In 2010 approximately 5400 premature deaths were caused by pollution from Polish coal- and brown-coal-fired power stations and thermal power stations. ‘It is one third more than the annual number of causalities on Polish roads’ – says chemist dr hab. Leszek Pazderski, one of the authors of the report. ‘The numbers are inexorable: Polish power plants which burns coal and brown coal are responsible for more than 5000 deaths annually. It is as if each year a small town disappeared from the map of Poland. Unfortunately our society isn’t aware of the situation. A death in an accident takes a concrete shape, whereas terminal chronic illnesses are not associated with air pollution’.

Pollutants such as particulate matter and sulphur and nitrogen oxides generated by combustions processes cause many major illnesses of internal organs, including cancer. The Polish power plants alone are responsible for 415 000 asthma attacks per year and generate substantial economic losses such as the loss of 1,2 billion working days due to medical sick leaves. ‘Though we learned that coal is detrimental as long ago as in the eighteen eighties, we keep perceiving it as our national treasure. Reports such as the one made by Greenpeace say that exploitation of coal deposits and coal combustion entails serious damage to health and a number of external costs related to major deterioration of the quality of food, geological damages and an increase in the costs of water treatment’ – states dr hab. Zbigniew Karaczun from the Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW) and the Climate Coalition.

So say the representatives of Greenpeace who point out that energy production does not have to lead to fatal consequences such as the loss of health and premature deaths. Polish economy, which until now have been based mainly on fossil fuels combustion, may greatly benefit from transforming the power sector towards renewable energy and energy efficiency improvement. ‘It’s high time we put an end to our dependence on coal. This year the Polish Government should update the strategic document for the Polish power sector - Poland’s energy policy until 2030. The investments based on coal extraction and combustion must be deleted and the whole sector should undergo a thorough transformation so that, gradually, our economy become independent of this dirty resource instead of clinging to a technology that kills thousands of people every year’ – says Iwo Łoś, the Greenpeace Climate and Energy campaign coordinator.

More on Greenpeace report

The Greenpeace report ‘Coal kills…’ is based on the results of research conducted by a team of scientists from the Institute for Energy Economics and the Rational Use of Energy (IER), Stuttgart University, who have collected the most recent official data regarding the emissions of particulate matter (PM 10, PM 2,5) and sulphur and nitrogen oxides (SO2, NOx) from Polish coal-fired power plants. The researchers have analysed their impact on human health and lifespan with the use of the methodology approved by the European Environment Agency and the World Health Organization, used also by the European Commission and the World Bank.