New figures from Eurostat have revealed that Poland accounts for 30 per cent of the European Union’s annual consumption of coal.
In 2017, Poland burnt 73.8 million tonnes of coal, 20 million tonnes more than Germany, the EU’s second largest consumer. Overall, consumption of coal in the EU declined four per cent to 226 million tonnes. In Poland, consumption fell by 1.3 per cent.
Poland is also the EU’s largest producer of coal. In 2017 the country dug up 82 per cent of all coal mined in the EU, more than 65.4 million tonnes.
Just five countries in the EU currently produce coal: Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic, the UK and Spain.
In June, a Polish court blocked the construction of a 1.6GW coal power plant in Pelplin, Pomerania – a fertile farming region in northern Poland, near Gdańsk.
Poland still generates around 90 per cent of its electricity from coal. According to the World Health Organisation, the country is home to 33 of the EU’s 50 most polluted towns and cities.
