Search

In the face of global challenges related to climate change and sustainable development, comparing attitudes and infrastructure in the field of electromobility and renewable energy sources in different countries becomes crucial. The question of differences and similarities between Poland and Germany in these areas sheds light on the unique challenges and opportunities that the two countries present to each other. The aim of the study is to understand these dynamics, which can contribute to the shaping of more effective policies and strategies for green energy and sustainable mobility. This study was conducted through a review of Polish and foreign literature, the use of the method of tabular comparisons, and the analysis of a questionnaire that was used. These complex methods combined both quantitative and qualitative analysis, which allowed for an in-depth understanding and comparison of attitudes and infrastructure related to electromobility and renewable energy sources in Poland and Germany. The study revealed significant differences and similarities between Poland and Germany in terms of electromobility and renewable energy sources. Germany shows a higher level of urbanization, a higher share of electric car ownership, and better charging infrastructure, while in Poland there is a strong belief in the key role of renewable energy sources. These findings may have implications for future green energy initiatives and policies in both countries. The study presents a complex picture of electromobility and renewable energy sources in Poland and Germany, showing clear differences in awareness, infrastructure, and attitudes. Germany seems to be more advanced in these areas, while Poland shows a strong commitment to renewable energy sources. These conclusions do not exaggerate the differences, but underline the need for a case-by-case approach to green energy strategies in both countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growing environmental and climate problems in the contemporary world necessitate the search for efficient solutions, including changes in agriculture, which has been reflected in the new package of reforms of the EU climate policy, called the European Green Deal (the EGD). Agriculture and rural areas play an essential role in the attainment of the EGD goals, and one of the prerequisites for an effective implementation of the EGD assumptions is to recognize the mechanism underlying the activity of agricultural farms in the scope of pro-environmental measures implemented under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). This article presents an endeavour to make a multidimensional evaluation of the spatial diversification in such activities, using Polish farms as an example. Compared to other EU member states, Poland is a country where agriculture remains a substantial sector in the national economy. This research is based on data from several institutions, including the Central Statistical Office (CSO) and the Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture (ARMA), responsible for the allocation of funds from the EU budget and for providing support to the development of agriculture and rural areas. The level and structure of the absorption of funds from the CAP underwent analysis, including three pro-environmental measures of the Rural Development Programme: organic farming (OF), agri-environment climate measure (AECM), and afforestation and creation of forest areas (ACFA). In order to achieve a holistic approach to these measures, an innovative analytical model was developed. It can be applied to analyses on a regional, national, and European level, and it is based on several novel indicators, as well as advanced statistical and spatial analyses. The research demonstrates that the pro-environment activities of farmers are characterized by a significant geographical diversity. The most active in soliciting payments from the CAP were agricultural farms with a high level of pro-environment internal characteristics of agriculture (IPEAF = 30.1%, with national average = 11.6%). With regard to anthropogenic determinants, relatively higher values of the IPEAF indicator were found in the municipalities with a lower level of socio-economic development (12.1%) and those located in northern and western Poland, within the borders of the former Prussian Partition (18.6%), characterised by higher farming culture. The research results imply that the effectiveness of the up-to-date solutions needs to be improved, also by taking into consideration the endogenous conditions and potential of individual territorial units. The research results also prove the expediency of implementing the European Green Deal. Conducting an analysis of the pro-environmental activity of farms, taking into account both the applications of the current CAP financial perspective and those resulting from follow-up activities regarding the previous perspective, is an innovative approach to the issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ongoing transformation of the Polish power sector have been shaped by a number of factors. In this article, both external conditions for the Polish energy market—such as the country's membership in the European Union—and internal ones—including domestic energy resources and demand for electricity, or the structure of the Polish economy—have been analysed. This study focuses specifically on the issue of development of clean generation technologies as these are fundamental to the energy-transition process. Its determinants have been examined empirically. To this end, econometric models have been developed using sectoral data from the Polish electric power industry. Improvements in technology have been measured as innovation inputs, that is, RD&D investments in environmental technologies. Explanatory variables encompass economic as well as institutional measures: energy price, environmental policy stringency, long-term interest rate, market concentration and protection of intellectual property rights. The findings obtained point to a positive impact of the variables named on the innovative activity in Poland, with the exception of market concentration, which was proven to be statistically insignificant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Framed field experiment to test impact of varying income and mandatory contributions to the environment on voluntary ones. • Variations of mandatory contributions to the environment affect voluntary contributions more than income. • Increased income leads to higher total environmental contributions than increased mandatory contributions. • Environmental concern of farmers does not affect voluntary or total contributions to the environment. • Reactance increases crowding out of mandatory contributions to voluntary ones. Agri-environmental policies generally build around two complementary approaches: mandatory requirements and (compensated) voluntary measures. One of the challenges of the future EU Common Agricultural Policy is precisely to find the right balance between these two types of interventions. We conducted an experiment with farmers in three EU Member States to assess the impact of (1) increasing mandatory contributions to the environment, and of (2) decreasing unconditional income support. We also assess the effect of two key behavioural factors: environmental concern and trait reactance. Results show that both interventions reduce voluntary contributions to the environment, but the reduction is higher when mandatory contributions increase than when income decreases.. However, when mandatory contribution increases substantially, this more than offsets the reduction of voluntary contributions, leading to higher total contributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our paper presents the possibility of applying the DRASTIC model as a useful tool to support the process of local and regional development planning. The study was carried out in the catchment of Stare Miasto Reservoir in Central Poland. In order to plan the policy to protect the reservoir and groundwater, the assessment of groundwater vulnerability to pollution was made by means of the DRASTIC model. The original model was modified by adding a new parameter called "land use." The measured nitrate concentrations were used to test the original and modified models. The results of the study revealed that the modified DRASTIC model gave more accurate predictions than the traditional model. The Pearson correlation coefficients characterising the relationship between the vulnerability index and the nitrate concentration was 0.56 before the modification and 0.69 after it. The groundwater vulnerability map is necessary for planning local development and for assessing environmental impact. The DRASTIC model is expected to be a useful tool for designing programs and strategies, e.g., for improving the quality of surface water and groundwater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Air quality in Krakow is determined by traffic and household heating emissions. • Public transportation is an important element of the city's environmental policy. • Modernization of the urban bus fleet contributes to reducing emissions. • Low emission public transportation is a primary objective for Krakow. Abstract This paper discusses the air quality impact of the replacement of buses in the Krakow metropolitan area by buses with better emission standards. The research focuses on the estimated amount of particulate matter and gas pollutants emitted by those vehicles between the years 2010–2015. The calculations have been done using COPERT software and are based on measured and gathered data from 156 bus lines. The emissions inventory presented in this paper is the first highly detailed research done for a fleet of urban buses in one of the largest urban areas in Poland. It was analysed using CORINAIR methodology. The conducted research has a couple of utilitarian aims. The first is an assessment of the emission reduction brought about by urban bus modernization. The second aim is estimating the contribution of particulate matter and gas pollutants by urban bus emissions in the Krakow area. It estimated that emissions from public transportation constitute 2.07% of the total emissions from road transportation in Krakow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study presents characteristics of the bathing season on the basis of stationary daily measurements of surface water temperature in the lakes in the period 1971-2015 conducted by the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management. These measurements were taken in the littoral zone (from bridges) of 28 lakes at 7:00 (6:00 GMT). In order to determine representativeness of these measurements, the author also documents the comparison of water temperature with its values at various points of the lake and its daily course. Stationary surface water temperature measurements provided the basis for the characteristics of the average, the earliest and the latest dates of the beginning and end of the bathing seasons, their duration and mean water temperatures in the summer months. Hence, a new parameter (tsum) is introduced to define the mean surface water temperature for the summer months (June, July and August), and compare water temperature in lakes over a larger area (the Baltic Sea catchment area). The most favorable conditions for bathing in Polish lakes are found in the western part of the Wielkopolskie Lakeland (lakelands: Łagowskie, Poznańskie, Sławskie) from the beginning of July to the end of August, when the surface water temperature in lakes generally exceeds 18°C. Furthermore, the best conditions for bathing in the water are from 10:00 to 18:00. When choosing a place to relax, holidaymakers should also consider bathing locations, infrastructure and safety conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European Union (EU) climate/energy targets and policies are poised for the first full climate policy cycle - from adoption and implementation of the policy package for 2020, to reform for 2030. A dynamic approach to the ways in which EU policies affect policy development is developed by applying theories of domestic implementation, policy feedback and integration. Implementation experiences in Poland - the ‘least climate ambitious’ EU member state - affected Polish preferences for reformed EU policies. Existing EU policies, their ‘fit’ with Poland’s energy interests and change in anticipation of future EU policies explain much of the variation in preferences. Second, policy feedback from Poland significantly affected the EU 2030 climate and energy framework. As yet, the EU has succeeded only partly in gathering momentum through a ‘snowball’ effect whereby positive policy feedback from implementation generates further steps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development of environmental protection infrastructure in a rural commune after Poland's accession to the European Union - case study. The process of European integration required the harmonization of the Polish law with EU legislation and the physical implementation of the new regulations. One of the areas in which these activities were carried out was environmental protection. The aim of the study was to assess the impact of the Europeanisation process on environmental investment, ecology policy and the practice of environmental protection in rural communes using the example of the Wysokie Mazowieckie rural commune. The study have shown that the impact of the EU integration process was significant. This influence can be most clearly observed in the following two areas: the growing importance of environmental protection in commune policy and the acquisition of external financial resources for pro-ecological investments. Thanks to this, it was possible to solve many important environmental problems in the commune, especially regarding water and wastewater management as well as waste management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waste management is important in the activities of local authorities. Therefore, attention to waste management is reflected in the nature of a commune. The system analysis of chosen waste management is significant due to the need to improve the activities undertaken to achieve the best results. The aim of such a work was a comparative analysis of the efficiency of waste commune systems in two local government units within the Małopolska region of Poland. The subjects of comparative analysis of waste management systems were two selected communes of different sizes located within the same county. The study included the quantity and quality of collected municipal waste and indicators of their accumulation in 2007-10. On the basis of the conducted analysis that the inhabited commune had a larger number of inhabitants and with a larger surface area, the waste disposal was carried out more frequently by a substantial amount of subjects. The commune has also identified significantly more than 3.5 times the average of total waste. In both communities and regardless of the noted differences a growing trend of the quantities selectively waste collected were about 32% lower in the commune with fewer inhabitants, in which waste collection of paper and cardboard generated no result. Generally conducted in both communes, recovery contributed for favorable weight limitations the assembled waste on an average of 30%. Dealt with in the period of waste accumulation indicators begins to differentiated an average increase of 14 kg·person-1·year-1, and 2 Mg·km-2 in favor of more commune. As significant was in the municipality of year 2009, in which it were achieved the highest values of amounts of the collected the and sent to the assembled waste, the highest indicators of waste accumulation, in despite of made note the highest number of inhabitants in the next year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the important role of hard coal in the Polish residential sector, the article traced the changes that have occurred in the use of this fuel in the European Union and in Poland in the years 1990-2014. Throughout the European Union, hard coal has an important place in the structure of primary energy consumption. In the years 1990-2014, primary energy consumption in the European Union (calculated for all 28 Member States) has changed between 1507 and 1722 million toe. Between 2014 and 1990, there was a decrease of primary energy consumption, and the average rate of decline amounted to -0.2%. According to Council Directive 2013/12/EU, by the year 2020 energy consumption throughout the EU is expected to be no more than 1483 Mtoe of primary energy, and already in 2014 total primary energy consumption in the EU28 was higher than assumed by this target by only about 24 million toe (2%). Actions taken to protect the climate result in reducing the consumption of hard coal in the European Union. Between 1990 and 2014, the consumption of hard coal decreased by 41% (a decrease of 126 million toe), and the average rate of decline in consumption of this fuel amounted to -2.1%. Throughout the EU, households are not as significant a consumer of hard coal, as in Poland. Although EU28's coal consumption in this sector in the years 1990 to 2014 varied between 6.5- -15.8 million toe, its share in the overall consumption of this fuel usually maintained at around 3-5%. The changing fuel mix, closing of mines or gradual extinction of coal mining, environmental policy of the individual countries meant that coal has lost its position in some of them. Analyzing the structure of hard coal consumption by households in the EU28 countries in the years 1900 to 2014, one may notice that the leaders are those countries that have their own coal mines. Due to the structure of consumption of hard coal by the customers, the article discussed two countries: Poland and Great Britain in greater detail. In 1990, Poland (50%) and Britain (18%) were close leaders, and twenty-five years later, only Poland has remained in first place (84%) and Great Britain has fallen to fourth place (4%). Between 2014 and 1990, the consumption of hard coal by the British residential sector decreased by 88% to only 0.3 million toe. In the case of Poland, it admittedly decreased by 6%, but still exceeds 6 million toe. The decrease in hard coal consumption in Great Britain was largely a consequence of The Clean Air Act introduced in 1956. In Britain, the process of replacing coal with other fuels (mostly natural gas) lasted several decades. Domestic coal was replaced with another mainly domestic resource - natural gas which ensured the security of its supply. The article also describes the households in the European Union and in Poland. The overall housing stock was taken into account, together with the distribution of population according to the degree of urbanization. Regulations that have a significant impact on the consumption of energy in the European Union were also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore the occurrence of the ecosystem services (ES) concept in public policies in Poland by providing a systematic content analysis of national environmental policies. A detailed analysis of the legal acts, national strategies, and decrees using the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services codes, which embraces a full range of ES, shows that the ES concept is reflected in the investigated documents. However, it is mainly depicted in an indirect, latent form. We further explore the ES concept occurrence in the Polish legislation with in-depth interviews of experts. From the interviews we identify two general groups of barriers to the ES concept implementation in environmental policy: (a) a limited understanding and acknowledgement of the concept among individuals involved in policy making; and (b) sectoral divisions within environmental governance that hinder the spread of the concept. Analysis reveals that the concept of services for society provided by nature had already been perceived in Polish national environmental policies before the emergence of the ES concept and the implementation of the EU biodiversity policy. However, the concept is referred to mostly in a latent form, before and after its emergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the article is to show the possible effects of implementation of the European Union climate policy on the economy and the labour market in Poland. The specified research objective and introductory literature review were the basis of the following research hypothesis: the EU climate policy will cause great uncertainty in strategic sectors of the Polish labour market and economy. The hypothesis has been examined by a method based on critical analysis of Polish and foreign literature on the EU climate policy and its economic effects. The critical analysis of literature and of available statistical data and economic forecasts con- firmed the research hypothesis. It means that implementation of the EU climate policy will lead to considerable increase of uncertainty in the Polish labour market. The situation in traditional branches and sectors, such as mining, metallurgy, cement plants and traditional power plants industries is particularly worrying. On the other hand there is an expectation that in sectors based on green energy and in industries producing low emission technologies the demand for jobs will increase, but the scale of the increase is not clear and any predictions here may turn out to be incorrect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental policy obliges modern society to transition to a low-carbon economy. After entering to life, the Paris Agreement obligated the signatories to prepare the first nationally determined contributions (NDCs). The NDCs aim first to reduce greenhouse gas emission targets under the UNFCCC and they apply equally to both developed and developing countries. Countries voluntarily indicate what actions will be taken to achieve the declared goals. The construction sector is an industry that is under scrutiny due to its negative impact on the environment, but it also has the potential to reduce it. Activities that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions can be carried out at various levels in the construction industry. One of them is the appropriate preparation of the staff, including equipping them with the so-called green skills. This research aimed to determine the competency gaps of people employed in the construction industry, including competencies in the field of low-emission economy. For the purposes of the study, a questionnaire survey was carried out in Poland and the Czech Republic and based on the results obtained the appropriate competencies were determined that should be possessed by people employed in the construction sector, including competencies related to a low-emission economy. Competency profiles for people employed in the construction sector were built and competency gaps of these people were determined. In both countries, no competencies have been identified in any of checked areas that meet or exceed the requirements of managers according to specific competency profiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various environmental policy instruments supporting the development of renewable energy are used on an increasing scale as part of the policy of mitigating climate change and more. In our paper, we examine the influence of environmental policy stringency on renewable energy production in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia for the period 1993–2012 after controlling for gross domestic product per capita growth, CO2 emissions per capita and income inequality. We use the Panel Pooled Mean Group Autoregressive Distributive Lag model to analyze the long-run and the short-run relationship between restrictiveness of environmental policy and renewable energy generation. The results reveal that, in the long run, a more stringent environmental policy has a positive impact both on the increase in the absolute volume of renewable energy production, as well as on the replacement of energy from fossil sources. Our main findings indicate that renewable energy production is positively influenced not only by the stringency of instruments aimed directly at the development of this energy sector, but also by the stringency of instruments with other environmental goals and by the overall level of restrictiveness of the environmental policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The activities of the poviat are a combination of interrelated factors. The use of natural resources should be carried out in accordance with the principles of sustainable development. The aim of this research was to assess the spatial differentiation of development relationships, the natural environment, and ecology of poviats in Poland, using a synthetic measure. Empirical data were collected in the spatial terms of poviats in Poland. The choice of variables was conditioned by the availability of data of the Central Statistical Office for 2010–2019. The assessment of development of poviats indicates disproportions in terms of development variables, as well as the natural environment and ecology, and the existence of a weak impact of natural conditions for development. Poviats distinguished by a higher level of natural environment are not characterized by a higher measure of development. The reason for the low impact of non-financial conditions on the development of poviats is their dependence on transfer from the state budget and the amount of current expenditure. The results may constitute a source of information for local government authorities on the disproportions existing between units, on the determination of directions of development policy optimization in terms of the natural environment and ecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy education of the younger generation, who are the future decision makers, investors, consumers, scientists, or skilled labor force in new energy technologies, is crucial for the future of Europe and the world. However, beyond the long-term goals of energy education policies, the short-term effects on energy conservation and the promotion of renewable energy sources are equally as important. The main purpose of the paper is to identify and analyze the behavior of students (who study the issues related to energy saving and RES), in terms of energy conservation. The conducted analysis focused on examining and comparing the scope of responses of the surveyed students in individual countries, especially in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Ukraine. The survey was carried out using the computer-assisted web interview (CAWI). Descriptive and graphical methods were used to present the results. Statistical analysis of the collected data included basic measures of descriptive statistics and the chi-square test. The main results of the study are as follows: Almost 60% of the surveyed students follow the principles of energy conservation; however increased educational activities on eco-energy behaviors is recommended. The share of RES in the heating systems of the studied residential buildings is 9%, on average, with the highest percentage of houses in Poland (14%) and the lowest in Ukraine (only 2.6%). When compared with literature reports, the collect data show that educational activities can be as effective as a tool in implementing RES and pro-environmental behaviors as the government's environmental policy and household subsidies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The energy strategy and environmental policy in the European Union are climate neutrality, low-carbon gas emissions, and an environmentally friendly economy by fighting global warming and increasing energy production from renewable sources (RES). These sources, which are characterized by high investment costs, require the use of appropriate support mechanisms introduced with suitable regulations. The article presents the current state and perspectives of using renewable energy sources in Poland, especially photovoltaic systems (PV). The specific features of Polish photovoltaics and the economic analysis of investment in a photovoltaic farm with a capacity of 1 MW are presented according to a new act on renewable energy sources. This publication shows the importance of government support that is adequate for the green energy producers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of severe European environmental policy, increasing carbon dioxide emissions with simultaneous growth of natural resources consumption the position of Poland as one of the most prospective emerging market seems to be considerably endangered. Taking into consideration considerable difficulties in the discovery of new affluent hydrocarbon reservoirs as well as the significant technical progress one of the most popular solution is sequestration of CO 2 in depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs or those in the final exploitation phase. Such solution allows for improvement of both oil recovery factor and underground storage of harmful to the environment gas. Nevertheless, the implementation of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods is strictly combined with the risky economy of entire project, therefore in order to exclude any possible drawback the project should be proceed by the detailed analyze of economic management and optimization process. In this paper authors proposed the development plan for one of the Polish multi horizontal hydrocarbon reservoir using CO 2 -EOR methods with smart multilateral wells technology, which multidimensional exploitation strategy was optimized by genetic algorithm method. Based on the performed model, ten-year productions forecasts were made. The obtained project net present value (NPV) increase of additional 3 MM$ unambiguously confirmed the significant efficiency of the applied advanced exploitation solutions with indication of the interesting prospects of their implementation in similar reservoirs. • Development of mature reservoirs using multilateral smart wells. • Optimization of EOR-CO 2 methods as a solution for fragile project economy. • Utilization of carbon dioxide as an opportunity to increase oil production. • Redevelopment of mature oil fields using advanced exploitation methods. • Genetic algorithm as a new way of management of oil field production strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]