Households are the most significant group of consumers in the municipal and household sector in
Poland. In 2010-2016, households consumed annually from 8.9 to 10.8 million Mg of coal (77-81%
share in this sector).
As of the beginning of 2018, seven voivodships in Poland have already introduced anti-smog resolutions,
one has its draft, three are considering introduction of such resolutions. In the face of introducing
anti-smog resolutions, the analysis of coal consumption by households was conducted for a situation
where anti-smog resolutions will be introduced in all voivodships in Poland.
A forecast of hard coal consumption by Polish households in 2017-2030 was presented in the article.
Two scenarios differentiated in terms of calorific value of coal were taken into account: (i) concerned coal
with a calorific value of 24 MJ/kg (min. Q for eco-pea coal: grain size 5.0-31.5 mm), (ii) – coals with
a calorific value of 26 MJ/kg (Q recommended for use by producers of class 5 boilers).
In the perspective of 2030, the largest decrease in hard coal consumption can be expected (jointly)
in the voivodships of Śląskie, Dolnośląskie, Opolskie and Lubuskie. Under the assumptions made, in
relation to 2016, it may be reduced by half and fall from 2.8 to the level of 1.4-1.5 million Mg. The
smallest decreases in consumption may occur (jointly) in the Małopolskie, Lubelskie, Podkarpackie and
Świętokrzyskie voivodships – decrease by 16-22% and fall from 2.6 to approximately 1.9-2.0 million Mg.
On a national scale, coal consumption may decrease from the current 10.4 (2016) to around 6.3-6.8 million
Mg (a decrease of 30-35%).
Despite the decrease in hard coal consumption in the 2030 perspective, one should expect an increase
in demand for high quality coal dedicated to modern boilers (usually pea assortments) as well as qualified
coal fuels (mainly eco-pea coal).
The expected demand for hard coal intended for the households will progressively be decreasing. This is directly related to the introduced anti-smog resolutions, as well as the growing level of environmental awareness. However, it should be noted, that the use of the modern home heating boilers will result in an increase in the demand for medium coal sizes. The shortfall of this type of coal is already observed on the market. Therefore, its import is necessary. One of the solutions to increase the supply of the medium coal sizes is the production of coal briquettes. Moreover, their use will consequently lead to reduced emissions.
The paper presents a comparison of emissions from the combustion of coal briquettes and hard coal in home heating boilers. The briquettes were characterized by significantly lower emissions than hard coal (by 52% on average). The particulate matter emissions were lower by 70%. This may significantly contribute to improving air quality in Poland and in addition, limit the occurrence of smog. The possibility of further emission reduction by using low-emission fuels as briquette components was presented. The average relative emission reduction compared to hard coal for the analyzed fuels was estimated as follows: 62% for coal char, 57% for coke, 51% for charcoal/biocarbon, 49% for anthracite, 45% for torrefied biomass, and 33% for peat.
Furthermore, the issue of the mercury content in the analyzed fuels was discussed. The lowest mercury content was found in biomass fuels, in particular biomass after thermal treatment (torrefied biomass, biocarbon, and charcoal). Fuels produced from hard coal in the pyrolysis process (coal char and coke) were characterized by very low mercury content as well.
Coal combustion processes are the main source of mercury emission to the environment in Poland. Mercury is emitted by both power and heating plants using hard and brown coals as well as in households. With an annual mercury emission in Poland at the level of 10 Mg, the households emit 0.6 Mg. In the paper, studies on the mercury release in the coal and biomass combustion process in household boilers were conducted. The mercury release factors were determined for that purpose. For the analyzed samples the mercury release factors ranged from 98.3 to 99.1% for hard coal and from 99.5% to 99.9% for biomass, respectively. Due to the high values of the determined factors, the amount of mercury released into the environment mainly depends on the mercury content in the combusted fuel. In light of the obtained results, the mercury content in the examined hard coals was 6 times higher than in the biomass (dry basis). Taking the calorific value of fuels into account, the difference in mercury content between coal and biomass decreased, but its content in coal was still 4 times higher. The mercury content determined in that way ranged from 0.7 to 1.7 μg/MJ for hard coal and from 0.1 to 0.5 μg/MJ for biomass, respectively. The main opportunity to decrease the mercury emissions from households is offered by the use of fuels with a mercury content that is as low as possible, as well as by a reduction of fuel consumption. The latter could be obtained by the use of modern boilers as well as by the thermo-modernization of buildings. It is also possible to partially reduce mercury emissions by using dust removal devices.
The paper presents an analysis of hard coal prices offered at the coal depots in Poland. Coal depots are one of the most popular forms of purchasing coal by Polish households. Prices refer to price offers for cobble coal (grain size: 60–120 mm) and their analysis is performed based on the regions rather than on all Polish provinces. From January 2010 to May 2019, there were two regions that were distinguished in terms of price spread: the S-W region and the N-E region. In the case of the S-W region, the difference between the province with the minimum price (Śląskie Province) and with the maximum price (Dolnośląskie Province since September 2017) ranged from PLN 53–83/ton, and in the N-E region the difference ranged PLN 64–130/ton. In the case of the remaining two regions, prices varied from a few to approximately PLN 80/ton for the N-W region, and from a few to about PLN 40 /ton for the S-E region. In order to determine how the origin of the coal affects its prices (domestic coal, imported coal), the analysis also included cobble coal price offers that are part of the Author’s own database created for several years. In the case of cobble coal from domestic producers, price offers varied betwwen PLN 14–33/GJ, and price offers for imported cobble coal stood varied between PLN 12–32/GJ. The N-E region attracted particular attention as the price offers for imported cobble coal reached a level similar to the offers from the S-W region, i.e. the region closest to Silesian coal mines. Price differentials within provinces belonging to a given region were influenced by the geographical rent. The paper also analyses average selling prices offered by domestic producers for various size grades of steam coal as well as selling prices for imported coal (free-at-frontier price).
The smart household connected to the energy dispatch arises to overcome the environmental crisis, encourages the penetration of renewable energies and promotes consumer respond to intraday market prices. Aquaponic production results from the combination of fish farming and hydroponics (cultivating plants using fish waste as nutrients). The prototype was built based on the rule of the 3 Rs: reduce, reuse and recycle. The crop reduces the consumption of water and energy, reuses water in a recirculation process, which is filtered by: 1) gravity, 2) biofilters and 3) porosity. Recycling is expanded to plastic containers and food containers of polystyrene. The aquaponic production system is decorative, completely organic (without chemicals), promotes the growth of green areas for comfortable homes and allows the consumption of healthy food, as well as energy planning to save energy. The system is done with a digital level control connected to a water pump and an oxygen pump. A novel method allows the aggregator to optimize the recirculation programming of the aquaponic system for periods of 24 hours. The method maximizes the economic benefits with the help of an energy balance between hours.
According to the European Environment Agency (EEA 2018), air quality in Poland is one of the worst in Europe. There are several sources of air pollution, but the condition of the air in Poland is primarily the result of the so-called low-stack emissions from the household sector. The main reason for the emission of pollutants is the combustion of low-quality fuels (mainly low-quality coal) and waste, and the use of obsolete heating boilers with low efficiency and without appropriate filters. The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of measures aimed at reducing low-stack emissions from the household sector (boiler replacement, change of fuel type, and thermal insulation of buildings), resulting from environmental regulations, on the improvement of energy efficiency and the emission of pollutants from the household sector in Poland. Stochastic energy and mass balance models for a hypothetical household, which were used to assess the impact of remedial actions on the energy efficiency and emission of pollutants, have been developed. The annual energy consumption and emissions of pollutants were estimated for hypothetical households before and after the implementation of a given remedial action. The calculations, using the Monte Carlo simulation, were carried out for several thousand hypothetical households, for which the values of the technical parameters (type of residential building, residential building area, unitary energy demand for heating, type of heat source) were randomly drawn from probability distributions developed on the basis of the analysis of the domestic structure of households. The model takes the coefficients of correlation between the explanatory variables in the model into account. The obtained results were multiplied so that the number of hypothetical households was equal to 14.1 million, i.e. the real number of households in Poland. The obtained results allowed for identifying the potential for reducing the emission of pollutants such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, dust, and nitrogen oxides, and improving the energy efficiency as a result of the proposed and implemented measures, aimed at reducing low-stack emission, resulting from the policy.
The potential for emissions of gaseous pollutants is 94% for CO, 49% for NOx, 90% for dust, and 87% for SO2. The potential for improving the energy efficiency in households is around 42%.
This article concerns the mutual expanding and enriching influence of the social history and historical demographics research issues, visible in popular historiography, at least since the end of the 20th century. The author uses selected achievements of international historiography as a backdrop for a presentation of the main achievements of Polish historical demographers, who conducted modern studies into the forms and living patterns in the territory of Poland ranging from the late mediaeval times up to the 20th century, on a larger scale than ever in the past. The article highlights the presence of new sociocultural and demographic issues such as areas of solitary females, location and significance of the elderly, occurrence of the life cycle servants phenomenon in the Old-Polish society.