From The Warsaw Voice
New Market Niches Up for Grabs21 May 2009Poland is on track to becoming a European powerhouse in
niche sectors such as
underground coal gasification, production of
synthetic liquid and
gaseous fuels, and **
CCS technology (
Carbon capture and storage) based on
injecting carbon dioxide underground, according to politicians, businesspeople and scientists who took part in the European Economic Congress in the southern city of
Katowice April 15-17.
This was the largest business event in Central Europe this year, bringing together more than 2,000 economists, entrepreneurs and politicians. It comprised more than 20 panel discussions during which experts debated the future shape of the European economy.
New, strategic areas of the economy such as clean coal and information technology have full support from the
Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the
Ministry of the Economy, and the
National Center for Research and Development (*
NCBiR), said
Andrzej Siemaszko, Ph.D., director of the National Contact Point for EU Research Programs.
The congress organizers say
Poland is one of the most rapidly developing countries in
Europe and a good place to hold international debates about inevitable changes in the European economy. Poland's Upper Silesia region, of which Katowice is the largest city, is an industrial area that still relies on traditional energy sources, but is working hard to modernize and transform its economy, officials said.
Congress guests included
Janez Potocnik, EU commissioner for science and technological research, and Andris Piebalgs, the commissioner for energy. During sessions dealing with clean coal technology and technology platforms, the Polish National Contact Point for EU Research Programs vaunted several technological initiatives that could both help Polish businesses and spur the European economy as a whole.
A special guest of the meeting was former prime minister of Poland Prof.
Jerzy Buzek, currently a member of the European Parliament.
Buzek has for several years opposed attempts to completely eliminate coal from the economy. Instead, he seeks to promote clean coal technologies which he says are a compromise between climate protection and economic development. Buzek spoke in
Katowice about Poland's vast coal deposits as a key aspect of the country's energy security. He said that combining power engineering with chemistry was a key priority for the Polish economy. Poland should develop
coal gasification technology,
Buzek said, as this will make it possible to obtain
synthetic gas, the foundation for a
clean power industry and for the production of
synthetic fuels,
hydrogen and
fertilizers.
Clean coalAn environmentally friendly economy can be based on coal, but that necessitates a complete transformation of extraction technologies, as they need to be adapted to the requirements of the EU's energy-climate legislation package, congress participants said.
One promising technology for
Poland is
underground coal gasification (
UCG), currently being developed in Australia, the United States and European countries such as Britain.
UCG is related to the production of
synthetic gaseous and
liquid fuels.
Poland conducted intensive work on coal gasification technologies until the 1970s. Nowadays, the Institute for Chemical Processing of Coal in
Zabrze and the newly established Polish Laboratory for Radical Technologies, managed by Prof.
Bohdan Żakiewicz, are preparing to resume work in this area. A pilot Polish
UCG program is scheduled to begin later this year.
Poland also urgently needs to launch research on
underground CO2 injection, experts said. The process will be monitored by a consortium led by the Polish Geological Institute in Warsaw.
The panel discussion focusing on coal featured guest speakers including
Michael Green, a British expert who told congress participants that underground coal gasification had been going through a revival in Europe.
Paul Frisvold, who represented the European Technology Platform for
Zero Emission Fossil Fuel Power Plants (
ZEP), said that climate requirements should be seen as an enormous opportunity for countries such as
Poland. Frisvold added that he is confident that in a decade or so
Poland would be an exporter of clean energy, as it has immense energy resources, and coal could be processed into any kind of gaseous or liquid fuel.
CCSAnother major topic at the congress was geological storage of CO2. Poland's Chief Geologist
Henryk Jacek Jezierski, Ph.D., said that
Poland had started preparing for the development of
carbon capture and storage (
CCS) technologies early on. However, it will take a lot of research to work out efficient monitoring and control systems, he added.
"
We need to inject CO2 underground and see how it behaves there," said the National Contact Point's
Siemaszko. "
Monitoring systems are necessary to make sure that such storage is safe. Projects in this area have been assigned over zl.30 million, an amount that has been secured by a consortium led by the Polish Geological Institute in Warsaw. The power plants in Bełchatów and Kędzierzyn have been approached with specific proposals, as they could safely store CO2 one or two kilometers under the earth's surface." Such storage sites are being looked for near the city of
Łódź in central Poland and around the southern city of
Częstochowa.
Two Polish cities,
Bełchatów and
Kędzierzyn, told congress participants about their preparations for a European competition involving demonstration of
CCS technology.
Krzysztof Domagała, CEO of PGE
Bełchatów company, spoke about an ongoing project to launch a 858 MWe power unit and how the company plans to use the first installment of 180 million euros in EU funds.
Robert Duszewski, vice-president of the Nitrogen Plant in
Kędzierzyn, spoke about a plan to build a pipeline to pump CO2 to central Poland, a project that he said requires joint efforts by companies in Upper Silesia.
Strength in technologyDuring the congress, Prof.
Antoni Tajduś, head of the AGH University of Science and Technology in Cracow, signed an agreement with a German-French-Norwegian consortium on behalf of a group of Polish universities and research institutes, concerning the formation of a Knowledge and Innovation Community for sustainable energy. Technologies developed by the Community will include coal gasification and synthetic fuel production. Research and development consortiums known as Polish technology platforms have received support from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education and the Economy Ministry to work on these and other strategic projects. These organizations have been encouraged to prepare strategic research programs and submit them to the two ministries.
The National Center for Research and Development is capable of carrying out many technology initiatives, said the center's director, Prof.
Bogusław Smólski. Seconded by
Senator Janusz Rachoń, who chairs the center's supervisory board,
Smólski encouraged
Polish technology platforms to come forward with what the officials called
strategic research initiatives and
projects.
In one such project, a consortium known as the clean coal technology platform will work with the government to provide politicians with expert advice in drafting legal regulations concerning
CCS in
Poland.
"
Polish technology platforms have managed to influence European research agendas," said the National Contact Point's
Siemaszko. "
We have 27 platforms and around 20 of them are firmly anchored in European platforms. We know how to push through research topics that are of interest to us."
Sectors with a futureThe
automotive industry is another sector in which Poland could carve out a number of
niches for itself, said
Siemaszko. One example is
electric bus production. Polish company
Solaris is working to develop environmentally-friendly buses, including a
hybrid bus, an
electricity-powered bus, and a
brand-new streetcar.
Solaris also plans to build a
new-generation trolleybus without an overhead wire system.
www.solarisbus.pl/www.solarisbus.pl/en/interurbino,movie.html (
a movie)
Katowice meeting participants agreed that Polish companies have the capacity to build fast trains capable of achieving speeds of up to 300 kilometers per hour. Bydgoszcz-based company
PESA produces articulated tramways, suburban rail cars, and electric and diesel traction systems. It has recently secured contracts with several regional railway carriers in Italy.
PESA could become
Poland's leading producer of fast trains and the core of a rapidly growing sector in which dozens of companies would work together
to integrate their technologies and develop highly innovative products, officials said.
pesa.pl/php/Another promising sector is
small aviation, an industry that is largely overlooked in the EU, but has long played a major role in the United States economy, experts say. Light aircraft manufactured in Poland could be used as air taxis across Europe. Leading market players include
Federacja Firm Lotniczych Bielsko, helicopter maker
WSK PZL Świdnik, and manufacturers of various composite materials, parts and components for engines and avionics.
www.paiz.gov.pl/index/?id=05a5cf06982ba7892ed2a6d38fe832d6MiscellaneousOther topics discussed in
Katowice included the implications of the global financial crisis and economic forecasts for
Europe. Experts wondered how the
European economy could be reformed during the downturn. Participants also discussed the energy policy of the European Union, the directions of the EU's development, the diversity of EU regions, and technology transfer. Aside from purely industry-related subjects, the congress discussed issues such as information society, telecommunications, the media and the internet, in addition to education and healthcare.
Many talks during the congress focused on investment in infrastructure such as railways and roads, international transportation corridors, cargo terminals, logistics centers, and airport expansion. A lot of attention was paid to technology transfer, research and development, new technologies, and, last but not least, ties between science and industry.
Other issues debated during the event included the prospects of the automotive industry in Poland and all of Europe. Congress participants also analyzed developments in the iron and steel industry around the world, forecasts concerning mergers and acquisitions in the sector, and the market for steel distribution. Other sectors scrutinized were chemicals and real estate. Congress participants called for the establishment of public-private partnerships to provide funding for infrastructure-related projects and municipal management. Financiers talked about ways of raising funds for development at a time of crisis, and they also discussed opportunities offered by European structural funds.
The congress was organized by
Silesia province, the
Metropolitan Association of Upper Silesia, and the city of
Katowice. Partners included the city of
Gliwice.
Piotr Bartosz Links:
*
www.ncbir.pl/www/en/ (English)
*
www.ncbir.pl/www/ (Polish)
**
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_storage**
pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sekwestracja_dwutlenku_w%C4%99gla