Varying the Energy Mix in the EU-28 and in Poland as a Step towards Sustainable Development

Wiktoria Sobczyk and Eugeniusz Jacek Sobczyk
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Wiktoria Sobczyk: Faculty of Mining and Geoengineering, AGH University of Science and Technology, 30-059 Krakow, Poland
Eugeniusz Jacek Sobczyk: Mineral Energy and Economy Research Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences, 31-261 Krakow, Poland

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 5, 1-19

Abstract: The demand for clean energy is a key global issue requiring global ideas to be implemented through local action. This is particularly important in Poland’s energy transition, since the country produces energy mainly from conventional sources, i.e., coal, gas, and crude oil. Adverse climate change caused by high emissions of the economy based on the combustion of hydrocarbons as well as the growing public awareness have made it necessary to look for new environmentally friendly energy sources. The aim of the paper is to demonstrate that the use of alternative energy sources, biomass in particular, is compatible with sustainable development policy. Eight indicators for the EU-28 and for Poland were analysed in order to verify the progress in modifying the energy mix between 2010 and 2018 in the context of implementing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The analysis showed that both in the EU-28 and in Poland, the aggregated indicator taking into account the positive and negative change in the values of individual indicators improved between 2010 and 2018. In the EU-28, this indicator is higher (180.1) than in Poland (152.3). The lower value for Poland is mainly due to the fact that the main source of energy in Poland remains hard coal and lignite. However, the noticeable increase in recent years in the share of energy from renewable sources, biomass included, allows us to look with hope to a rapidly growing indicator measuring progress towards a sustainable development goal, and to improving environmental standards.

Keywords: sustainable development; climate and energy policy; indicators; renewable energy; biomass (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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