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In recent days, there has been an increase in air pollution with solid particles in Vilnius and other Lithuanian cities due to the non-ecological heating of residential buildings with solid fuel. Vilnius Mayor Valdas Benkunskas submitted a request to the Ministry of the Environment regarding increased pollution with a proposal to ban the heating of buildings with coal in those areas of the city where it is possible to connect to the heating networks of district.
“We have a paradoxical situation in Vilnius: Vilnius residents who live and work in the central part of the city drown in smog every winter, because a large part of the residents of individual houses located in the surrounding districts still they are heating with firewood or charcoal. ” . This solution is not only not ecological, but it is also very harmful to the health of those around us ”, emphasizes V. Benkunskas.
There are a total of 32 thousand people in Vilnius. residential homes, of which 5 thousand. central heating, 14 thousand. – gas. Another 12 thousand are heating up. buildings, it is not known exactly, but it is believed that many use solid fuels in particular. 2019 A survey was conducted of 1,000 residents of those houses. It is estimated that 0.5 percent. about 60 homes with an unidentified heating method are heated with coal, 4.3 percent. (about 500 homes) use coal and biomass for heating, and the vast majority – 91.9 percent. of such residents, houses are heated only with biomass. It is estimated that a total of almost 11 thousand firewood or wood briquettes are heated. accommodation.
In order to improve energy efficiency in buildings and reduce environmental pollution, the municipal administration proposes to the Ministry of the Environment to consider the prohibition of heating with coal in old urban centers and other urban areas where municipalities have approved plans for district heating.
To ensure that this solution does not become a great burden for the population, it is also proposed to provide financial measures to replace old and polluting heating equipment with a new one. Already now, the Lithuanian Business Support Agency invites residents to use the measure “Replacement of boilers in homes” and, after submitting a request for financing, to replace inefficient heating boilers using biomass with biofuel boilers or efficient heat pumps. At the suggestion of the municipality, the measure could be expanded and provide financing not only for the purchase of biofuel boilers or heat pumps, but also for equipment that uses renewable energy sources.
According to Deputy Mayor V. Benkunskas, the municipality is also considering the development of energy use from renewable sources in Vilnius in 2021-2030. the action plan should provide support to households adopting renewable energy technologies.
