In 2019, Krakow liquidated almost twice as many outdated boilers as all neighbouring communes. Despite this, the capital of Lesser Poland is still under heavy smog. The reason is pollution flowing into our city from neighboring towns. It is estimated that around 30,000 coal furnaces are still smoking around Krakow. What is needed is the involvement of other Małopolska communes in the fight for clean air, argue the authorities of Krakow. In turn, in the Marshal’s Office, we hear assurances that more and more outdated boilers are replaced year by year in the neighboring communes.
Air quality – always horrible at the beginning of the year!
The beginning of the year is terrible when it comes to air quality in Poland. Our country has become a red point on the map of Europe in the last few days. In many cities, including those from Małopolska, air pollution standards were exceeded even several times. In our voivodeship, the worst was in Nowy Targ and Kraków. The capital of Małopolska was even ranked 5th among the most polluted cities in the world.
This fact may come as a surprise as Krakow is very good at replacing obsolete boilers, which are the main source of air pollution. In 2019, the city liquidated almost twice as many as all neighboring communes. At the moment there are just over 2.8 thousand obsolete heat sources to be replaced.
Despite this, in recent days the smog cap has hung over our city again, and its authorities, due to the exceeding the average pollution level for PM10 dust, had to introduce free public transport.
The slow pace of replacement of obsolete boilers in municipalities around Krakow
MEPs from Krakow who deal with smog, have no doubt that the impact on this situation is, among others, the slow pace of replacement of obsolete furnaces and boilers in municipalities around our city.
In each of them, there are thousands of furnaces, in which solid fuels are still burned. Krakow lies in a basin, where pollution from neighboring towns is deposited.
MP Aleksander Miszalski from the Civic Coalition (during the online meeting on smog)
Polish Smog Alarm takes notice!
Recently, the Polish Smog Alarm presented data which clearly shows that the replacement of furnaces and boilers is very slow across the country. Krakow seems to be an exception. Among voivodeship cities, a record number of boilers was replaced here – over 4.1 thousand. Let us recall that in the capital of Małopolska, coal and wood smoking are prohibited from September 2019.
When sending inquiries to the municipalities, we expected that the number of boilers mentioned would not be significant, but what we saw in the responses showed a complete crisis in the area of replacing obsolete boilers.
said Andrzej Guła, PAS leader
We decided to check the situation in the communes around Krakow. For example, last year in the commune of Świątniki Górne over 90 coal-fired boilers were replaced with gas ones. “Additionally, 2 heat pumps and 2 biomass boilers were installed. 42 photovoltaic panels and 5 solar collectors were installed” – emphasizes the eco-manager Aleksander Piegza.
Replacement of old stoves in smaller cities around Krakow is crucial!
More obsolete stoves were replaced in the Niepołomice commune: last year, nearly 150. “It should be noted that the number refers only to investments made under the municipal subsidy projects and the Clean Air government program” – Anna Szewczyk from the Niepołomice City and Commune Office assures us.
1% for activities related to air protection
Let us recall that during the consultations on the new air protection program for the Małopolskie Voivodeship, it was proposed that all communes should allocate 1 % off for activities related to air protection, including subsidies for the replacement of boilers. Such a provision appeared in the final version of the program. Communes of the so-called “obwarzanek krakowski” complied with these recommendations, although it was not possible to reach 1% everywhere.
“As part of activities related to air protection, the Świątniki Górne commune secured about 0.7 % in the budget for 2021. The activities include: employment of eco-managers (2 jobs), implementation of subsidy programs for the exchange of heat sources and the installation of renewable energy sources, etc.” – informs Piegza. At the same time, he emphasizes that the commune has also managed to obtain funds from outside for investments related to air protection. “Therefore, if you count the total funds for this purpose, it would be approx. 4 % budget” – the eco-manager confirms.
Why does Krakow still have smog?
We asked the Krakow authorities why, despite the quick replacement of outdated boilers, smog continued to suffocate residents. Paweł Ścigalski, the plenipotentiary of President Jacek Majchrowski for air quality, emphasizes that there are many factors.
First, Krakow has a terrible geographical location – in the valley of the Vistula river, which makes it difficult to ventilate the city. In addition, especially in the autumn and winter period, there are temperature inversions, fogging, periods of wind silence, and air humidity. Despite the anti-smog resolution in force for Krakow, which mentions the ban on the use of solid fuels, there are still locations in the city where it is used.
Ścigalski
The air circulation knows no borders…
Like MP Miszalski, the president’s adviser draws attention to the situation in neighboring communes. “It is estimated that around 30,000 coal furnaces are still smoking around Krakow. The air has no borders and hence other Małopolska communes need to be involved in the fight for clean air, especially those in its immediate vicinity from the perspective of Kraków“, adds Ścigalski. However, it indicates that the air in our city is getting better every year.
You can see the effects of anti-smog activities. It is worth noting that the dust level has dropped by half in the last 7 years. For 2 years now, we have been in the annual average PM10 standard, the number of days with daily exceedances is decreasing, in 2020 there were less than 50 (average from the CIEP station in Krakow) – he says.
Kraków remains the leader in Małopolska
In turn, Michał Drewnicki, the press spokesman of the Marshal’s Office of the Małopolska Region, emphasizes that more and more outdated boilers are replaced in the neighboring communes of Krakow. “On the scale of Małopolska, Krakow remains the leader, which in 2019 liquidated almost twice as many outdated boilers than all neighboring communes. In previous years, this advantage was even greater” – says Drewnicki.
It indicates that among the communes of the so-called “Obwarzanek krakowski”, but also on the voivodeship level, Skawina stands out in particular. “The commune not only lists the most heat sources but also carries out the most inspections of furnaces, installs renewable energy sources in residential buildings, and has made an inventory of almost all heat sources” – he acknowledges.
The Gazeta Krakowska article, in PL language, can be found on the link provided.
Stay safe!
The Twisted Red LadyBug
Recent Comments