many cars to engage — a nd is held accountable need to identify hot-spots through can only meet Euro 3 emissions stand- against measurable outcomes. regular monitoring, and introduce ards, contributing to transport-based targeted measures in these areas. emissions being the second most impor- Putting in place and enforcing reg- There’s not enough known yet on pol- tant source of air pollution. And, unlike ulations across all voivodeships on lution hot-spots in cities and on which residential heating sources which are heating technologies would be a move populations are more affected. To get pressing issues in some cities, emissions in the right direction. Only eleven this granularity street-level monitoring from cars, buses and trucks are found of the sixteen regions in Poland have needs to be expanded. Pollution linked across all cities and affect all urban pop- adopted anti-smog resolutions, which to transport can be very geographically ulations. Another important difference require Single Family Buildings to concentrated, so you need specialized between pollution from transport and replace non-compliant solid-fuel boil- monitoring approaches. With such data from residential heating is the mobil- ers (manually fed-coal boilers with at hand, decision-makers could intro- ity of emission sources and the result- low-quality coal, wood and trash used duce targeted policies on air pollution, ing spatial and temporal fluctuation of as fuel) with compliant more efficient such as traffic zones, new routings, or pollution dynamics depending on traffic boilers which include gas boilers, heat enhanced public transport. Continuing patterns and behavior leading to highly pumps, renewable energy-based sys- the expansion of electric mobility is a variant pollution exposure profiles tems and eco-design boilers. step in the right direction. Strategic use within an urban airshed. of green spaces can both enhance liva- Owners of single-family buildings bility and improve air quality. Without The massive health and economic need financial and advisory help appropriate interventions, the high impacts of outdoor air pollution are in shifting their heating technolo- growth rate of vehicles across Poland is a call for action. This requires shifting gies and retrofitting their buildings likely to increase the share of air pollu- from a heavy reliance on coal to a more . Doing a building retrofit and upgrad- tion coming from the transport sector, sustainable growth path that reduces ing a boiler requires substantial upfront especially affecting urban populations. the environmental and health impacts costs and the payment period for these of coal reliance, including shifting investments can be long. Supporting Poland can’t afford to wait to towards using cleaner fuels and more households financially and through take action on air quality. There efficient boilers in households, indus- advice on the investments needed will are already a plethora of chan- try and power generation, and curbing be critical, in particular for poorer nels through which Poland can transport emissions. households who will struggle the most improve the livability of its cit- with financing. Seeing this challenge, ies, towns and villages. To be effec- the government launched the Clean Air tive these shifts will need everyone to What would it take Priority (CAPP) and Stop Smog Programs work together — nature doesn’t care for to lift the black fog which, together with tax credits, aim to administrative boundaries or bureau- over Poland’s population? ease the burden on households of mak- cracy. A town or village in a valley can ing these investments. clean up its act but the impact of their The sources of pollution today are actions won’t be fully felt until the sur- challenging to shift, since they Retailers of heating equipment and rounding area that feeds into the same require multiple actors — households retrofitting materials and the trades- airshed pulls its weight. The need for heating their homes, industry, driv- men who do the installations will coordinated action is exactly why lead- ers, and the transport sector more need to be ready to meet this mar- ership and vision is needed to bring broadly — to play their part. Due to the ket demand, and to help their cus- everyone along. The steps taken by the producers of air pollution being spread tomers along the way. The supply-side government in recent years are promis- across the population and across areas, it for both heating equipment and ther- ing. In the next decade Poland needs to will take multiple actors to shift the pol- mo- modernization will have new cus- deliver on these shifts. lution sources — the 4.5 million homes tomers coming their way as the anti- that need upgrading, the authorities smog regulations take force across the helping them with these investments, country. These actors need to inform NOTES regulating actions and enforcing these their customers of the regulatory shifts 1. This section draws heavily upon “Air regulations, and supply side actors. approaching and advise them on the quality management — Poland”, a report produced by the World Bank in 2019. The technologies they can adopt, so that brief was prepared by Reena Badiani- Tackling air pollution success- today’s investments reflect new require- Magnusson, Janina Franco, Filip Kochan fully requires a mix of policies and ments. Some actors are already help- and Klas Sander. The graphics were investments, including comple- ing customers to apply for financial help designed by Piotr Ruczyński. mentary sticks and carrots. No sin- from CAPP — providing them with a one- 2. EEA (European Environment Agency). gle approach will be able to reduce stop approach. What seems to be missing 2018. “Air quality in Europe — 2018 report.” EEA Report No 12/2018. ISBN air pollution from all sources. Air now however is an integrated approach, 978-92-9213-989-6 ISSN 1977-8449 doi: quality management is complex and where customers can get advice and con- 10.2800/777411 highly decentralized, with a myriad tract out their modernization and heat- 3. Price-Induced Market Equilibrium of national, voivodeship, powiat and ing upgrade in one go. Filling these miss- System (PRIMES) Reference 2016 scenario. gmina level actors are working in this ing markets is both good for business PRIMES is an EU energy system model.