In Poland, where coal reigns supreme, residents must wait days to acquire fuel

In the late summer heat of Poland, dozens of cars and trucks line up at the Lubelski Wegiel Bogdanka coal mine, where locals wait for days and nights to stock up on winter heating fuel.

Artur, a 57-year-old retiree, traveled around 30 kilometers (18 miles) from Swidnik to the mine in eastern Poland on Tuesday in order to purchase several tonnes of coal for his family.

After spending three nights sleeping in his small red hatchback in a serpentine line of trucks, tractors towing trailers, and private cars, he added, "Today, toilets were constructed, but there is no running water."

"It is incomprehensible that person's sleep in their vehicles. It never occurred to me that we could return to something much worse than the communist era."

Artur's residence is one of the 3.8 million in Poland that rely on coal for heating and are now facing coal shortages and price increases due to the coal embargo enforced by Poland and the European Union in reaction to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February.

In April, Poland put an immediate ban on purchases, while the bloc mandated a gradual phase-out by August.

While Poland produces more than 50 million tonnes of coal annually from its own mines, imported coal, especially from Russia, is a household staple due to competitive prices and the fact that Russian coal is sold in lumps that are more suited for residential use.

The rising demand has pushed Bogdanka and other state-owned mines to limit sales or provide the fuel in limited quantities through online marketplaces. Artur, who declined to give his full name, revealed that he had obtained papers from his extended family in order to receive all of their gasoline allotment simultaneously.

Dorota Choma, a spokeswoman for the Bogdanka mine, told Reuters that the mine planned to supply around 250 families with fuel on Friday and would continue sales throughout the weekend to cut wait times.

Choma explained that the restrictions are in place to prevent hoarding, profiteering, and the sale of wait spots.

As with all other Polish coal mines, the majority of Bogdanka's output is sold to power plants. The corporation lacks the logistics to sell petroleum directly to retail customers because less than 1% of its output was sold to individual customers in the prior year.

Lukasz Horbacz, the head of the Polish Coal Merchant Chamber of Commerce, indicated that the decrease in imports from Russia began in January, when Moscow began using rail lines for military shipments.

"However, the fast adoption of the embargo is the primary cause of the shortages. It turned the market upside down "He reported to Reuters.

Weglokoks, a government-owned coal merchant charged with expanding imports from foreign countries, declined to comment, and the climate ministry was unavailable for comment. Numerous times, officials have asserted that Poland has sufficient petroleum to meet demand.

In recent years, Poland has been the loudest opponent of EU climate policy and the staunchest defender of coal, which accounts for up to 80% of its electrical generating. Nonetheless, coal production has steadily declined as the cost of mining at deeper levels has increased.

The relatively steady level of coal use has led to a minor increase in imports. In 2021, Poland imported 12 million tonnes of coal, of which 8 million tonnes came from Russia and were employed by residential and small-scale heating facilities.

In July, Poland ordered two state-owned firms to import several million tons of coal from other countries, including Indonesia, Colombia, and Africa, and created subsidies for households facing a doubling or triple of coal prices relative to the previous winter.

Up to sixty percent of those who use coal for heating may be affected by energy poverty, according to Horbacz.

Piotr Maciejewski, a 61-year-old farmer from Bogdanka who joined the queue on Tuesday, anticipated a lengthy wait upon his return.

He stated, "My tractor is aligned, and I'm heading home to sleep."