The Impact of Opencast Lignite Mining on Rural Development: A Literature Review and Selected Case Studies Using Desk Research, Panel Data and GIS-Based Analysis

Alina Maciejewska, Łukasz Kuzak, Janusz Sobieraj and Dominik Metelski
Additional contact information
Alina Maciejewska: Faculty of Geodesy and Cartography, Warsaw University of Technology, 00-661 Warsaw, Poland
Łukasz Kuzak: Faculty of Geodesy and Cartography, Warsaw University of Technology, 00-661 Warsaw, Poland
Janusz Sobieraj: Department of Building Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology, 00-637 Warsaw, Poland
Dominik Metelski: Department of International and Spanish Economics, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 15, 1-36

Abstract: The future of opencast mining and energy production based on conventional resources is one of the most important issues being discussed in international forums. The whole discussion is becoming increasingly heated and takes on a special significance with the drastic increase in energy commodity prices that has occurred with the outbreak of war in Ukraine. Especially in a country like Poland, these issues are accompanied by heated discussions between miners, the government and citizens. It should be emphasised that Polish lignite mining currently produces about 35% of the cheapest electricity in Poland and also creates many jobs. The aim of this study is to assess the possibility of continuing opencast mining and its impact on rural development—both from an environmental and socio-economic point of view. The study was conducted for two municipalities in Poland where opencast lignite mining plays an important role, namely Kleszczów and Kleczew. As a result, it was found that in the case of the studied municipalities, the presence of opencast mining has contributed to their development, and the application of modern environmental protection technologies and recultivation have reduced the difficulties associated with mining. On the other hand, the decision to start mining should be the result of a comparison between the potential environmental and social benefits and damages. In some cases, mining is beneficial for community development and leads to new opportunities for agriculture and tourism after reclamation. The study is a combination of different methods, i.e., case studies, GIS remote sensing analysis (based on Landsat data) and econometric analysis for selected socio-economic data.

Keywords: lignite life cycle; reclamation; opencast mining; sustainable development; rural development; geographic information system (GIS); remote sensing; panel data analysis; Granger causality; Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) (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: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/15/5402/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/15/5402/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:15:p:5402-:d:872126

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().