Usually by October, Raphael, who lives in Katowice, Poland, is already ready for the winter, but now he can't even buy coal.
"I have been trying to buy coal for three months, but I still can't buy it." Raphael said.
As the European energy crisis intensifies, European countries are scrambling to find alternatives to Russian coal and natural gas . The International Energy Agency predicts that global coal sales will reach 8 billion tons in 2022, returning to the historical high set in 2013.
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[1] There are Polish starting to burn garbage to keep warm
Some Polish people who do not have coal reserves can only rely on burning branches to keep warm.
Polish citizen Anna told the media that this year she had no coal preparations, no inventory, and no fuel in the warehouse.
As the largest coal-producing country in EU , 70% of Poland's electricity comes from coal-fired power, and about 3.8 million families rely on coal for heating. In Podanka, in eastern Poland, people stay up late to queue up to buy coal because of concerns about lack of fuel in winter. To meet the needs as much as possible, a coal mine has implemented a two-shift system a few weeks ago and has not stopped working on weekends.
In addition to coal-fired power, some residents choose natural gas heating. Several Chinese in Poland told Jiupai News that they did not buy coal in Poland, but used natural gas. Xiaomi , who studied in Warsaw, Poland, said that her home is natural gas for heating, and it is not clear how much the heating fee has increased. "My classmates are all collectively heating natural gas, and using coal to keep heating is a place that may not be very wealthy. The biggest impact of energy crisis is that the soaring oil costs, which doubled compared to before, from 4.5 zloty three years ago to 8.23 zloty now."
Chunxiao is a full-time housewife in Poland, and the house she rents is free to heat to tenants. She told Jiupai News that her family had installed Chinese-made air conditioners before, which were easy to use and cheap, and the price has increased recently. "The electricity bill and natural gas are subsidized. I don't know if there is coal, and the subsidy is not very expensive. All employees in Poland have raised their wages. My family's rent has increased several points per year according to the bank interest rate. The price is very reasonable and the customers are very stable."
Due to fuel shortage and the soaring cost of living, some Poles have begun to burn garbage to keep warm. Previously, Polish MPs had suggested that the public, "Except tires and similar harmful items, almost everything needs to be burned."
[2] The government may issue anti-smog masks to deal with the pollution problem of incineration of garbage
According to Bloomberg, Poland has always been a country with poor air quality among EU countries. Nowadays, the pungent smell of incineration of garbage makes it unbearable for residents to. Mosca, a 35-year-old citizen, said, "This season is really bad. The smell of burning garbage every day. It is scary to think of these things when the weather gets cold." The survey shows that 60% of Polish families do not have enough coal to spend the whole winter, so many residents recently went to Czech to buy coal. Concerns about coal shortages have also been exploited by scammers. Previously, there have been many coal fraud cases, and some even bought stones dyed black. A spokesperson for an environmental protection organization in Poland revealed that people are afraid to collect everything that can be incinerated, including lignite , wood, peat and garbage.
Several municipalities in Poland directly canceled a series of fuel restrictions. Some parts of Little Poland Province allow citizens to burn anything from coal to garbage by 2024. Before the epidemic, environmental protection was also very important here. At that time, the police in Krakow specially deployed drones to patrol from high altitudes to check whether the families were illegally burning garbage.
After the Polish government relaxed restrictions on incineration, environmental problems followed. A report from the European Environment Agency once pointed out that air pollution in Europe causes 467,000 premature deaths every year, and residents of every 10 cities breathe harmful gases, while Poland ranks at the bottom in the whole European air quality detection . Poland has 40 seats on a list of 100 cities with the worst air quality in the EU.
Bloomberg said that the Polish government intends to distribute anti-smog masks to citizens this winter to cope with the pollution caused by incineration of garbage.
【3】Germany began to impose a "natural gas surcharge tax"
Due to the rise in natural gas prices, some German people also began to burn coal to keep warm. Recently, Engelke, a coal supplier in Berlin, Germany, has been booming, and orders have been scheduled to next month. In previous years, the main people who bought coal were the elderly who lived in old communities and could only use coal to keep warm, but this year, more new customers have purchased coal.
It is reported that the German government announced that it would impose a "natural gas surcharge" starting from October this year, and the energy expenditure of a family of four may increase by nearly 500 euros. In the eyes of consumers, burning coal to keep heating is obviously a more cost-effective option. Bloom, a German citizen, told the media that this was his first time buying coal. He had been using gas to keep heating and wood to burn stoves. As the prices of natural gas rise, he wanted to keep heating by burning coal to keep his home warm all night.
Yueyue, studying in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, told Jiupai News that as of now, the energy crisis has not had any impact on her because she lives in a student dormitory and has all water, electricity and heating. "Germany started heating in early September. No one around me bought coal, but someone bought electric blankets."
Jiupai News reporter Li Muxi Intern reporter Zhang Wenjing
[Source: Jiupai News]
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