TOPTEN Boilers using solid fuels 2017

The Polish Chamber of Ecology and the Foundation for Energy Efficiency organize a competition for boilers up to 50kW, it aims at promoting the most energy efficient and the most environmentally-friendly devices. The call for entries is from 1 March to 31 August 2017. The competition can be participated by the manufacturers and distributors of solid fuel boilers up to 50 kW for installation in individual and communal buildings.

Details of the competition are provided on the website: http://www.pie.pl/topten.html

Residents of the Malopolska Region point out that not all of the boilers meeting the Class 5 requirements according to the PN-EN 303-5:2012 standard also meet the requirements of the Ecodesign so, in the case of the newly installed devices, they will not be able to apply in the Malopolska Region from July 1, 2017. We strongly recommend that you checked with the boiler manufacturer or the vendor if the boiler meets the Ecodesign requirements. A list of devices meeting the requirements can also be found on the website: powietrze.malopolska.pl/ekoprojekt

You are cordially invited to participate in the debate Clean air game which will take place on April 3, 2017, at the International Cultural Center in Krakow, Main Market Square 25. The meeting starts at 10:30 am.

The issues included:

  • How to fight Smog: inform and educate, scare and punish?
  • Civic initiatives: how to oneself fight for clean air?
  • Smog paragraphs: How can regulations help us?
  • Coal and wood versus district heating network and renewable energy sources
  • Can local governments stand to fight for clean air?
  • European funds support the fight against smog
  • Ecomanagers in municipalities: how do they help the people?

Clean air game debate program

Invitations to participation in the debate were directed those actively participating in civic anti-smog movements, representatives of local government administration, municipal police and people from the scientific world.

The meeting will be conducted by the editor Zbigniew Bartuś.

The debate will be the second in the series of the meetings entitles Malopolska Region. We create the future – dedicated to the key areas of the region’s development.

The debate is co-organized by the Malopolska Region (the Malopolska Regional Development Observatory) and Polska Press Sp. z o. o., the Publisher of Gazeta Krakowska.

For more information, please visit our website www.obserwatorium.malopolska.pl.

You should send your application for participation in the debate to the email address: morr@umwm.pl.

If you have questions, please contact the staff of the Observatory (telephone number: 12 29 90 829 or 12 29 90 692, mail: morr@umwm.pl).

The Malopolska in a healthy atmosphere conference – the elimination of low emission and the modernization of district heating in the context of the requirements of the MCP directive took place on March 3, 2017 at the AGH Center for Energy, 36 Czarnowiejska in Krakow.

The conference was attended by the representatives of a number of national and international HEIs, including the Polish Chamber of Commerce, the Regulatory Assistance Project, the heating companies in the Malopolska and Silesian Regions and the representatives of science.

There were more than 60 targets: the representatives of self-governments and district heating, the managers of heating systems (especially those based on solid fuels), ecomanagers and interested institutions.

The conference consisted of 3 parts:

  • A session presenting the strategic problems
  • A discussion panel entitled: MCP Directive and the vision of heating in 2030.
  • A technological session

During the session devoted to formal and strategic issues, the following spoke:

Janusz Cieszyński, Head of SMEs Department of the Ministry of Development, – Measures for the Heating Sector in Poland

Bogusław Regulski, Bogusław Regulski, the Vice President of the Polish Chamber of Commerce – Strategic Challenges for District Heating in the Context of the MCP Directive

Tomasz Pietrusiak, Deputy Director of the Environment Department, the Marshal’s Office of the Malopolska Region – Air Quality Plan for the Malopolska Region.

Wojciech Ignacok, the President of the Management Board of Geotermia Podhalańska – Experiences of Connecting Single-family Houses to the District Heating Networks of PEC Geotermia Podhalańska SA.

Jan Rączka, Regulatory Assistance Project – The Heating Sector in Poland – Conditions and Prospects.

The main point of the conference was the discussion panel on the MCP Directive and the vision of the heating sector in 2030. The introduction to the panel was the presentation by Janusz Mazur concerning the results of the research of district heating companies in the Malopolska Region.

Janusz Mazur – Strategic dilemmas of small and medium heating systems in the Malopolska Region – review of research results

The main discussion issue of this panel:

  • The heating sector and low emissions;
  • Limits of small remotely-operated systems;
  • Directions of changes – clean coal, cogeneration, flue gas cleaning or gas atomization?; –
  • Directions and opportunities for the development of the heating sector in small and medium cities – HUW, single-family houses,
  • Adsorption Chill – A Real Market or a Solution for the Next Generation?
  • Energy Efficient Heating System in big cities and the “handicapped” systems in the poviats of Poland,
  • Master Plans for the heating sector.

The panel conducted by Janusz Mazur was participated by:

  • Mateusz Klinowski, PhD, Mayor of the City of Wadowice,
  • Bogusław Regulski, Vice-President of the Polish Chamber of Commerce,
  • Jacek Boroń – President of the Management Board of Węglokoks Energia,
  • Edward Wypych – President of the Management Board of KZGM in Proszowice,
  • Andrzej Guła – President of the Krakow Smog Alert.

The last thematic block of the conference concerned the technological issues presented by the scientists of the AGH University of Science and Technology in Cracow and the Institute of Building Emission Certification:

Wojciech Nowak – Activities Planned by the AGH Center for Energy in support of air quality projects

Jan Górski – Market Offer for Small and Medium Cogeneration Systems in the Context of the Needs of the Heating Industry

Adolf Mirowski, PhD, the Institute of Building Emission Certification – The Role of Systemic Heating in the Fight against Low Emission of Pollutants

The issues discussed many times during the discussion included, among others:

  • There is a need for appropriate regulation at the national level to assist local governments in the fight against low emissions and to support heating companies, especially in small towns.
  • The formal – legal conditions for heating companies operating in heat and power plants in large cities (the so-called energy-efficient district heating systems) are much more advantageous than those for own heating facilities in small and medium-sized towns.
  • There is a need for the heating sector companies to carry out technological restructuring in order to comply with the requirements of the MCP Directive as well as provisions of the energy law concerning energy-efficient district heating system.
  • The MCP Directive is not a threat to the industry, but it can result in a slight increase in the prices of the heating plants that require modernization.
  • The heating sector can be an important partner in low emission reduction processes. Rapid legislative measures are needed to simplify construction procedures for linear investments (the “corridor law”) as well as improving the regulatory procedures for tariffs, removing public aid restrictions, or extending connection obligations.
  • There is a need for developing the ecological awareness of the public and promoting low-emission systemic heating as the ways to solve smog problems.
  • An effective fight against low emissions requires parallel actions aimed at reducing energy poverty.

A broader summary of the conference will be available in the closing report of the project which will primarily include research results and summaries (qualitative and quantitative) as well as recommendations based on the analysis of research and hearings during the panel discussion at the conference.

The conference was organized jointly by the Marshal’s Office of the Malopolska Region, the AGH Center for Energy and the Krakow Smog Alert and the Institute of Environmental Economics which initiated and commissioned qualitative and quantitative research carried out by Janusz Mazur, an expert in the heating sector.

On July 1, 2017, an anti-smog resolution will begin to be binding for the entire region. This means that all of the inhabitants of the Malopolska Region will have to adapt to its regulations. This also applies to people living in Krakow – the anti-smog resolution for this city will begin to apply from September 1, 2019, but now the regional self-government is working on the so-called transitional anti-smog resolution for Krakow. The public consultation of the regulations is due to take effect from 1 July 2017 until the first anti-smog resolution for Krakow (September 1, 2019). What do the regulations mean in practice? See what will change.

Anti-smog ABC

The Management Board of the Malopolska Region approved the transitional anti-smog resolution for Krakow. The document envisages the ban on the use of low-quality coal for heating houses and flats from 1 July 2017. These regulations apply to the area of the municipality of Krakow and will remain in force until the full ban on coal burning until the end of August 2019.

The draft resolution prohibits the use of low-quality fuels that release the most toxic compounds and particulate matter into the atmosphere. This means that one will not be able to use the following to heat houses:

  1. fuels in which the mass fraction of hard coal or lignite of particle size 0-5 mm is greater than 5%,
  2. fuels containing hard coal or lignite that meet at least one of the following parameters in the operating condition:
    • calorific value below 26 MJ / kg,
    • ash content greater than 10%,
    • sulfur content greater than 0.8%;
  3. fuels containing biomass with moisture content in the operating condition greater than 20%.

The regulations will remain in force until the entry into force of the antismog resolution for Krakow from 2016 which introduced a total ban on burning coal and wood in ovens, boilers and fireplaces from September 1, 2019.

Currently, the new regulations are undergoing the public consultation – their final shape will also be influenced by residents, NGOs and city authorities. Consultations will last until the end of March, and then, if everything is according to the plan, it will be possible for the Sejmik of the Region to vote in late April.

Project of the transitional anti-smog resolution for Krakow

The comparative measurement of PM10 sensors has been officially started. The organizer of the action is the Malopolska Region, in cooperation with the Chief Inspectorate for Environmental Protection, the Provincial Inspectorate for Environmental Protection in Krakow, the AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow, the Rabka-Zdrój Municipality and the Krakow Smog Alert Association. The purpose of the action is to verify and evaluate the reliability of the widely available measurement devices by comparing the results obtained with the results obtained using the reference measurement method of the Chief Inspectorate of Environmental Inspection. The measurements have been being carried out from 18 February at the measurement station in Rabka-Zdrój and will last until June 15th. The comparative action will end with a study report that will be published and widely accessible to municipalities and residents. The measurements take place within the integrated LIFE Malopolska project, supported by the LIFE program of the European Union.

Invitations to participate in the measurements were addressed to all of the leading companies offering PM10 meters. The challenge of verifying their equipment was taken by 5 of them – Envimet Services, Solutions for Technology, Elkomp Jacek Kediołek, TETABIT and Warsaw University of Technology. The report summarizing the measurement results will be prepared by scientists from the AGH University of Science and Technology together with the experts of the Chief Inspectorate for Environmental Protection.

Rules of the Comparative Measurements

On February 16, 2017, a training was held on the preparation of applications for grants for the replacement of boilers using solid fuels from the funds of the PONE program of the Regional Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management in Krakow. The training was conducted by Robert Bażela – Manager for Grants at the Regional Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management in Krakow. Approximately 120 people from municipalities in the Malopolska Region took part in it. The participants had a chance to get acquainted with how municipalities can take advantage of co-financing from the Regional Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management funds in Krakow within the “Low-stack Emission Reduction Program in the Malopolska Region”.

Co-financing of tasks from the WFOŚiGW 2017 – PONE

On February 15, 2017, the first meeting of the Program Council of the Integrated LIFE project “Implementation of the Air Quality Plan for the Malopolska Region – Malopolska in a healthy atmosphere” was held in the Marshal’s Office. The tasks of the Council include acting as a program advisor, supporting the activities accompanying the project and proposing possible changes and modifications to the solutions that comprise the system of Ecomanagers. The following have been appointed to be members of the council:

  • Wojciech Kozak – Deputy Marshal of the Malopolska Region as the President of the Council,
  • Adam Domagała – Chairman of the Committee for Environmental Protection and Public Security of the Sejmik of the Malopolska Region as I Vice-President of the Council,
  • Karolina Laszczak – Director of the Environment Department of the Marshal’s Office of the Malopolska Region as the II Vice-President of the Council,
  • Małgorzata Mrugała – President of the Regional Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management in Krakow,
  • Paweł Ciećko – Malopolska Provincial Inspector for Environmental Protection,
  • Łukasz Szewczyk – Deputy Director of the Municipal Economy Department of the City of Krakow,
  • Roman Ciepiela – Mayor of the City of Tarnów,
  • Mateusz Klinowski – Mayor of Wadowice,
  • Paweł Knafel – Mayor of the Municipality of Słomniki,
  • Jakub Jamruz – Head of the Łapsze Niżne Municipality,
  • Zbigniew Szpak – President of the Management Board of KAPE SA,
  • Andrzej Guła – President of the Management Board of Krakow Smog Alert Association,
  • Professor Piotr Kleczkowski, Eng., PhD – AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow, expert in the scientific community,
  • PhD Associate MD Ewa Konduracka, professor at the Jagiellonian University – medical community expert

The meeting was conducted by Wojciech Kozak, the Deputy Marshal of the Malopolska Region. The achievements of the LIFE project in the Malopolska Region, the role of the Ecomanagers, the Competence Center, the regional and local information and education activities in the field of air quality were discussed. The issues of air quality monitoring in the region, the air quality information system and the proposed purchase of air purifiers for kindergartens and crèches have been addressed. The project activities at the municipality level were presented by Aleksander Fraś-Zdeb – an Ecomanager in the municipality of Słomniki.

Implementation of the LIFE Malopolska project

Implementation of the LIFE Malopolska project in the municipality of Słomniki

On January 23, 2017 the the Malopolska Regional Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution assuming restrictions and prohibitions concerning the operation of fuel combustion installations in the Malopolska Region. This is the first regulation in Poland which, at the level of the entire region, introduces emission standards for boilers and fireplaces approved for use and eliminates the use of poor quality fuels. At the same time, this is the second step, after adopting the resolution of 15 January 2016, banning the use of solid fuels in Krakow, to improve the air quality in the whole Malopolska Region.

The resolution envisages the gradual implementation of legislation that will first limit the creation of new sources of emissions and, by 2023, all non-compliant boilers will be eliminated.

From July 1, 2017, it will be forbidden to burn coal muds and floatation concentrates, i.e. coal with grain size less than 3mm. It will also not be allowed to use fuels that contain more than 15% of the fine coal fraction, which will prevent the addition of coal mud and floatation concentrates to coarser coal fractions. The resolution also prohibits the burning of wood and other biomass with a moisture content greater than 20%. In practice, achieving the indicated moisture content of wood is possible through its seasoning for at least 2 years.

All of the boilers, fireplaces, stoves or ovens of the “goat” type whose operation will begin after July 1, 2017 will have to meet ecodesign requirements for energy efficiency and emission standards. This provision applies to both the newly constructed buildings and the installation of new heating devices replaced in the existing buildings, for example after a failure or the end if use of an old boiler or fireplace. The requirements for boilers are laid down in Commission Regulation (EU) 2015/1189 of April 2015 and the requirements for room heaters (fireplaces, stoves) are laid down in Commission Regulation (EU) 2015/1185 of 24 April 2015. On the site powietrze.malopolska.pl/kotly, there is a list of boilers, fireplaces and stoves which meet the requirements of these regulations.

As at January 1, 2023, the resolution bans all of the existing boilers that do not meet emission standards. In the case of the boilers that meet the requirements of Class 3 or Class 4, the ban on their use has been postponed to January 1, 2027. This means that, during the coming 6 years (in the case of Class 3 or 4 boilers – within 10 years) the current boilers must be replaced by boilers that meet ecodesign requirements for energy efficiency and emissions. Class 5 boilers, whose operation starts by June 30, 2017, can be used without a time limit.

Since January 1, 2023, it will be allowed to use only room heaters (fireplaces and stoves) that meet ecodesign requirements or their thermal efficiency is at least 80%. It is sufficient to meet one of these conditions. In the case of a fireplace or stove that does not meet these requirements, the use of a particulate matter reduction device, e.g. an electrostatic precipitator, will reduce the particulate matter emission to the level specified in the ecodesign regulations.

The resolution does not introduce additional powers for inspection bodies, as they result from the already existing provisions of the Environmental Protection Act, the Police Act and other laws. Inspections of compliance with the requirements of the resolution may be conducted by the municipal and city police, authorized employees of municipalities, police and other bodies (district inspectorate of construction supervision, voivodeship inspectorate of environmental protection) and, in the case of violating the provisions of the resolution, the given resident can be fined up to PLN 500 or PLN 5 000.

Information about the anti-smog resolution