The market for low-sulphur coals under the restrictive environmental standards in Poland

Abstract

This paper describes the low-sulphur coals market in Poland. It is a crucial issue question because these types of coals will be particularly in demand after the year 2005, when the Polish environmental standards will be more restrictive. This is applicable especially to the energy sector, which is the main consumer of coal in Poland. The purpose of this work is the evaluation of abilities to balance the quantity and quality of low-sulphur coal supplies to the basic consumers, which are domestic heat-and-power plant's and others. The article focuses on three key issues. The first one includes an analysis of the supply side of the coal market in Poland. The second concern is an overview of present and future emissions-standards for the energy sector. The third problem applies to the demand side of the coal market and describes the consequences of putting into operation related emissions standards. The analysis ends with conclusions and recommendations for applying an appropriate strategy to meet the new environmental regulations. Conditions under which the burning of low-sulphur coals can be sufficient to meet emissions standards are also described.