Observing the situation in the power industry it is easy to see that there are very deep changes in it. They rely primarily on moving away from conventional energy to renewable energy. This is particularly the case for energy in the European Union. Europe strives to be a forerunner in renewable technologies and a leader in the fight against global warming. The mining industry is being abolished and coal-fired power stations are being displaced by renewable energy sources. This situation is not only a result of EU directives but also of grassroots social initiatives inspired by environmental groups. The new lignite openings are being blocked, due to the lack of public acceptance, and the construction of conventional power plants. They do not help economic arguments for the development of energy based on coal, lignite, fuel that is significantly cheaper than the other, or to provide potential investors with the creation of new jobs. Also, coal investments are suspended in other regions of the world. CoalSwarm coal research shows that 2016 saw a dramatic fall in the amount of coal investment in the world. Even in China and India, where most of the coal industry has developed in recent years, about 100 investments have been suspended. The situation in the US is unclear. Although Barack Obama signed the Paris Agreement, current United States President Donal Trump has spoken out about this agreement and in numerous speeches and is eager to return to the dominant role of coal in the American economy. Poland still maintains the carbon structure of the power industry, but the Minister of Energy has announced that the new block at the Ostrołęka power plant will be the last coal-fired power plant to be built in Poland. This statement allows us to believe that there may be a return to Poland’s energy policy in the nearest future, and the long-awaited document, Poland’s energy policy until 2050, will determine the direction of change for the coming years.
The public and, above all, scientists clearly emphasize that the cause of global climate change caused mainly by carbon dioxide emissions is, above all, human activity and its combined emission. It is associated with the processes of fuel combustion in the energy, industry and transport, as well as with poverty being the main cause of difficulties in meeting basic energy needs in households and the incorrect way of heating them. The public is often made aware that the climate should be protected and at the same time convinced that global warming has no impact on the everyday lives of Poles. Meanwhile, Poland, due to the high share of coal in the energy sector, is indicated as one of the main culprits of carbon dioxide emissions in the European Union and exposed as a significant shareholder of climate change causing global warming. The aim of the work is to show the opinions of young people aged 15–24, in terms of their awareness of the human impact on climate change and indication of desirable directions of the modern energy policy, defining the level of support for these directions, which will significantly contribute to the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions.
The research conducted among young people shows that it is aware of the consequences of climate change, especially on a global scale, and to a much lesser extent in Poland, and still less in the Podkarpackie province. The studied youth emphasizes that climate change is currently one of the greatest threats, but it is one of many threats.
The young people emphasize that the energy policy in Poland should aim at the better utilization and reduction of energy consumption as well as increasing the share of energy based on renewable energy sources, associated mainly with public health protection, reduction of air pollution, as well as the energy security of the country. Young people show a lack of determination regarding the use of nuclear power plants, where we see supporters and opponents of this source of electricity in a similar relationship.
The energy security of the European Union is still a concept, rather than the actual action. It was confirmed by legal regulations that give Member States the possibility of individual control of energy security. Furthermore, EU Member States can perform unilateral energy policy, which is often in the interest of the most powerful countries. The concept of energy solidarity, solidarity mechanisms of energy flows directly from the Treaty of Maastricht. This was intended to help to increase energy security, and above all, its construction at the EU level. The functioning of the European Communities and the European Union is showing that the goal of building energy security of the European Union is still in the process of creation and still remain a certain course of action. Following th energy crisis of 2009 we can observe discussion about the concept of energy union, as a way to build energy security of the European Union. Currently, its energy security is limited to the definition adopted by the European Commission and activities aimed at the development of energy infrastructure of Community interest, which contributes to improving EU energy security. The aim of this article is analyze the concept of energy union and attempt to answer the question whether it has a real chance of success, and whether the concept of the proposed shape will be effective and necessary. These questions are important because of we can observe discrepancies between the regulations, promotion of building a common energy security and the practical action of individual Member States of the European Union.
Economic development is strictly dependent on access to inexpensive and reliable energy sources based on diversified primary fuels. The strategic framework for the construction of the energy mix is defined in the Energy Policy of the State, the content of which, in terms of its mandatory elements, has been specified in the Energy Law. The task of the Energy Policy of the State is to create the shape of the future power sector, including designing the most advantageous regulatory, system and technical solutions guaranteeing the appropriate level of energy security of the country, monitoring of the system’s evolution and also designing and implementing changes aimed at the optimization of the functioning mechanisms. The vision of the development of the power system at the global level should also reflect changes in the formation of dispersed civil energy structures. Unfortunately, the results of the conducted analyses reveal existing imperfections of the data acquisition and information system, which should be used in the planning process. This issue is particularly important from the perspective of the dynamically developing concept of the energy self-sufficiency of communes and the emergence of energy clusters. The present paper describes the functioning of strategic planning in the field of the electric power system with an illustration of the improperly functioning mechanisms of information transfer in the context of the advancement of dispersed civil energy structures.
The article presents selected issues from the Polish Energy Policy draft until 2040. From many issues, the authors chose the ones they considered the most revolutionary. Firstly, the National Power System should be restructured to meet the challenges of a changing environment, be adapted to the growing demand for electricity, and at the same time have the least impact on the natural environment. These goals can be achieved through reforms to reduce the importance of coal in the energy mix and the development of renewable energy sources, especially offshore wind energy. The next tasks are the development of electromobility, enabling the reduction of pollution caused by transport, and, in the longer term, after 2030, the development of nuclear energy in place of the withdrawn coal power.
Natural gas plays a significant role in the energy structure of many world economies. Many of them are highly dependent on domestic resources exploitation, other on its deliveries from non-domestic directions. In Poland its importance was relatively low, but in recent years we can observe an increase of interest in this raw material. The aim of the paper is to present the role of natural gas as a primary energy carrier and to determine its impact on the sustainable development and energy security of Poland. The role of gas in the European Union restrictions and development of the domestic economy is also a point. Theoretical deliberations are focused on the most important features of the Polish natural gas market. The article presents the most important national regulations concerning the development of the gas sector in Poland. The amount of natural gas resources are shown as well as indigenous production of the fuel and imports, including the directions from which natural gas is imported. Both political and geographical aspects of the directions of natural gas acquisition are discussed. The level and potential abilities of the diversification of the natural gas supply are discussed. The importance of gas storages in underground gas repositories is underlined. The authors point to the increase in the diversification of raw materials in the structure of electricity, heat production and the transition to pro-ecological fuels.
The article compares the management of energy resources in Poland and Ukraine over the period 2000–2017. The analysis took changes in the volume of coal, oil and natural gas resources into consideration. The indicators of supplies of these fuels for Poland and Ukraine have additionally been compared with selected EU countries. In order to assess energy security of Poland and Ukraine, the changes in the primary energy consumption have been analyzed in general in first order, then the possibilities of meeting the demand for natural gas, coal and oil have been determined based on the domestic extraction of individual energy resources. Such a comparison indicates the dominant role of coal in Poland while the extraction of oil and natural gas meets the domestic demand to a greater extent in Ukraine. Over the period 2000-2017, trends in primary energy consumption were different; a 17% increase was noted in Poland, while a nearly 40% decline was noted in Ukraine. The main factors responsible for radical changes in fuel and energy management in Ukraine have been identified: military operations in the east of the country and the annexation of Crimea, demographic changes. These events had a negative impact especially on the volume of hard coal mining in Ukraine; the significant increase in imports from 5.36 to 19.14 million tons in 2011-2017 was necessary for balancing. The balance of foreign exchange for electricity was also compared. Over the past years, this comparison has been favorable for Ukraine, where the dominance of electricity exports over imports is noticeable, which generated revenues of over USD 200 million in 2017.