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2012-02-09 00:00:00
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Energy efficiency was one of the key priorities of the Polish EU Presidency which will officially end on 31 December 2011. While energy efficiency is a key element of the Polish 2030 energy strategy, a report published by TNS OBOP and commissioned by the FREE initiative (Forum FREE) revealed that nearly half of all Poles misunderstand its concept. The results of the research showed that 25% of respondents had no prior knowledge of what energy efficiency is.
Respondents, when asked, point to Renewable Energy Sources (RES) as the most energy efficient technology. Nearly half of the respondents believe that solar panels are the most energy efficient energy source, while around 42% thought wind turbines were the most efficient.
Only 12% of Poles correctly defined energy efficiency as a “preferred ratio of energy obtained to the amount of its consumption”.
 “Although renewable energy sources are environmentally friendly, they are not necessarily among the more efficient energy sources,” says Arkadiusz Weglarz, of the National Energy Conservation Agency who is one of FREE’s experts. “Solar collectors can only effectively meet the energy demand in the sunniest summer months. A wind turbine’s efficiency drops significantly even with small decreases in the average wind speed,” he adds.
It is of interest that almost 15% of Poles believe that electricity is one of the most efficient energy sources, while in reality significant amounts of energy is lost during the transportation process.
"Increasing energy efficiency is one of the priorities of Poland’s energy strategy until 2030, but Poland is still far behind other EU countries,” says one of the FREE experts, Dr. Andrew Hałasiewicz, of the Office of the President of the Republic of Poland. “Poland needs to work on building public awareness about energy efficiency,” he adds.
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