Friday, January 20, 2017

Energy poverty and pollution in Greece

A symptom of Greek economic crisis is air pollution as people switch to burning wood instead of more heavily taxed heating oil/electricity

Greece's economic crisis grinds on for yet another year

One of the symptom or perhaps better put, a victim of the economic crisis in Greece is air quality, especially in large cities such as Athens  and Thessaloniki as people switch from using heating oil and electricity to burning wood in order to heat their homes.

The government's attempt to claw in revenue by massively increasing taxation on the heating oil that used to be the staple of central heating boilers in many urban apartment blocks has seen many residents abandon them, unable to pay for the oil that fuelled them. In addition, in Greece people are wary of running up massive electricity bills and so are loathed to rely just on it for heating.

In their place many people have returned to traditional wood burning stoves which produce far more air pollution than other forms of heating and in built up urban areas have led to a serious decline in air quality, especially when combined with other sources of smog such as car exhaust fumes.

The recent bitterly cold spell in Greece dramatically brought to the fore energy poverty, yet another entry in a long list of woes that Greeks have had to face since the start of the economic crisis in 2009. Even after years of supposed bail outs and mandated economic "adjustments" (Read cuts in health, educational spending, pensions etc) the economy continues to wither and die on the vine, starved on capital and the prospect of improvement any time soon.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm a professional environment studies writer at hire paper writers service, I believe in professional communications, planning, and team work and I dont appreciate these kinds of radical extreme statements. Development is messy, and people need to patient. Literary Academics are increasing rude, and controlling, the professional world is not tribal. If ever there are problems, you solve them over time without being extreme and you work with people. There are new motor cars to replace the ones from the 70s, but people have to buy them and with all other things people have to pay for its hard. You can fundraiser for something like that. A number of countries are just developing, they are just bring in recycling and water technologies. If they don't have something, they will in the future. Its not the end of the world. The biggest killer of people is political arts and propaganda. How many people die of misguided philosophies, and propaganda, and poli theory. Government is suppose to be boring regulation and administration, that's it. need a quota.

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Sarah Sami said...

I think poverty and pollution are not only Greece’s but every developing country’s issue. I believe that the best way to end these two biggest problems is by creating awareness. Even tho there's awareness but sometimes, the best way is triggering emotions! I provide the cheapest essay writing service and trust me, nothing works better than targeting the emotions of people ;)

Farah Sultan said...

Not just Greece I would say that every citizen of any country should take part in the cleaning work of their cities, It is a great work shown by the greek peoples, by cleaning their streets and setting the an examples for others. Dissertation Help Dubai

Maria Sheikh said...

for the sake of humanity, no matter we are not in Greece or living somewhere else, we can also support and help to decrease poverty and pollution for the people. We all pray that soon all things will get better. Assignment Makers in UAE is with you all.

Eon Morgan said...

Poverty and pollution, in my opinion, are issues that affect all emerging countries, not just Greece. I feel that raising awareness is the most effective strategy to address these two major issues. Even when there is awareness, sometimes the best way is to elicit feelings. I believe in professional communication, preparation, and teamwork, and I am not a fan of such harsh declarations. People must be patient as development is a chaotic process.
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