Scholarly record

ASSESSMENT OF THE CHANCES FOR REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT THROUGH LIGNITE DEPOSITS UTILIZATION IN THE LIGHT OF STATISTICAL DATA COMPARISONS

Justyna Wozniak, Leszek Jurdziak

Abstract

In central and western Poland in the rural areas there is a lot of lignite deposits, which utilization by building mining and power complexes could give impetus to development. The paper attempts to evaluate the impact of their construction by comparing socio-economic development indicators and quality of life conditions of residents in two regions. In the area of Belchatow, in which operates the largest lignite mine and the lignite fired power plant (commune Kleszczow) and commune around deposit Gubin-Brody with similar lignite resource potential, as in the Belchatow-Szczercow deposit. Paper analyzes both the historical data of Belchatow area from the period before the construction of the mine and power station Belchatow and contemporary data as well as compare current data from both regions Belchatow and Gubin. Several socio-economic indicators were studied such as: labor market, household income and consumption expenditure, education, healthcare and social welfare, etc. It was shown how the commune Kleszczow developed and gained through the influence of the budget of various fees and taxes related to the conduct of mining activities and energy production. The analysis was conducted in the context of the growing importance of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) in relation to the wider group of stakeholders. These activities include local communities and environmental issues, including the implementation of the achievements of research on clean coal technologies. The negative image of mining and energy sector has a historical context, as in Poland in the previous era the governments not counted completely with environmental consequences of those industries coal was a source of hard currency, and the electricity was necessary for energy-intensive heavy industry and former regime increased their production without considering the consequences. Currently, highly effective power units meet the highest environmental standards and real threat to residentsпїЅ health is low emissions, the composition of which is a consequence of energy poverty of Polish households. Unfortunately, the reduction of low emissions, which could improve the quality of life and health of citizens in reality, is not a subject of EU policy and reduction of limits and supported RES increase energy costs prompts Polish citizens to make use of the cheapest, low quality coal.

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DOI resolver: doi.org/10.5593/sgem2017/53/s21.009

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