Interview: China plays a key role in the development of green technology – A visit to Peter Arak, Director of the Polish Institute of Economic Research

WARSAW, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- China plays a key role in the development of green technologies – a visit to Peter Arak, director of the Polish Institute of Economic Research

Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Zhang

On the eve of the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Peter Arak, director of the Polish Institute of Economic Research, a Polish think tank, said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency a few days ago that China has played a key role in responding to global warming by using its unique production capacity advantages to continuously reduce the price of green energy products required for energy transition.

Arak said China's huge capacity has successfully reduced the cost of solar panels to about one-eighth of what it was in 2008, and "falling prices for green energy products could provide solutions to the challenges of the energy transition." ”

Poland's energy transition was seen as extremely challenging. In order to meet the emission reduction target, Poland will need to invest 136 billion euros (about 1.17 US dollars) by 2030 and a total of 1 trillion euros by 2040, so it will benefit a green energy product with more acceptable prices.

The most pressing issue facing Poland is to abandon coal as soon as possible. According to the Polish Geological Institute, about 80 percent of Poland's electricity supply comes from coal burning. "Poland needs to make an energy transition more rapidly than other European countries," Arak said.

Arak said coal is also the main way ordinary people in Poland heat their homes, especially in rural areas, "which is wreaking havoc on air quality."

But Arak also pointed out that replacing coal with renewable energy is not realistic for Poland because "we don't have enough light, wind and hydropower, at least at the current level of technology, renewable energy can only be a small part of the energy mix." The Polish government has therefore designated natural gas and nuclear energy as alternative sources of coal. According to the plan, Poland's first nuclear power plant is expected to be operational in 2033.

In addition, Poland faces considerable social pressure to abandon coal, especially in the Silesian coal-producing regions of the southwest. "About 200,000 people work in coal mining, and these people are very dependent on coal economically." Arak said. Coal abandonment first needs to help the local coal industry complete the transformation, which is also inseparable from the support of green technology. (End)