Mott's Blog

A new report from the very credible Client Earth group answers the question "why can't Poland get money from the EU to fund the transition away from coal to cleaner technologies?" " As many as 70 per cent.  projects implemented by energy companies in exchange for the free allocation of emission of greenhouse gases include carbon infrastructure, and only 10 percent. investments in renewable energy sources. However, the purpose negotiated by the Polish government called " derogation" ....  was to be the modernization of the outdated energy sector and diversification of sources of supply.  Investment in the coal could be affected by serious problems after 2020, when the price of allowances will begin to grow  -  comments by ClientEarth Foundation, Lawyers for the Earth ." The total funding up to 2020 was 4.5 billion EURO! Instead of spending the support, as intended by the EU, on de-carbonization, Poland spent it mostly on projects to support the exis...

There are no real surprises in the latest Bankwatch/Friends of the Earth report on Central European Governments use of EU climate change and environmental funds. "... Polish energy policies and strategies continue to follow a path which centres almost entirely on sustaining the existing energy system...."   CLIMATE’S ENFANTS TERRIBLE SHOW NEW MEMBER STATES’ MISGUIDEDUSE OF EU FUNDS IS HOLDING BACK EUROPE’S CLEAN ENERGY TRANSITION (January 2016) p. 24. "77% of heat energy comes from burning coal, with other fossil fuels such as gas and oil adding up to cover almost 90% of heat production. The energy system is an oligopoly, with four out of five coal mining companies fully or partially state-owned and the production market mostly shared between four companies where the state is a majority stakeholder. A workforce of 100,000 hard-coal miners, 240 trade unions with significant political power as well as many interconnections between the government and the energy sector ...