Slovakia faces a big challenge. At the climate conference in Glasgow, we committed to ending coal-fired electricity generation by 2023. This will be a small but important step towards solving the problem called the climate crisis. What will Slovakia be like without coal?
Replacing coal as an energy source will not be easy, although it is possible. Changes await everyone, producers, distributors and consumers of electricity. The Slovak commitment from the climate conference does not apply to households. They will be able to heat with coal (for now) even after 2023.
Climate crisis
While a few years ago there was only speculation about possible global warming and some authorities denied the existence of this phenomenon, today it is clear that climate crisis is the big topic of the day. Emissions released into the atmosphere as a result of human activity threaten the state of the entire planet.
Steps to reverse a bad situation are not very popular because they will force us to change established habits and processes and will also cost something. But they are necessary.
We therefore appreciate that at the climate conference in Glasgow, Slovakia joined the countries that want to eliminate the production of electricity and heat from coal in the short term.
What will replace coal?
However, it is not yet clear what this resource will replace, nor how much it will cost. Each country has its own climatic specifics that either enable or prevent the construction of new ecological resources. ""Replacing coal as a cheap energy source will not be easy. Ecological sources do not have the parameters we are used to with coal," stated Ing. Vladimír Lásik from PPA CONTROLL.
One of the options that, with minor technological adjustments, could still be used by coal-fired power plants in Slovakia to produce electricity is dendromassa, wood chips that are also produced as waste in the wood processing industry.
Another option is incineration of treated municipal waste. ""Our experience confirms our belief that burning waste in modern incinerators is an effective and environmentally friendly solution. Instead of accumulating in landfills and polluting the air and water, waste can be used to generate heat and electricity," continues V. Lasik.
Kernel as an alternative?
At the turn of the year, the issue of nuclear energy was reopened at the European Commission. ecological source of energy productionTogether with natural gas, these resources were eventually designated as sustainable, so they can be counted on in the future.
The extraction and storage of uranium has its ecological limitations, which may or may not contribute to the climate crisis.
"Nuclear power plants "Today they are not what they were decades ago. They have a high level of safety and, when operated responsibly, pose no risk to humanity," explains an expert from PPA CONTROLL.
Electricity storage as a challenge
We already know of several ecological sources for generating electricity. Their weak point is the instability or seasonality of electricity production, so the issue of its storage needs to be resolved. Without this, the climate crisis cannot be managed. "No matter how electricity is produced, its accumulation and storage must be addressed. In addition to short-term storage, such as batteries or pumped hydropower plants, hydrogen appears to have the greatest potential for long-term storage," V. Lásik believes.
The project will certainly bring many answers. ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor), of which PPA is a part. It is the most ambitious energy project in the world. Its goal is to prove the possibility of nuclear fusion as a large-scale and carbon-free energy source.
