IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v163y2022ics0301421522000738.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Decarbonisation of the Polish residential sector between the 1990s and 2021: A case study of policy failures

Author

Listed:
  • Sokołowski, Jakub
  • Bouzarovski, Stefan

Abstract

In this paper, we study the policies that regulated the energy mix in the Polish residential sector between 1990 and 2021. We apply a qualitative assessment of policies and difference-in-differences to evaluate the effects of particular regulations. We find that policymakers in Poland did not identify households as stakeholders in their strategies since starting the energy transformation back in the 1990s until the early 2020s. We demonstrate that the government policies failed to stimulate efficient decarbonisation of the residential sector and did not address such issues as energy poverty and air pollution, while the coal consumption rates by Polish households remained the highest in the European Union. The situation has started to change since 2017 when the first regions in Poland introduced anti-smog regulations, which have had a minor, yet positive effect on air quality and the decrease in the number of coal stoves. Furthermore, “Clean air” and “My electricity” programmes were introduced in 2018 and 2019, which provided subsidies for investments in clean heating technologies, and small-scale photovoltaics. These support instruments have yielded relatively positive results. Finally, the Polish energy policy of 2021 identified decarbonisation in the residential sector, reducing energy poverty and improving air quality as key priorities.

Suggested Citation

  • Sokołowski, Jakub & Bouzarovski, Stefan, 2022. "Decarbonisation of the Polish residential sector between the 1990s and 2021: A case study of policy failures," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:163:y:2022:i:c:s0301421522000738
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2022.112848
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421522000738
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2022.112848?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Olsthoorn, Mark & Schleich, Joachim & Gassmann, Xavier & Faure, Corinne, 2017. "Free riding and rebates for residential energy efficiency upgrades: A multi-country contingent valuation experiment," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(S1), pages 33-44.
    2. McCauley, Darren & Heffron, Raphael, 2018. "Just transition: Integrating climate, energy and environmental justice," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 1-7.
    3. Muczyński, Andrzej & Dawidowicz, Agnieszka & Źróbek, Ryszard, 2019. "The information system for social housing management as a part of the land administration system – A case study of Poland," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 165-176.
    4. Jakub Sokołowski & Jan Frankowski & Piotr Lewandowski, 2024. "Energy poverty, housing conditions, and self-assessed health: evidence from Poland," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(9), pages 2325-2354, October.
    5. Fattahi, A. & Sijm, J. & Faaij, A., 2020. "A systemic approach to analyze integrated energy system modeling tools: A review of national models," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    6. Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Martiskainen, Mari, 2020. "Hot transformations: Governing rapid and deep household heating transitions in China, Denmark, Finland and the United Kingdom," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    7. Foxon, Timothy J., 2013. "Transition pathways for a UK low carbon electricity future," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 10-24.
    8. Andrić, I. & Fournier, J. & Lacarrière, B. & Le Corre, O. & Ferrão, P., 2018. "The impact of global warming and building renovation measures on district heating system techno-economic parameters," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 926-937.
    9. Lidia Gawlik, 2018. "The Polish power industry in energy transformation process," Mineral Economics, Springer;Raw Materials Group (RMG);Luleå University of Technology, vol. 31(1), pages 229-237, May.
    10. Pachauri, Shonali & Jiang, Leiwen, 2008. "The household energy transition in India and China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 4022-4035, November.
    11. Heffron, Raphael J, 2018. "The application of distributive justice to energy taxation utilising sovereign wealth funds," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 649-654.
    12. Karpinska, Lilia & Śmiech, Sławomir, 2021. "Breaking the cycle of energy poverty. Will Poland make it?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    13. Anna Alberini, Silvia Banfi, and Celine Ramseier, 2013. "Energy Efficiency Investments in the Home: Swiss Homeowners and Expectations about Future Energy Prices," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1).
    14. Sokołowski, Maciej M. & Heffron, Raphael J., 2022. "Defining and conceptualising energy policy failure: The when, where, why, and how," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    15. Baran, Jan & Szpor, Aleksander & Witajewski-Baltvilks, Jan, 2020. "Low-carbon transition in a coal-producing country: A labour market perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    16. Manowska, Anna & Osadnik, Katarzyna Tobór & Wyganowska, Małgorzata, 2017. "Economic and social aspects of restructuring Polish coal mining: Focusing on Poland and the EU," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 192-200.
    17. Stefan Bouzarovski & Harriet Thomson & Marine Cornelis, 2021. "Confronting Energy Poverty in Europe: A Research and Policy Agenda," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-19, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Anastasia Soukhov & Ahmed Foda & Moataz Mohamed, 2022. "Electric Mobility Emission Reduction Policies: A Multi-Objective Optimization Assessment Approach," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-21, September.
    2. Sokołowski, Jakub, 2023. "Peer effects on photovoltaics (PV) adoption and air quality spillovers in Poland," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    3. Heffron, Raphael J. & Sokołowski, Maciej M., 2024. "Resolving energy policy failure: Introducing energy justice as the solution to achieve a just transition," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jan Frankowski & Joanna Mazurkiewicz & Jakub Sokolowski, 2021. "The coal phase-out and the labour market transition pathways: the case of Poland," IBS Working Papers 01/2021, Instytut Badan Strukturalnych.
    2. Lilia Karpinska & Sławomir Śmiech & João Pedro Gouveia & Pedro Palma, 2021. "Mapping Regional Vulnerability to Energy Poverty in Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-17, September.
    3. Anna Bluszcz & Anna Manowska, 2021. "The Use of Hierarchical Agglomeration Methods in Assessing the Polish Energy Market," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-18, July.
    4. Jayapalan, C. & Ganesh, L.S., 2019. "Environmentalists and their conflicts with Energy Justice – Concept of “Power-Environ” in the Athirappilly HEPP in Kerala," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 215-229.
    5. Michaelis, Anne & Hanny, Lisa & Körner, Marc-Fabian & Strüker, Jens & Weibelzahl, Martin, 2024. "Consumer-centric electricity markets: Six design principles," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    6. Gordon, Joel A. & Balta-Ozkan, Nazmiye & Nabavi, Seyed Ali, 2023. "Socio-technical barriers to domestic hydrogen futures: Repurposing pipelines, policies, and public perceptions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 336(C).
    7. Alford-Jones, Kelsey, 2022. "How injustice can lead to energy policy failure: A case study from Guatemala," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    8. Gordon, Joel A. & Balta-Ozkan, Nazmiye & Nabavi, Seyed Ali, 2022. "Homes of the future: Unpacking public perceptions to power the domestic hydrogen transition," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    9. Lacey-Barnacle, M. & Smith, A. & Foxon, T.J., 2023. "Community wealth building in an age of just transitions: Exploring civil society approaches to net zero and future research synergies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    10. Gordon, Joel A. & Balta-Ozkan, Nazmiye & Nabavi, Seyed Ali, 2023. "Price promises, trust deficits and energy justice: Public perceptions of hydrogen homes," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    11. Barbara Kryk & Malgorzata K. Guzowska, 2023. "Assessing the Level of Energy Poverty Using a Synthetic Multidimensional Energy Poverty Index in EU Countries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-31, January.
    12. Jovović, Ivana & Cirman, Andreja & Hrovatin, Nevenka & Zorić, Jelena, 2023. "Do social capital and housing-related lifestyle foster energy-efficient retrofits? Retrospective panel data evidence from Slovenia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    13. Joana Ortiz & Mariana Jiménez Martínez & Alba Alegría-Sala & Sergio Tirado-Herrero & Irene González Pijuan & Mònica Guiteras Blaya & Lluc Canals Casals, 2021. "Tackling Energy Poverty through Collective Advisory Assemblies and Electricity and Comfort Monitoring Campaigns," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-28, August.
    14. Lilia Karpinska & Sławomir Śmiech, 2021. "Escaping Energy Poverty: A Comparative Analysis of 17 European Countries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-16, September.
    15. Paweł Białynicki-Birula & Kamil Makieła & Łukasz Mamica, 2022. "Energy Literacy and Its Determinants among Students within the Context of Public Intervention in Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-20, July.
    16. Adam Dominiak & Artur Rusowicz, 2022. "Change of Fossil-Fuel-Related Carbon Productivity Index of the Main Manufacturing Sectors in Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-14, September.
    17. McCauley, Darren & Pettigrew, Kerry, 2023. "Building a just transition in asia-pacific: Four strategies for reducing fossil fuel dependence and investing in clean energy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    18. MacCarty, Nordica A. & Bryden, Kenneth Mark, 2016. "An integrated systems model for energy services in rural developing communities," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 536-557.
    19. Basole, Amit & Basu, Deepankar, 2015. "Fuelling Calorie Intake Decline: Household-Level Evidence from Rural India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 82-95.
    20. Hogan, Jessica L. & Warren, Charles R. & Simpson, Michael & McCauley, Darren, 2022. "What makes local energy projects acceptable? Probing the connection between ownership structures and community acceptance," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:163:y:2022:i:c:s0301421522000738. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.