Waste management

In the Lower Silesian Voivodship there are 117 operational municipal waste dumps with a total area of over 364ha (i.e. 10.6% of the total area of waste dumps in Poland). In terms of waste dumps area, the region is ranked 1st in Poland (ahead of the Greater Poland Voivodship).

In 2005, a total amount of 873.7 thousand tons of municipal waste was collected in the Lower Silesian Voivodship, almost all of which (99%) was deposited in waste dumps and only 0.6% neutralised at composting sites. A vast majority (almost 72.4%) of municipal solid waste comes from households. The amount of waste was collected per inhabitant is 320kg (in Poland the amount is much lower – 256kg). In this respect Lower Silesian Voivodship is ranked 1st in Poland.

In order to reduce the amount of stockpiled waste, local authorities encourage people to segregate waste. In 2004, segregated waste amounted for only 2.6% of the total amount of municipal waste (in Poland less than 2.5%). The situation is relatively worse in rural areas

where only 1% of municipal waste is segregated. Another problem which is difficult to overcome are illegal dumps. At the end of 2005, 329 illegal dumps were identified (200 of which in rural areas) in spite of the fact that in the same year over 280 such dumps were liquidated. In terms of the number of illegal dumps, the region is ranked 2nd in Poland (after the Silesian Voivodship).

In the voivodship there are also over 50 industrial waste dumps. The Lower Silesian Voivodship is ranked among the regions in which largest amounts of industrial waste are produced. In 2004, the region produced over 34.7 million tons of environmentally unfriendly waste which amounted for 27.2% of the total waste produced in Poland (ranked 2nd in Poland after the Silesian Voivodship). Of this amount, over 75% of waste was economically utilised and 21.5% neutralised. Of the neutralised waste, almost 99% was the waste stockpiled at the dumps of industrial facilities.

1.4.4.9. Energy

Density of Lower Silesia's natural gas supply network is relatively high. The total length of the system in the region is 7,471.1km, of which 5,388.5km is the transmission system. In turn, in 2005 the length of the gas distribution system was 5,388.5km, of which 4,219.9km in towns and cities, and only 1,168.6km in rural locations (in 1999 only 4,735km, of which 3,828km in urban areas). Therefore, in the analysed 5-year period, the total length of the natural gas supply network in the region increased by over 650km, of which over 260km in rural areas.

Currently 62.8% of region inhabitants have access to the gas supply system, while in Poland the proportion is markedly lower (51.8%). In this respect a marked spatial differentiation can be observed, as the system is used by 84.9% of the region's urban population but only 8.7% of its rural population (for Poland the proportions are, respectively, 73.2% and 17.8%). In terms of the accessibility of natural gas supply the Lower Silesian Voivodship is ranked 2nd in Poland (after the Podkarpackie Voivodship).

In the north part of the Lower Silesian Voivodship there are deposits of natural gas and an underground gas storage facility.

The Lower Silesia region has good electrical power supply conditions. The voivodship has a well-developed power grid which ensures stable supply of electrical energy. The capacity of high and medium voltage power lines does not limit further development of the network and supplying power to new consumers.

The Lower Silesian Voivodship has power facilities important for the country's power safety. The current power needs are primarily met by the Turów power plant and the Opole power plant located in the neighbouring region. In 2004, the region's power plants produced 15,757.4GWh of electrical power. The total power of the region's power plants is almost 2,750MW, of which 2,691.2MW (97.9%) in combined heat and power plants and only 58.5MW (2.1%) in hydro-electric and unconventional power plants (in Poland the proportion is over 6.5%).

In terms of power plants power and electrical power production, the Lower Silesian Voivodship is ranked 5th in Poland (after the Silesian, Łódź, Masovian and Greater Poland Voivodships). The share of hydro-electric power and renewable energy sources in the total production of electrical power in the region in 2004 was only 1.28%, while it was almost 2 times higher in Poland (2.54%), and 10 times higher in the EU (almost 13%).

In the structure of electrical power consumption in the Lower Silesia region, consumption levels are high in industry (34.7% of total consumption in 2004), the power sector (27.4%) households (15.5%).

Heat supply in the Lower Silesia region is mainly based on the decentralised heat supply system. Due to economic and environmental factors, however, the role of the network system is growing, especially in towns and cities. In 2005, the heating infrastructure included almost 1,982 boiler houses and 1,091km of heat transmission systems (of which only 63km in rural locations).

The amount of thermal energy intended for heating purposes as well as cubic capacities of heated facilities are markedly increasing. In 2005, buildings with central heating had a total cubic capacity of over 111.4 thousand sq.dam, of which 60 thousand sq.dam accounted for residential buildings. In terms of the cubic capacity of buildings with central heating, the Lower Silesia region is ranked 7th in Poland.

A considerable part of flats, especially in old buildings, are equipped with individual heating equipment fired with solid fuel or natural gas, but most of them are fired with solid fuel, which causes environmental pollution.