Michał Olszewski – Energy Transition https://energytransition.org The Global Energiewende Thu, 22 Dec 2022 12:31:01 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.1.1 A recipe for the cold https://energytransition.org/2022/12/a-recipe-for-the-cold/ https://energytransition.org/2022/12/a-recipe-for-the-cold/#respond Thu, 22 Dec 2022 10:00:01 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=27769 The embargo on raw materials from Russia following its invasion of Ukraine exposed weaknesses in the Polish energy system as well as political errors. For many in Poland, this winter will serve as a reminder of communist-era shortages. Michał Olszewski has the details Local governments announced switching off street lighting for energy savings. (Photo by Janusz Maniak, CC0) Five million tonnes of...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2022/12/a-recipe-for-the-cold/feed/ 0 Will winter smell of coal? https://energytransition.org/2022/09/will-winter-smell-of-coal/ https://energytransition.org/2022/09/will-winter-smell-of-coal/#respond Thu, 15 Sep 2022 10:00:07 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=27245 This chart is easy to remember. On 24 June 2022 the energy think tank Instrat published data on energy production with a special focus on its sources. Combined, photovoltaics and wind energy yielded more power (26.3 %) than the total electricity production from lignite (24.2 %). This means that a revolution took place in a country where successive governments blocked the development of renewable...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2022/09/will-winter-smell-of-coal/feed/ 0 Poland and the energy costs of the Russian war in Ukraine https://energytransition.org/2022/09/poland-and-the-energy-costs-of-the-russian-war-in-ukraine/ https://energytransition.org/2022/09/poland-and-the-energy-costs-of-the-russian-war-in-ukraine/#respond Thu, 01 Sep 2022 10:00:09 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=27185 The Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine is not only barbaric – it is also a harbinger of rapid economic changes around the world. Even if the war ends relatively soon (and that is unlikely), a return to the status quo ante is unthinkable. So too is a return to the heavily fossil-fuelled and import-dependent European energy model that existed before the war. Is it appropriate to ponder over...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2022/09/poland-and-the-energy-costs-of-the-russian-war-in-ukraine/feed/ 0 Time to rethink transport in Poland https://energytransition.org/2022/01/time-to-rethink-transport-in-poland/ https://energytransition.org/2022/01/time-to-rethink-transport-in-poland/#respond Wed, 05 Jan 2022 10:00:07 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=25805 The pandemic may well change our transport habits for the better – at least in cities. Public transport and eventually even cars will be increasingly shunned in favour of bicycles. Michał Olszewski reports from Warsaw, Poland. In Poland, the number of cycling journeys rose during the pandemic. (Photo by Ewelina Korzeniowska, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) The plans were grand: in 2016 the Polish PM Mateusz...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2022/01/time-to-rethink-transport-in-poland/feed/ 0 A cry in the desert: Poland wakes up to climate debate https://energytransition.org/2021/03/a-cry-in-the-desert/ https://energytransition.org/2021/03/a-cry-in-the-desert/#respond Thu, 25 Mar 2021 11:00:38 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=23673 Too late, too slow, too stifled, but it has arrived: Climate policy is finally taking centre-stage in the public debate. Michał Olszewski reports from Poland. ( Public Domain) The change is clear: not so long ago, in Poland it was fashionable to make fun of climate change or at least to be deeply sceptical of the alarming reports. Each cold spring (just like each wet summer) saw floods of derision...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2021/03/a-cry-in-the-desert/feed/ 0 Poland’s Water Policy – The Gordian knot of drought https://energytransition.org/2021/02/the-gordian-knot-of-drought/ https://energytransition.org/2021/02/the-gordian-knot-of-drought/#respond Tue, 02 Feb 2021 14:00:13 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=23567 The report “Water in Agriculture” shows that without fundamental reform, the problems of Polish agriculture, and thus of the entire economy, will only deepen. Michał Olszewski has the details. ( Public Domain) Poland’s water policy is something of a Gordian knot: multiple conflicting interests (although no-one has any interest in the water running out), lots of interest groups...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2021/02/the-gordian-knot-of-drought/feed/ 0 In the land of coal fantasies https://energytransition.org/2020/11/23461/ https://energytransition.org/2020/11/23461/#respond Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:00:45 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=23461 Sometimes one can indeed be a prophet in one’s own land. When work began on building a third unit at the power plant in Ostrołęka, central Poland, in 2009, independent experts warned that it was a risky investment – unfortunately, in vain. Michał Olszewski has the story. (CC BY 2.0, PanSG) The European Union’s climate policy had already been clearly mapped out for the years to come...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2020/11/23461/feed/ 0 The atomic boomerang https://energytransition.org/2020/03/the-atomic-boomerang/ https://energytransition.org/2020/03/the-atomic-boomerang/#respond Thu, 05 Mar 2020 13:45:29 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=21669 The Polish government is looking ever more desperately for a way out of the energy impasse. Hence their return to the idea of building a nuclear power plant. Michał Olszewski gives us some insights. Poland has been debating nuclear energy for decades. ( Public Domain) Poland’s discussion of nuclear energy comes and goes like the seasons, and there is also something deeply sad about it.

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2020/03/the-atomic-boomerang/feed/ 0 2019: The year Poland still dug coal https://energytransition.org/2019/12/2019-the-year-poland-still-dug-coal/ https://energytransition.org/2019/12/2019-the-year-poland-still-dug-coal/#respond Mon, 30 Dec 2019 14:00:50 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=21505 It has not been a good year for Polish environmental policy; but, fortunately, it has also not been a total waste. Marked by the inertia and stubbornness of a government that, flying in the face of expert opinion, is imposing punishing and economically unsound ideas, it does seem as though some energy progress is being made, both as the government changes direction and as more citizens take...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2019/12/2019-the-year-poland-still-dug-coal/feed/ 0 Poland has a Climate Ministry https://energytransition.org/2019/12/poland-has-a-climate-ministry/ https://energytransition.org/2019/12/poland-has-a-climate-ministry/#comments Wed, 18 Dec 2019 12:20:09 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=21383 Though in October, Poland’s ruling rightwing Law and Justice (PiS) party narrowly won a second term in office, its power was weakened after it lost control of the upper house of Parliament and failed to increase its majority in the more powerful lower chamber. Now one wonders if Poland is finally about to get serious about addressing the climate crisis? Following Mateusz Morawiecki’s first speech...

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