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Residents in the vicinity of such houses complain of pollution and odors, on the other hand, most Vilnius residents are ready for the heating season, so if they have enough money and time to buy cleaner fuel or change quickly the boiler or install a heater. bomb.
The proposal presented to the city council establishes that in order to reduce air pollution, beginning in 2021. October 20, it would be proposed to prohibit residents of individual buildings and apartments from burning stoves with coal and peat briquettes.
Also to oblige the Director of the Vilnius City Municipal Administration to provide incentives for the transition from the use of coal and / or peat to heat buildings to central heating or the use of renewable energy sources in 2023-2030. Still, the municipality was in no rush to rush.
Ilja Karužis said that everyone understands how important it is that consumers receive heat centrally or use non-polluting means. The municipality must take measures to ensure that pollution limit values and risk thresholds are not exceeded. In the Vilnius agglomeration, excess particulate matter is mainly recorded in November-December, especially in Žirmūnai, Lazdynai, Senamiestis.
It is estimated that in Vilnius more than 2 thousand. the owners heat themselves with peat and charcoal briquettes, which pollute the air, injure the residents themselves, and cause illness, especially in children.
Therefore, it is proposed to change the rules by introducing a ban on heating houses by burning coal and peat briquettes in particular. City officials found that the people who lit the furnace with coal would ask for an explanation of why they were burning with that fuel, or if they could change the heating method if no malicious changes were made and fines were imposed.
It is considered that those who burn stoves with coal or peat briquettes would face the administrative responsibility provided for in article 366 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Lithuania (warning or fine of 20 to 140 euros, for repeated offenses, from 140 to 600 euros ).
The matter will be reverted to in Council after discussion in committees. The final decision to phase out solid fuels, following Board deliberations in committees, will be made at the next Board meeting.
Žilvinas Šilgalis said that this issue is not new, the problem is known, as well as what kind of pollution in Vilnius. Of course, how many people have to endure pollution, breathe polluted air. The only question is what the municipality has done to ensure that the people affected by this problem have been able to prepare to replace the boilers for more than a year.
According to I. Karužis, the municipality has provided a compensation mechanism to replace polluting boilers. It is not the fault of the municipality but of the coordinating institutions that the plan is stagnant. It had to be approved in the fall, it is likely to be completed in the spring. With the approval of the city council for a specific date, it is expected that Vilnius residents will be informed about how they can solve this problem.
This proposal has broad support from the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of the Environment ensures that as of 2012. The ongoing Climate Change Program is expected to continue providing support to households that are converting solid fuel stoves into “green” kitchens, thus ensuring compensation for Vilnius residents in the transition to green heating.
Understandably, not all households can do it on their own, not just working people.
The municipality plans to start the changes on its own: in its social housing, where solid fuel stoves have been used so far, systems using renewable resources will be installed and the heating networks of Vilnius will evaluate the possibilities of connecting the buildings of “stoves ” remaining. in the old town to the district heating system.
On the other hand, the decision to abandon a particular type of fuel does not force to change the heating system, it is possible to simply use firewood. Changing fuel alone would reduce pollution in the capital.
Insurance, according to I. Karužis, is not a moving train of goods, it is a necessary solution to attract the attention of the population and make concrete decisions.
Violeta Podolskaitė commented that this must be done urgently, because people are suffocating, and in the next two years it is necessary to prepare alternative ways to reduce pollution.
Why is the ban being considered before the heating season and when will it go into effect? According to I. Karužis, several suggestions were received. This is both next year and 2023. The transition period would be designed to inform the population.
I. Karužis said that knowing the specific date on which this ban would come into effect would make it easier to solve fuel purchase problems. When it comes to storing fuel, especially in apartments, it can be tricky, but even now, as far as we know, due to lack of space, firewood is simply brought in more frequently.
There are about 32 thousand people in Vilnius. residential houses, of which 5100 have central heating, 14.4 thousand. – gas, and another 11.8 thousand. heated by firewood, charcoal or unidentified heating. When the latter was asked in 2019 (about 1,000 inhabitants were interviewed) what kind of fuel they burn, 919 responded that they use biomass to heat their homes, 5 residential houses reported that they are heating with coal. This is 0.5 percent. – heated with charcoal, 4.3 percent. uses coal and biomass, 91.9 percent. uses biomass to heat homes.
