Poland Posed to Have Major Water Problem

The Polish coal sector uses an astounding 70% of all of the water annually used in Poland, according to a new report.  Massive amounts of water are used for cooling at coal-fired energy plants. So when there is a period of low water levels in our rivers and lakes, as we have experienced for the last two summers, there is a huge risk of power outages. Polish electricity is "down" about ten times more each year than Germany (where Polish politicians love to assert that the system is unreliable).

The level of water consumption by energy in Poland is five times the average level in Europe and ten times the global number. Id. This is a very unsustainable situation:

"Water absorption coal-based energy is one of its biggest drawbacks. In terms of the abundance of water, we are in the European Union on the fifth place from the end, before the Czech Republic, Denmark, Cyprus and Malta. Moreover, Poland has one of the lowest of renewable water resources in the world per capita. They are smaller even than some countries in desert zones ... such as Niger, Chad and Sudan," according to Dr. Sylwester Kraśnicki, hydrogeologist with the University of Jan Wyżykowskiego in Polkowice.

Many experts have been cautioning of global water problems in the coming decades. As it now stands, Poland - besides having an unreliable energy system that is starting to cost more than all of our neighbors using a more diverse energy mix - may now face a serious water crisis in the coming years.